TONGUE IN CHEEK

A while back we wrote a piece about Greece's problems called  PLATO'S TREE IS MISSING.

It was February and the weather gets cold that time of year. To keep warm lots of Greeks were burning wood. At the time it might have seemed a little tongue in cheek. It wasn't. Here's a link to another point of view on the subject from a well-respected, well-known energy site.

http://ourfiniteworld.com/2013/05/23/oil-limits-and-climate-change/

WEDNESDAY READS

An Interesting Read
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/138228.html

Mothers Top Earners
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/29/mothers-now-top-earners-in-4-out-10-american-households/

Gold Price Behavior
http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/commodities/articles/Gold2527s-Price-Behavior-price-of-gold/5/28/2013/id/50039?page=full

Hospitals Can Save Big Bucks
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/05/28/The-Novel-Way-Hospitals-Can-Save-Millions.aspx#page1

Youth Unemployment Trouble In EU
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/28/us-europe-unemployment-idUSBRE94R0D320130528

Not Just Yet
http://news.investors.com/economy/052813-657870-consumer-confidence-case-shiller-home-prices-rise.htm?ref=HPLNews

13 Month High
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/treasurys-fall-after-housing-10-year-nears-206-2013-05-2

Goal Setting
http://ittybiz.com/how-to-set-goals/


Commodities Provide Some Lift
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323336104578501182311597930.html?mod=ITP_pageone_1

A PRIMER

The man who wants to make an entirely reasonable will dies intestate.  

         George Bernard Shaw

Perhaps nowhere does Shaw’s dictum better apply than to markets. Markets never behave reasonably for very long. And they never will if for no other reason than all the players are human.

Yet that doesn’t excuse investors from acquiring some understanding of the whys and ways markets work. What you really need to know about and understand is 2Cs, 2Ps, 2Ls, 2Vs and one lonely little S. No, this isn’t some esoteric formula or pre-calculus math exercise. But if you can grasp this material you’ll be well on your way to avoiding many of those calculus-like shoals that infest the investing world. 

Let’s begin with the 2Cs, credit and correlation. Remember in Chapter One we discussed credit and the subject cropped up again in the chapter on bonds. The key to learning is repetition, repetition, repetition. We mentioned risk. It turns out that credit is somewhat Janus-faced—that is, a borrower may default, something market pundits call default event risk (Review chapter on risks!). That’s pretty simple. A borrower, for whatever reasons, decides to walk.

The other face of credit risk you need to understand more clearly because it involves that lonely little S mentioned above. But for now, here’s the answer: even with a loan where there is no defaulter, the lender incurs something called spread risk. And that’s what the little lonely S stands for, spread. The spread on the loan the lender makes may widen.

 We’ll say it again, SPREAD!  It turns out most things in life involve a spread of some kind. You purchase 100 shares of XZC Corporation stock. The shares are quoted at ask 23 ¼ and bid at 23 1/8. The ask 23 ¼ is what you must pay to buy the stock; the bid, 23 1/8 is what you can sell it for. So obviously, for you to break even or make a profit (commissions and all other costs aside), the stock has to appreciate in price above the asking price.

The difference then between the bid and the ask price is called the spread. Spreads in the stock market vary according to where the stocks are traded and according to market capitalization (Remember that term?). Usually larger stocks, large capitalization stocks, have smaller spreads, or bid and ask prices, than small cap stocks if for no other reason than small companies are viewed by the market as being more risky.

TUESDAY READS

How Important Is This Region?
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/10003

What Say The Bears?
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bears-cite-performance-chasing-as-stocks-rise-2013-05-24

Japanese Turmoil
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/28/us-japan-economy-boj-idUSBRE94R03X20130528

Delay In Canadian Rate Hike?
http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?storyid=af28788f-d99a-4e15-954d-7ef487bf3b45

How Goes Consumers
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumers-keeping-economy-on-track-2013-05-26?dist=lbeforebell

VIX: Is It Antiquated?
http://www.futuresmag.com/2013/05/27/vix-readers-start-to-weigh-on-stock-market-uptrend?ref=hp

Japan: A Different View 
http://www.marctomarket.com/

Job Cuts
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-27/u-k-banks-cut-189-000-with-employment-at-nine-year-low.html

Short Squeeze
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/05/24/how-to-spot-the-next-short-squeeze/

Fear And Greed
http://money.cnn.com/data/fear-and-greed/?iid=SF_INV_FG

Deals
http://money.cnn.com/gallery/investing/2013/05/20/best-deals-investing.moneymag/index.html

