Archive - Dec 14, 2010 - Blog entry

A handy infographic explaining how to get ripped off by giving gift cards as Christmas presents.

California Public Employees’ Retirement System has adopted a new asset-allocation strategy in order to better prepare for risk-adjusted performance in the investment world. And that's not all...

Fortunately they straightened me out and we now know that clearly there is no manipulation in the energy markets – can I have my Grandma back now?).

Got answers?

Stocks were drifting sideways for a second-straight day Wednesday, which is no big deal considering the sharp rally since late August. But it will be a big deal if the market suffers another lost decade, as Vitaliy Katsenelson of Investment Management Associates predicts. "To be honest, I have no idea what [the market] is going to do over the next three weeks. But I think over next 8 to 10 years it will be going sideways," he says.

For the duration of what I estimate to be a 10 year economic slowdown (we are entering year 4), you will hear countless experts proclaim that the economy has recovered. Economic recovery evangelists were temporarily silenced earlier in the year, but they have now come out in force.In today's FOMC statement, the Fed actually had the chutzpah to say: "The economic recovery is continuing, though at a rate that has been insufficient to bring down unemployment".

When $100Bills are being printed faster than rolls of Charmin are being made, your currency is probably on it's way to a crisis. You reach a certain point at which it's cheaper to just wipe your butt with dollar bills than to go to the store and buy toilet paper...

If you own these precious metals because you want to hold them as catastrophe insurance or a hedge against inflation, then issues like short-term drops in price should be seen as buying opportunities.

Indeed, Gold bulls have already ridden out 13 corrections of roughly 7%, six corrections ranging from 10%-16%, and three full-scale Crashes of 22-23% since the Gold bull market began in 2001.

So if you’re a long-term bull, you’re used to seeing some serious dips in the price of Gold holdings. And if you bought more Gold during those dips, you’ve profited handsomely.

Another dumb plan from D.C.

It's Reggie Middleton vs Goldman again. This time on Apple. Who has the better track record? Let's delve into the logic of an Apple buy and realize who is making the recommendation and why...

Deliver those bars and melt that bitch!

When a corporate partnership deal turns sour, it has every bit of the drama as a high profile Hollywood celebrity divorce. The verbal clashes between Starbucks (SBUX) and Kraft (KFT) have been escalating over the past month or so. Then, on Monday Dec. 6, Kraft took the fight to court seeking an injunction to stop Starbucks from unwinding a 12-year partnership.

Retail traders are notoriously wrong at picking market direction/tops and bottoms. Most retail traders very naturally seem to adopt a counter-trend stance and this offers very accurate signals for individuals looking to trade against this group. This daily report is designed to help traders focus their efforts on higher probability pairs.

Not much happened in the market today as volume was lighter than the audience for a Hasselhoff reality TV show (and also about 900 IQ points higher) as investors continue to...

A round up ...