Will Fannie and Freddie Go-To-Zero (GTZ)?
If any companies serve as poster children for the mortgage crisis it’s Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE). These companies depend on the mortgage market — that’s why they started. Ever since homeowners began defaulting on loans en masse, FNM and FRE bore the brunt of the fallout....
Consumers Paying More for Gas Than Cars?
What happens when unexpected expenses hit your budget? Unless you want to go in debt, you have to cut back somewhere else. Case in point: Rising gas prices have forced debt-burdened consumers into a corner. The weekly fill-up at the pump has jumped substantially in the past couple of years. According...
We’ve All Been There Before
I stumbled across this graph today. All investors, traders, stock, fund, and ETF shareholders will apreciate it! We’ve all been there before. Maybe some of you are smack in the middle of the chain of events today! I found the graph somewhere this morning when persusing my daily dose of market news...
Naked Short Selling Rule Expires & Crude Gets a Bid
Hmmm, isn’t it interesting that one day after the expiration of the SEC’s emergency ban on naked short selling for the 19 banks and brokerages we find many of the shares beaten down today. Click here for the Marketwatch article. It’s too early to determine if the downside move in the...
Crude Oil: Where Will It Land
Energy continues slipping despite a critical conflict between Russia and Georgia. Today, the formerly $147.27 barrel of oil closed down 23% from the high at $113.01. Dropping another $1.44, it’s hard to see where it will settle for now. Backing up a bit… On Friday, the ‘luckiest day...
What’s New at AllStarInvestor.com?
Here’s a quick summary of what you’ll find in the private Subscriber area here on our site: >>> EXPANDED RANKINGS! Instead of just seeing the top few funds in each category, you can see ALL of them on this site – almost 1,000 mutual funds and ETFs in all. In addition, we added...
Russian Tanks Roll, Ruble Rocked
Today Russian troops entered a disputed region called South Ossetia that is claimed by both Georgia and Russia. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in Beijing for the Olympics, was conveniently able to inform President Bush in person that “volunteers” were pouring over the border to defend...
Big Days & Bear Markets
On Tuesday of this week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reacted to the Federal Reserve’s inaction by jumping 331 points. Some financial pundits put a bullish spin on this news, suggesting that sharp up days were not consistent with a bear market. By today’s close the Dow had given back...
Look for a China Rise After the Olympics: FXI
China. In the next two-and-a-half weeks, that’s almost all you’ll hear in the news. The 29th Olympiad in Beijing starts on Friday, 8/08/08. China has been gearing up for the Games for the past few years. Finally, with a dozen new sports stadiums and a cross-city underground railway to...
Truth Deficit at the Fed
As was almost universally expected, the Fed kept interest rates steady today. There were really only two points of suspense. First, would the vote be unanimous? Second, would the Fed signal any sort of future change in its statement? There had been thoughts that as many as three Fed governors might dissent...
