Bear Succumbs
The Bear Stearns Companies Inc., venerable investment bank of Wall Street, had a bad day. Strike that, Bear has had a bad 12 months. Ever since last summer when two of their hedge funds admitted needing cash, it’s struggled against the surging tide of defaulting mortgages. When the dust finally...
Energy Conundrum
Following Monday’s sharp decline, the Fed announced its latest rescue plan, this time in the form of a $200 billion “credit facility” that allows banks to rid themselves, at least temporarily, of some of the troublesome mortgage securities that have been cluttering their balance sheets....
A Double Bottom?
Market pundits have been all-too easily calling a double bottom based on the S&P 500’s action the past few days. I’ve read and heard from more than a few practitioners that we successfully tested the January 22nd lows and can now begin to build a new bull market. Things are never so textbook...
Did the Fed ‘Slush Fund’ Cause the Biggest Rally in 5 Years?
Today was the stock market’s biggest up day in five years. The Dow jumped 416 points or 3.6%, and other benchmarks were equally impressive. The salient question now is whether the gains will continue. The rally today was sparked by an announcement from the Federal Reserve that it is creating a...
A Closer Look at the Gold Miners ETF — GDX
Last week we noted the following data point regarding the commodity futures market: Bianco Research estimates the total value of present open interest in domestic commodity futures is about $425 billion. We commented how the $425 billion estimate wasn’t even as big at the market cap of a single...
Imploding Sectors Can’t Be All Bad
Since January 1, the strongest sectors in the market have been Energy and Materials. Although down for the year, these bulwarks have weathered the storm with grace – often outperforming their brethren on the sector charts. But as they say in Texas (along with everywhere else I’ve lived),...
Mortgage Migraine
A re-test of recent lows remains in progress for the U.S. stock market, and for the moment bears seem to be gaining control. The financial sector is still the main culprit. Citigroup, for instance, is revisiting share prices last seen almost ten years ago. Thornburg Mortgage (TMA) plunged -48%, yes,...
A One Stop Shop for Gold & Silver
Looking for an alternative to GLD or SLV? Then look no further than the PowerShares DB Precious Metals Fund (DBP). DBP is a simple way to play both gold and silver at the same time. The shares move according to the “The Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index — Optimum Yield Precious Metals”...
What Did Bernanke Just Say?!
Given the ongoing economic weakness in an election year, it is not surprising that some people in Washington are getting a little nervous. When one of the nervous people is the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, we begin to wonder what he knows that we don’t. Speaking to a group of community...
Pumping the Commodities!
CBSMarketwatch picked up some John Schloegel comments regarding the hottest sectors on the move right now. Click here to read the article. The real question is; are the commodity type names going parabolic and setting up for a monster correction? That is the question of the day, week, and month. Good...
