Thursday, May 30, 2013
LATE DAY READS
Greater Risk In Market
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-01/fed-s-kocherlakota-sees-greater-concern-about-risk-in-markets.html
Tipping Or Turning
http://blog.milesfranklin.com/is-this-the-turning-point
Protracted Bull Market http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/Laszlo-Birinyi-stocks-bull-market-higher/2013/05/30/id/507174
Gold Rally Says What? http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/commodities/articles/gold-crude-commodities-currencies-euro-dollar/5/30/2013/id/50071
Renters Still In The Market http://blogs.marketwatch.com/election/2013/05/30/in-many-markets-its-cheaper-to-rent-than-buy-but-thats-not-stopping-home-builders/
Mortgage Rates Up
http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/30/real_estate/mortgage-rates-rise/index.html?iid=HP_LN
UPDATE
Back in March we wrote a blurb, Playing the BRICS, about Mendelez, MDLZ, the food company that was part of Kraft's breakup.
The stock hasn't set the globe on fire, though it's up more than 12% on the year. Back then we emphasized the hidden value in the shares. We think it's still there. Value nearly always has some blemishes otherwise it wouldn't be value as in under-appreciated or overlooked.
Overlook the debt, this is a company with upside potential from several catalysts besides its products.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324125504578511432129533160.html?KEYWORDS=Kraft
The stock hasn't set the globe on fire, though it's up more than 12% on the year. Back then we emphasized the hidden value in the shares. We think it's still there. Value nearly always has some blemishes otherwise it wouldn't be value as in under-appreciated or overlooked.
Overlook the debt, this is a company with upside potential from several catalysts besides its products.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324125504578511432129533160.html?KEYWORDS=Kraft
BRIEFS
An old Wall Street saying notes: "When the ducks are quacking, feed 'em."
Well, the quacking as we pointed out yesterday in the bit about "new kid in town," continues. As this WSJ article points out, look for a flood of convertible securities to hit the market as bankers and corporations do what they do best--feed a growing investor appetite.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324682204578513310149956102.html?mod=markets_newsreel
_________
Old soldiers never die and they don't fade away as one famous American general once put it. They just go to Wall Street and make a lot of money.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324682204578513663485449922.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTTopStories
Well, the quacking as we pointed out yesterday in the bit about "new kid in town," continues. As this WSJ article points out, look for a flood of convertible securities to hit the market as bankers and corporations do what they do best--feed a growing investor appetite.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324682204578513310149956102.html?mod=markets_newsreel
_________
Old soldiers never die and they don't fade away as one famous American general once put it. They just go to Wall Street and make a lot of money.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324682204578513663485449922.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTTopStories
THURSDAY READS
Another View
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/05/28/dont-believe-new-housing-bubble-hype/
What Most Shun
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-26/gold-bets-reach-five-year-low-with-prices-whipsawed-commodities.html
Trouble Ahead
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/05/29/10-year-treasury-yield-matches-sp-500-dividend-yield-turning-tables-on-hunt-for-yield/
Bernanke Lost Control
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/05/29/pimcos-gross-says-bernanke-has-a-lost-a-little-control/
Housing Bubble
http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/2013/5/29/housing-bubble-ii-institutional-investors-instead-of-first-t.html
Chinese Acquire Big Grocery Firm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324412604578512722044165756.html?mod=ITP_pageone_0
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/05/28/dont-believe-new-housing-bubble-hype/
What Most Shun
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-26/gold-bets-reach-five-year-low-with-prices-whipsawed-commodities.html
Trouble Ahead
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/05/29/10-year-treasury-yield-matches-sp-500-dividend-yield-turning-tables-on-hunt-for-yield/
Bernanke Lost Control
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/05/29/pimcos-gross-says-bernanke-has-a-lost-a-little-control/
Housing Bubble
http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/2013/5/29/housing-bubble-ii-institutional-investors-instead-of-first-t.html
Chinese Acquire Big Grocery Firm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324412604578512722044165756.html?mod=ITP_pageone_0
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
BRIEFS
Don't look now but if yesterday's market is any indication, a new kid is in town.
His name: economically sensitive stocks. Yea, those puppies a while back nearly everyone shunned for those safer, dividend-yielding equities like drug and utilities, two groups that have helped boost the market nearly 18% higher this year.
In a low interest rate environment yield and safety became the watchwords for institutional and retail investors. Perhaps now all that has changed. On the other hand, it could muddy the equity waters even worse, making it another is it or isn't the real deal?
__________
TWO SIDES
The trouble is they both can't be correct.
On one side are the strategists who think Bernanke will end the Fed's bond-buying spree sometime this September and that will push the 10-year Treasury note yield up to 2.5% by year end. Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street firm with a long lineage to the Fed, among others, falls in that camp.
In the other camp are those who feel the economy is still weak and the key rests with labor or jobs numbers. They also see stocks, given their strong run-up this year so far, as risky and believe that will provide a buying platform for bonds that keeps yields around 2% as investors try to hedge a market down turn.
As noted they can't both be correct.
_______
It's all in the eyes--as in eye contact.
At least that's what the social experts are saying, not that poets for ages haven't been rhyming the same, according to the WSJ.
Adults today make eye contact about 30%-60% of the time during an average conversation. But to create a real sense of connection, these experts say, we should be making eye contact 60%-70% of the time.
So what's the problem and it isn't just ordinary, subaqueous shyness? Mobile devices for one. Here's more.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324809804578511290822228174.html?mod=ITP_personaljournal_0
His name: economically sensitive stocks. Yea, those puppies a while back nearly everyone shunned for those safer, dividend-yielding equities like drug and utilities, two groups that have helped boost the market nearly 18% higher this year.
In a low interest rate environment yield and safety became the watchwords for institutional and retail investors. Perhaps now all that has changed. On the other hand, it could muddy the equity waters even worse, making it another is it or isn't the real deal?
__________
TWO SIDES
The trouble is they both can't be correct.
On one side are the strategists who think Bernanke will end the Fed's bond-buying spree sometime this September and that will push the 10-year Treasury note yield up to 2.5% by year end. Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street firm with a long lineage to the Fed, among others, falls in that camp.
In the other camp are those who feel the economy is still weak and the key rests with labor or jobs numbers. They also see stocks, given their strong run-up this year so far, as risky and believe that will provide a buying platform for bonds that keeps yields around 2% as investors try to hedge a market down turn.
As noted they can't both be correct.
_______
It's all in the eyes--as in eye contact.
At least that's what the social experts are saying, not that poets for ages haven't been rhyming the same, according to the WSJ.
Adults today make eye contact about 30%-60% of the time during an average conversation. But to create a real sense of connection, these experts say, we should be making eye contact 60%-70% of the time.
So what's the problem and it isn't just ordinary, subaqueous shyness? Mobile devices for one. Here's more.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324809804578511290822228174.html?mod=ITP_personaljournal_0
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
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/
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
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
Monday, May 27, 2013
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
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
Sunday, May 26, 2013
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)