Archive - Apr 2010 - Blog entry

Once upon a time, Western opinion leaders found themselves both impressed and frightened by the extraordinary growth rates achieved by a set of Eastern economies. Although those economies were still substantially poorer and smaller than those of the West, the speed with which they had transformed themselves from peasant societies into industrial powerhouses, their continuing ability to achieve growth rates several times higher than the advanced nations, and their increasing ability to challenge or even surpass American and European technology in certain areas seemed to call into question the dominance not only of Western power but of Western ideology...

Last week, one of our 3 bullish candidates, DNR, was the 2nd greatest gainer (+11.2%) across the S&P 500. For this week, our scans say energy complex up, consumer discretionary down. The energy patch, utilities included, appears primed to pump higher. Weekly charts with explicit trade setups ~ DELL, NKE, PCLN, F, BIG, HD, HAS, MAT, UNG, CNX, AES, FE, MFE & QID.

Bob Doll, Vice Chairman of BlackRock (BLK), the world's biggest money manager, appeared at CNBC on March 29 sharing his latest views with Ken Langone.

What expands asses across America alongside narrowing ranges on the NYSE? Easter chocolate, of course! A quick look at 30-minute, daily & weekly charts of Hershey (HSY), Kraft (KFT) and Tootsie Roll (TR) across several of our proprietary trading screens.

For all the gold bugs, let's run some numbers.

How to read the unemployment numbers in a world where the major media are cheerleading their coverage.

Apparently, yours truly's last post generated quite a ruckus subsequent to which EverBank has decided to delete the offending Section 6.3.7.3 in their Terms and Conditions for “Non-FDIC Insured Metals Select Accounts”...

The nation’s 10 largest public pension funds have paid private equity firms more than $17 billion in fees since 2000, according to a new analysis conducted for The New York Times, as the funds flocked to these so-called alternative investments in hopes of reaping market-beating returns. Unfortunately, most are still waiting for the big payoff - and shockingly, some are even doubling down on these investments.

Reports from the Labor Department today showed companies in the U.S. created more jobs in March than at any time in the past three years. Nevertheless, behind the rosy headlines, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics also give a grim side of the employment picture.

During the critical first moments of a budding populist movement, it's not the leader who's most crucial but the first follower, who validates the leader, and the second follower, who validates the first. Herd mentality can work both ways.

Implied volatility for the big banks is down across the board, just about where it was before the system went into convulsions. This implies the coast is clear, as do the share prices of many banks.
Hard core forensic and fundamental analysis implies otherwise. So does the Fed's actions, which still incorporates ZIRP policy, as well as the waffling at FASB. We will either have smooth sailing from this point on out or there is a nasty surprise waiting (on and off balance sheet) for bank investors in the near future. I invite readers to weigh in with their opinions.

I ran this bit on The Daily Capitalist last year, same time, and got nothing but grief. What do you think?

Today we will be getting the BLS numbers on jobs which everyone says will be great. Will it be good or bad news? The problem is that many of these "jobs" aren't jobs. The needle isn't budging.

Weather is like monetary policy. Extremes are bad.

I'm not against derivatives - including credit default swaps. But keeping them secret and hidden is a recipe for disaster ...