Its been awhile since I’ve posted some technicals of the major indices. I’m taking a glance at the Dow futures right now while the Asian market is trading down more than 4%, and it looks like our bull market run is over. There’s some interesting chart patterns forming, though, in both the price action and the RSI. Read more…
Certainly the economic reports coming out are giving investors a greater feeling about the end of the recession. Durable goods orders were solid, as was consumer spending and real estate was icing on the cake. After two days of consolidation on Thursday and Friday it is obvious that investors don’t mind taking quick profits, and they’ll continue to do so unless they have reason to buy. Read more…
I’m looking at the headlines and all I see are more regulations on the horizon. There is not once that regulation does work, it never has, it never will, and for one reason: we never seem to learn when we screw up. Read more…
The G20 Summit is set to happen in the UK on April 20th of this year. The meeting usually goes calmly, the leaders address certain economic and monetary policy issues and then they leave and nothing really happens. Except this year. In the midst of a global financial crisis, there’s going to be a lot of wheeling and dealing and plenty of discussions about world monetary policy. Read more…
Tired of Fed speak, yeah me too. Quantitative easing is the most popular phrase on Wall Street right now. Its a pretty word for not so much of a pretty thing – inflation. This is how quantitative easing works and what it means to you. Read more…
Its back, and its here to stay. Between TARP, Fed lending programs, a stimulus package, and a spending bill, its not hard to track the inflation trail back. We’ve overcorrected and now each of us is going to pay dearly as the grip of inflation tightens its hold on the economy. Worse yet, in every inflationary cycle there is a bubble, what’s going to be this era’s new bubble? Read more…
Homeowners who are unable to sell their homes, or unwilling to lock in huge paper losses, have begun to trade homes with others. The trend, which is creating huge interest among cash strapped homeowners, involves finding another couple willing to make the housing switch. What was once a buying spree has now turned into a trading spree as some look to trade up while others trade down. Read more…
Credit Default Swaps, essentially derivative-based insurance against loss, on US debt surged nearly 600% since the recession began as investors worry that the US government may default on its Treasury issues. The increase outpaced corporate debt issues which in the same time increased only 30%. Rising costs are the direct result of increased Treasury issues and a mounting US debt which investors increasingly fear may never be paid back. Read more…
In my short life I had thought I had seen it all. I was a believer in that the stock market finds the best price of a stock pending all of the information that is presently known. Now I stand in disgust after listening to Jim Cramer explain how he, and many other hedge fund operators, move the market on a daily basis. There is a YouTube Video to follow! Read more…
So you thought TARP was big? Sure it was big, $700 Billion, but did it move the market big? To the downside, yes, however mark to market could bring the dead cat bounce we’ve all been waiting for when the House Financial Services Subcommittee reviews the mark-to-market rule on March 12. Read more…
I view investing to be more than just buying and selling stocks or building up a retirement portfolio. At any time you expend something of value, whether it be cash or time, for something of greater value you have made an investment. Now I would like to suggest that we all invest our time more wisely, possibly in a part-time job. Read more…
Just a few days ago I posted here regarding the systematic explosion of cash in the ETF industry. I wondered that as more and more people piled money into exchange-traded funds that the trackers could eventually lead. That the ETF would set the price rather than the index or commodity market, essentially stealing the market from the original and bringing it to the stock market. Read more…
While the rest of the world is piling their cash into ETFs I begin to wonder what kind of effect this might have on the market just a few years from now. Think back to 1992, when the housing market was plummeting and the Asian Financial crisis was reaching its peak. The Asian bust was largely the result of huge derivatives holdings, and what are ETFs? Nothing but derivatives. Read more…
