If there is anything I’ve learned after years of trading the markets for myself its that you buy a company when its down. Toyota seems like the perfect name, having a strong history of quality cars despite recent problems with its accelerators and now brake problems with the Prius line. However, all this will soon pass and investors will be richer for it. Read more…
Last year I wrote about the reasons for buying Phillip Morris International as a safe, anti-dollar investment. Well, after doing some more research into the cigarette industry, I’ve found that there is cause for concern. Fire safe cigarettes. (FSC) Read more…
The blogosphere, and the news industry, has been all over Apple Computer’s supposed new product: an Apple branded tablet computer. Tablets, or computers that run on a touch screen system, were first tested in the early 2000s but never really caught on. I’ll examine Apple’s newest product, as well as the possibility this could be a hit product for Apple. Read more…
Stock lending fees are a crucial part of the business models for both exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds, which derive extra returns on their equity positions by “lending” shares to short sellers for a fee. Some companies, however, are more fair than others in how they distribute these earnings. Read more…
There isn’t single commodity that could touch the volatility of oil through 2009. Going into the year oil was coming off summer highs of $147 a barrel and had dipped as low as $37 as the global recession reached its peak. With 2010 on the horizion, it looks like we could have a repeat of 2008. Read more…
Before delving into calculating alphas and betas, rooting through each and every line of quarterly report to find how businesses are spending R&D capital or drawing trendlines, there are a few things each and every investor should do. Number one priority is straightening out a budget. Read more…
Whether you’re looking to smooth out dips in the market, or have just a few short years to retire, a sound investment strategy may include what is known as a “collar.” This simple strategy has been deployed by hedge funds, pensions, and other institutions with great success. In fact, a recent study found it to be more successful than buy-and-hold investing over the past 10 years.
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I was a fervent supporter of Bank of America after its bailout when, by process of government bailouts, was near immune to any further decline in its mortgage holdings. Today, however, I’d advocating the opposite play, this thing looks prime for a short bet. Read more…
To say we haven’t had any recovery in the automotive sector is a stretch. But as I have outlined previously, the fact of the matter is that any positive economic growth from cash for clunkers is the result of bringing tomorrow’s (the future’s) demand to today (this quarter). There’s no doubt about it, cars are hot right now, but who is to say they’re going to be hot when the government yanks cash for clunkers on Monday? Read more…
One of the biggest market newsmakers recently has been Goldman Sach’s high frequency trading program. The automated system is incredibly complex, using data obtained from the NASDAQ and NYSE markets to front run virtually every trade that happens on the exchange. Read more…
As we know, stocks posted a hefty rebound today, fueled by speculation that 2Q bank earnings would improve over the quarter before. While we all know that Chase’s earnings will improve after raising minimum payments from 2% to 5%, the remaining banks don’t seem like they’re in such great shape. Read more…
In an effort to quickly raise cash to finance their operations, many large banking and consumer lending institutions are pulling some strings to get a little extra cash out of their clientele. The results may look great on paper, at least initially, but the signs point to further problems down the line. Read more…
This year has been undeniably slow for any investor looking for IPO activity. Just over a dozen companies have gone through a 2009 IPO, compared to 35 last year. The trend to inactivity hasn’t been stopped, despite rising stock prices. Oddly enough, IPOs are booming in private markets, where businesses aren’t burdened with costly regulations and accounting rules. Read more…
The stimulus package wasn’t a small measure, and as such it has a very big influence on the wellbeing of the economy. It was just four months ago that the nation would face economic peril were the stimulus left unpassed. But today, only 6% of all funds released through the program have been spent, and most projects won’t even begin until 2010. Read more…
My timing was off a bit with this stock, which I can surely acknowledge. However this is one company I think everyone needs to add to their portfolio, especially at this price. The fundamentals, and technicals, are right in line. Read more…
Inflow and outflow data is king information on the market. You know how much money is flowing out, how much is pouring in and where the “big money” is tossing big money. As much as I hate exchange-traded funds for how they operate (don’t even get me started on commodity funds) I realize that they are an excellent indicator for forecasting the future. 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…
The stimulus package added all kinds of excellent benefits for people in the United States. Among those new tax credits is a $2500 tax break for going to college. Those who spend more than $4000 in a single year on their education will get a $2500 tax credit which is 40% refundable. (Up to $1000 cash back). Read more…
I could have never predicted Wall Street’s reaction to Friday’s unemployment report. The initial report came out that 598,000 more people lost their jobs in January making it the worst unemployment figures since this “crisis” began. The numbers were several percentage points higher than what the market was looking for but due to timely events in the Senate the market flew up the charts quickly to end up 217 points on the Dow. Read more…
Emerging markets got smacked in the latest global slowdown. China, which had and is booming at record rates of 10% per year saw its stock markets lose a whole lot of value. I think the best place to be right now is in the emerging markets scene as turnarounds in developed areas will create even bigger booms in the growing economies of the world. Read more…
How long do I hold this stock? I bought it just under $40 and today they put the icing on cake by announcing layoffs due to the grime economy. What price does everyone think this stock will end up after the country enters the expansion period after the recession? Also, should I buy more as it dips lower in price.
It has been just over a year since Altria spun off its Philip Morris International business to form a new company under the ticker PM. Since the spin off Philip Morris has sunk down to $40 per share off from an IPO price of $50 per share. It shouldn’t be long before this stock comes back and comes back big. Here is my analysis: Read more…
The Dow to Gold ratio is often regarded as the most simple, yet surprisingly accurate and fundamental view of the economy and the stock market. The dow to gold ratio is following a very simple trend, but its not quite over yet.
While 2009 is set to be an already great year when cash makes it way back to market, I like to identify technical reasons and rationale for why the stock market will follow what the fundamentals are telling us. This time around the technical analysis is completely in favor of a great start to 2009 as two strong trends are forming on both the NASDAQ composite and the S&P 500. Read more…
A division of Mastercard, known as SpendingPulse calculates consumer spending on its cards and other methods to determine how much money was spent over the holiday season. Even though Amazon made it out with a great holiday season, offline retailers were destroyed with a drop anywhere from 2 to 4% and excluding car and gas sales a drop of 5.5 to 8%. Read more…
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