Psst – iShares for Sale; Ned, You Listening?
Barclays PLC, the London-based financial conglomerate, is seeking a buyer for its San Francisco-based iShares unit. iShares, an ETF juggernaut, has approximately $300 Billion under management. This division is officially a unit of Baclays Global Investors, a shop with over $1.5 Trillion under management....
Obama Flip-Flops On The Economy
You didn’t have to follow NBC’s The West Wing to know the power of messaging in politics. Follow news from our nation’s capital and you soon learn that truth matters less than how people perceive the truth. In Washington, some politicians almost create new realities with the stories...
The Amazing Disappearing Billionaire
According to Forbes magazine, which diligently monitors these things, nearly a third of the world’s billionaires have disappeared since last year. The people aren’t gone, just their money. Or at least enough of it to put them back in the company of mere centimillionaires, those with a...
Citigroup: Dangerous Penny Stock
For decades, agencies like the SEC have warned investors about the dangers of “penny stocks.” There is even a special statement your broker is required to give you before you can buy such a stock. It tells you scary things like this: “Penny stocks are low-priced shares of small...
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...
Feeling Bad? At Least We’re Not Japan
Feeling a bit down? What happened in the pit of your stomach the last time you saw your statements? Did you already decide you won’t be able to retire in the next 5 years? Just a couple of years ago, you were counting down the weeks until you could leave office politics behind for a cozy home backing...
Not a Touchdown, Timmy!
What an appalling day. Our U.S. Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner (aka Turbo Tax Timmy – I like that moniker), tells us how the Treasury is fully on the crime scene today, with additional capital injections and some sort of murky public/private program to buy toxic assets. All this noise sounds...
Obama: King Of The Stimulus
Last week, researchers unveiled findings about a giant snake from South America. This prehistoric reptile is thought to be the largest terrestrial vertebrate ever discovered. Measuring over 40-foot long, this snake probably ate full-grown alligators for breakfast. To appreciate its size, any snake you’ve...
As January Goes, So Goes The Year
Traders like rules. Sometimes those rules even mirror reality – hence a maxim develops. Some of my favorite rules-turned-maxims are “the trend is your friend” and “when in doubt, stay out.” More recently, Jim Cramer emphasized a famous adage: “Bulls make money. Bears...
Bad Year Ahead For Some Companies
Last year was a difficult year for businesses. Most of the news centered around the financial sector. Bankruptcies and bailouts for AIG, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and more underscored a hard year for financial services. However, banks and related institutions weren’t the only companies in...
