A Gift from Greece
The debt crisis that started in Greece and is now engulfing Europe has acted as a catalyst for a sell-off in global risk assets. Investors are liquidating stocks, risky bonds, and commodities and loading up on U.S. Treasury bonds. The 30-year Treasury yield has fallen from a high of 4.84% in early April... Read the full story
The European Crisis Crusade
Treasury Secretary Geithner is on a crusade to prevent the debt crisis in Europe from spinning out of control. The Wall Street Journal reports that Mr. Geithner is chiding European leaders on their crisis response. He apparently believes he has a better strategy for Europe. Geithner wants Europe to pile... Read the full story
The Bear Market in Pork
The PIIGS are deep in bear market territory, falling more than 37% since October of 2009. Our chart shows a break through key support, indicating that a drop to the March 2009 low now seems possible. Read More →
A 500% Return in High-Yielders
Do you invest in master limited partnerships (MLPs)? MLPs are publicly traded limited partnerships. They combine the tax benefits of a limited partnership with the liquidity of a publicly traded security. MLPs pay no entity-level tax. They are pass-through entities. MLP unit holders are allocated a proportionate... Read the full story
The #1 Investment in the World
You may recently have read the outstanding, in-depth article from Sports Illustrated “Sports Genes,” by David Epstein, who points out that “good genes” don’t necessarily equate to athletic success. Take Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie, the world-record holder in the marathon and perhaps... Read the full story
Doctor Copper’s Bad Diagnosis
PhD. Copper points to weakening global economic growth. A break below the support line would likely signal a quickening in the pace of decline. Stay tuned into the price action in copper futures. Read More →
90% of Bankruptcy Lawyers Believe A U.S. City Will Fail
Survey Shows Risk of U.S. Municipal Defaults – Nicole Bullock, Financial Times “Some 90 per cent of the 91 bankruptcy lawyers, bankers, fund managers and other turnaround specialists polled earlier this month predicted a US city would default in 2010 or 2011, versus 63 per cent who expected the... Read the full story
Avoid Financial Ruin
Did you know that the S&P 500 is down 5% since year-end 1999? That’s not just price; I’m including dividends here. What an atrocious return. And for the privilege of losing 5% of your capital, you’d have had to endure two of the most severe bear markets in history with peak-to-trough declines... Read the full story
A Valuable Lesson
If you have been following the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) civil suit against Goldman Sachs, you know the SEC is suing the firm for underwriting and selling a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) without disclosing to the buyers that a hedge fund taking a short position in the... Read the full story
A New All-Time High
A $1 trillion dollar bailout of overly indebted euro-area governments has helped push gold to a new all-time high. The bailout in Europe greatly diminishes the credibility of the European Central Bank and the euro. Investors are rightfully fed up with paper money. The only credible alternative to paper... Read the full story