WEEKEND READS

The Liar Game http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/05/24/7-Ways-to-Spot-a-Liar-at-Work.aspx#page1

The Pain In Spain http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/2013/5/25/black-market-or-bust-the-stark-choice-facing-many-of-spains.html

Reality Sets In? http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/26/us-economy-global-idUSBRE94P0D820130526

Managers, Yes. Traders, no.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/24/investing/hedge-funds-women-babies/index.html

Job-Cutting The Greek Way
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/top-job-cutter-in-greece-worries-about-going-too-far-a-901234.html

Stock Market's Surge?
http://blog.milesfranklin.com/why-is-the-stock-market-going-up

Share Buy Backs Support Market
http://www.marctomarket.com/2013/05/great-graphic-focus-on-us-equties.html#more

Dementia Cure
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/encore/2013/05/23/study-vitamin-b-could-curb-dementia/


Tyranny Creeps On
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/052413-657747-creeping-tyranny-working-against-reporters-and-churches.htm?ref=HPLNews

BRIEFS

It's the blue faces the red again.

Only this time it's about jobs. You recall them. In the last four or so years not too many new ones around. So it's interesting to see which states are relating more new jobs, the red or the blue. And the winner is:  
http://news.investors.com/052313-657271-red-states-beat-blue-states-on-economy-jobs.htm?ref=HPLNews
---
China's manufacturing continues it's lukewarm ways. Some analysts blame China for Japan's woes as both EU and Japanese equities take hit on the Chinese report.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323336104578498902464473978.html
---

THURSDAY READS

Scandals Good Or Bad?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-22/are-obama-s-scandals-good-for-investors-.html

Meaningful Day?
http://investorplace.com/2013/05/daily-stock-market-news-will-the-key-reversal-day-be-the-markets-kiss-of-death/

Stand Pat Or Go
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/05/23/will-japans-retail-investors-stay-or-flee/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=MarketsMain

Bernanke Comment
http://www.marctomarket.com/2013/05/market-responds-dramatically-to-bernanke.html

New Home Prices

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2013/05/23/april-new-home-sales/2354051/

At It Again
http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/23/news/economy/mortgage-backed-securities.pr.fortune/index.html

Your Credit Score

http://www.moneytalksnews.com/2013/05/23/ask-an-expert-will-carrying-a-balance-improve-my-credit-score/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=email-2013-05-23&utm_medium=email

TUESDAY READS

Chinese  Equities And Commodities
http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/ryan-puplava/china-stock-market-commodities

Used Car Prices Fall
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/05/20/used-car-prices-fall/2208637/

Bargain Hunters
http://news.investors.com/business-the-new-america/052013-656829-gnc-to-see-profit-boost-from-new-members.htm

Jobless Youth
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/europe-failing-to-combat-youth-unemployment-a-900621.html

Hiring
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/05/20/whats-holding-back-hiring/

French Economic Woes
http://investorplace.com/2013/05/france-needs-hollande-to-keep-his-word-on-economic-offensive/

Lower Gas Prices Retail Sales
http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/20/news/economy/gas-prices/index.html?iid=SF_E_LN

Don't Bet On It
http://ondline.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324767004578484913679967772.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_personalfinance

DEBASING CURRENCIES

If you think debasing currencies isn't closely watched, read the following link from the WSJ.

Often referred to as "beggar thy neighbor," it's something that frequently cause central banks to intervene in the market to protect their goods. Here you have tiny Taiwan active in the market trying to prevent their currency from appreciating too much. 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324767004578488682893945140.html?mod=ITP_moneyandinvesting_1

MONDAY READS

That Leaving Feeling
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323398204578489261685554102.html?mod=ITP_pageone_1

TBTF
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/too-big-to-fail-is-now-bigger-than-ever-andy-xie-2013-05-19?pagenumber=2

Mistake Or Good Buy
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/05/19/yahoo-mistake-tumblr/

Global Connections
http://www.itau.com.br/itaubba-pt/analises-economicas/publicacoes/global-connections/developing-euphoria-felix-zulauf

Bernanke Testifies       
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100749333

Read With Care
http://www.learnbonds.com/be-a-smart-investment-news-consumer/

Yield Curve
http://www.bondvigilantes.com/blog/2013/05/17/what-is-the-probability-of-a-u-s-recession-in-the-next-12-months/

Equities For Lunch
http://www.seeitmarket.com/3-reasons-investors-are-eating-us-equities-for-breakfast-13309/