Archive - Mar 29, 2010 - Blog entry

Guess what the top performing asset of 2010 has been? Decades of production downsizing, huge Chinese buying, and waning competition from Canada because of a strong loonie, conspire to take lumber up a blistering 39.9% YTD. (WY), (LPX), (CUT).

The General Accounting Standards Board, or GASB, is likely to move toward changes that would increase the pension liability that local governments display on balance sheets by tens of billions of dollars. If the modifications are approved, many already cash-strapped states and municipalities would likely have to increase the amount they are supposed to pay annually to their pension funds to help cover the shortfall. As if that isn't bad enough, federal criminal investigators are looking into possible wrongdoing involving investment transactions of public pension funds including Calpers, the nation's biggest public pension fund. How many more pension bombs are set to explode?

One of our daily scans returned an oddball pattern at the end of last week that is extremely rare and extremely interesting from a technical perspective; 4 consecutive "filled white" candles. The culprit: none other than Boeing, the big BA, who just yesterday completed an "ultimate-load wing up-bending test on the 787 Dreamliner" with "positive initial results." Though analysis of the data for the long-delayed Dreamliner will take several weeks to sift through, we took a few snapshots and present a technical profile for the big BA and Continental Airlines (CAL), which stood out as another utterly fugly issue ripe for reversal.

The “tough guy” approach to Iran. Taking on the “America Bashers”. The spectacular growth of China and India is largely the result of open American trade policies. The biggest threats to American dominance are runaway borrowing and entitlements. “Even our power has its limits.” An exclusive interview with former Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury, James Baker III.