What We’re Reading 9-30-2011
Hoenig Critiques Fed in Parting Shot, Carey Gillam, Portfolio.com 1 in 5 Modified Loans Default Again: Comptroller, John Gittelsohn, Bloomberg Is Warren Buffett the New Andrew Mellon? Not Quite, Amity Shlaes, Bloomberg How to Keep Your Balance in Unsteady Markets, Vanguard.com Eurozone Inflation Hits... Read the full story
Have Stocks Bottomed?
After busting through its previous support level of 1,200, the S&P 500 dropped to an intraday low of 1,100 in early August. As we pointed out in our last technical analysis update, longer-term charts show that stocks have significant support in the 1,100-1,150 range. That support level has been confirmed... Read the full story
Bank vulture investor says environment more dangerous than 2008
Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) — Christopher Flowers, founder of private-equity firm JC Flowers & Co., talks about the European financial crisis and its impact on his strategy. Flowers speaks with Erik Schatzker at the Bloomberg Link Dealmakers Summit in New York. (Source: Bloomberg) Read More →
Pay Risk for Pensions and Annuities
High interest rates are not the problem with the real-estate market. Anyone who bought a house in the ’70s or ’80s can attest to that. The actual problems? Weak appraisals, 20–30% cash at closing, high labor costs, and high input costs for basic materials top my list. So the Federal Reserve’s... Read the full story
How to Profit when Stocks Plummet
Over the last two months, stock-market fluctuations have been extreme. In August, 400-point swings became a common daily occurrence for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. September has also seen its share of volatile days. Since the end of July, one common measure of volatility, standard deviation, has... Read the full story
What We’re Reading 9-23-11
Global Stocks Drop 20% Into Bear Market, Lynn Thomasson and Michael Patterson, Bloomberg The Spend Now, Tax Later Jobs Bill, Alan Reynolds, The Wall Street Journal Obama’s Tax Morass, Daniel Henninger, The Wall Street Journal The Real Effects of Debt, Stephen G Cecchetti, M S Mohanty and Fabrizio... Read the full story
Down 58% in 2008
Legg Mason Value Trust fund outperformed the stock market every year from 1991 to 2005. The word “legendary” would often precede the name of its manager, Bill Miller. He was legendary for building positions in companies by dollar-cost averaging down while other investors were selling. His style is... Read the full story
Twisted Monetary Policy
At the Fed’s policy meeting yesterday, Mr. Bernanke announced that what America desperately needs is a rearranging of the deck chairs. Facing opposition from, well, just about everybody who isn’t a trained Keynesian economist (read: those with common sense), the Fed decided to lengthen the maturity... Read the full story
Chanos on China
Mr. Chanos provides a sobering reminder of the dangers lurking in the world’s second largest economy. Read More →
Copper Signals Trouble
Copper is said to have a PhD in economics for its ability to forecast the economy. Copper is used in everything from construction to autos to electronics. What do copper prices signal about the economy today? Global economic momentum is slowing. Copper prices are rolling over. The red metal has broken... Read the full story
