Geithner Burns Up More Of Your Cash
In the “Your Tax Dollars At Work” department: Today Tim Geithner’s Treasury Department announced plans to convert $25 billion of your preferred-stock position in Citigroup (C) into common stock at a price of $3.25 per share. Congratulations. Your preferred stock earned a nice...
Are MacroShares Really ETFs?
The main difference between ETFs/ETNs and other investment vehicles, particularly closed-end funds, is the ability to keep market price and Net Asset Value (NAV) closely aligned. The process is actually quite simple: ETFs have “authorized participants” with the ability to exchange shares...
Bad Idea: H.R. 1068
Congress is considering legislation to impose a securities transaction tax of 0.25% on every stock trade, which of course is equivalent to 0.5% for each round trip. It’s known as H.R. 1068: Let Wall Street Pay for Wall Street’s Bailout Act of 2009. As currently written, the bill amends...
Ten Million Subscribers Can’t Be Wrong (NFLX)
On any given day, many stocks advance and many decline. Lately it’s been much harder than usual to find companies that are going up. Finding stocks worth owning is not much easier than finding a needle in a haystack. That’s why we’ve mostly recommended cash and cash alternatives...
Sneak Peak – Netflix (NFLX) Joins Frugalpalooza
Our feature pick of the week is a long-side candidate. Frugalpalooza is coming to the masses, and today we give you the inside track on our latest idea. (Note – we typically release our Pick-of-the-Week candidate in our weekly email. If you are not on that distribution list, click here to...
The Folly of My Inbox
Each and every day, I receive countless emails containing get rich-quick schemes, bogus trading systems, at-home business ideas, the latest and greatest investment opportunity, the next gold stock set to soar, etc etc. The list is endless, providing a good source of humor in an otherwise gloomy environment. Sometimes...
Who Do You Trust?
Let me take you back a few years. A generation or two ago, most Americans were ignorant about Washington. For whatever the reasons, most of us trusted our politicians. We thought they would speak the truth about foreign policy. We didn’t think they wouldn’t ever lie about major events. We...
Is Your Bank A Zombie?
This week bank stocks moved even closer to their target price, i.e. zero. How can this be? Isn’t the government bailing them out? Not exactly. Like the Bush administration before it, the Obama plan involves slapping a lot of band-aids on a sucking chest wound. Both patient and medic are glad...
Market Momentum for 2-19-09
Market momentum is strong – strongly negative. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a new 52-week (and six-year) low today. Sectors Health Care is atop our sector rankings but is having trouble getting past resistance formed by highs of the last four months. Technology is holding onto...
Edge Chart User’s Guide
The early development of my Relative Strength Momentum (RSM) sector rotation model took place in the mid-1980s. The ranking system proved a valuable tool over the years, and the computer printout format served its purpose – identifying the sectors and groups with an edge. If a picture is worth...
