Who is the current biggest lame duck?
Well, if your Home Depot co-founder and billionaire investor Kenneth Langone, it's Big Ben Bernanke. Langone made his comment on CNBC recently.
More than once Bernanke has hinted at his desire to step down after he finishes his second term as Fed chairman. And judging from President Obama's recent comments on the Charlie Rose show, Oama is not jumping up and down to reappoint Big Ben.
Obama's treatment of Bernanke caught the attention of observers who claim it unfair and not deserving of Bernanke's service.
________
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
BIG BEN
Big Ben spoke today.
The Fed left things alone, to put it plainly. Some pundits are saying rates won't get changed until at least 2015. That could turn out to be true. But the market, as it always does, will have the last say.
And the market has already started raising rates.
Bernanke repeated his previous palaver, claiming tapering doesn't amount to hiking interest rates.
Below is a statement from the FOMC.
"To support continued progress toward maximum employment and price stability, the committee expects that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain appropriate for a considerable time after the asset purchase program ends and the economic recovery strengthens," the FOMC said.
The Fed may push this as an example of more transparency. But the market may interpret it differently.
The Fed left things alone, to put it plainly. Some pundits are saying rates won't get changed until at least 2015. That could turn out to be true. But the market, as it always does, will have the last say.
And the market has already started raising rates.
Bernanke repeated his previous palaver, claiming tapering doesn't amount to hiking interest rates.
Below is a statement from the FOMC.
"To support continued progress toward maximum employment and price stability, the committee expects that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain appropriate for a considerable time after the asset purchase program ends and the economic recovery strengthens," the FOMC said.
The Fed may push this as an example of more transparency. But the market may interpret it differently.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
THE THREE MUSKETEERS
So like the three musketeers, which is it: one for all or all for one?
According this researcher since 2009, it's all three driving the market.
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/06/18/the-rally-in-three-charts-hint-its-not-all-about-the-fed/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=MarketsMain
According this researcher since 2009, it's all three driving the market.
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/06/18/the-rally-in-three-charts-hint-its-not-all-about-the-fed/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=MarketsMain
DIAMONDS
Diamonds may be a girl's best friend as the saying goes, but they ain't much of an investment asset.
Here's a link to a story that spills the diamonds on the diamond charade.
http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/45768546804/diamonds-are-bullshit
Here's a link to a story that spills the diamonds on the diamond charade.
http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/45768546804/diamonds-are-bullshit
COACH
We've written about Coach COH before. If you go through our posts you'll find the blurb.
Below is link to more info on company. We think it's a clear bargain compared to Michael Kors. We think COH will make intelligent and important acquisitions as well as manage any previously thought disturbances in the long run.
http://ycharts.com/analysis/story/unlike_its_handbags_coach_may_now_be_a_steal?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=YCharts+Analysis+Digest+MRK+COH+KORS+-+Non-Pro+-+DIGEST&utm_content=YCharts+Analysis+Digest+MRK+COH+KORS+-+Non-Pro+-+DIGEST+CID_931395e7da6cd13fb78fea4880d8e9ab&utm_source=email&utm_term=Unlike%20Its%20Handbags%20Coach%20May%20Now%20Be%20a%20Steal
Below is link to more info on company. We think it's a clear bargain compared to Michael Kors. We think COH will make intelligent and important acquisitions as well as manage any previously thought disturbances in the long run.
http://ycharts.com/analysis/story/unlike_its_handbags_coach_may_now_be_a_steal?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=YCharts+Analysis+Digest+MRK+COH+KORS+-+Non-Pro+-+DIGEST&utm_content=YCharts+Analysis+Digest+MRK+COH+KORS+-+Non-Pro+-+DIGEST+CID_931395e7da6cd13fb78fea4880d8e9ab&utm_source=email&utm_term=Unlike%20Its%20Handbags%20Coach%20May%20Now%20Be%20a%20Steal
Monday, June 17, 2013
MONDAY READS
Have Jobs Will Travel
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/italians-flock-to-berlin-to-join-flourishing-start-up-scene-a-903908.html
$100 Barrel Oil?
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100819317
The Fed And The Market http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/06/16/Will-the-Fed-Be-Able-to-Rein-in-Volatile-Markets.aspx#page1
Economist Defends The 1%
http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mankiw/files/defending_the_one_percent.pdf
Fed Meeting Hangs Over Market
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/17/us-markets-global-idUSBRE88901C20130617
Figure It Out
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-16/big-short-on-aussie-tells-loomis-time-to-buy-australia-credit.html
Good Or Bad For Economy
http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/14/pf/credit-cards/index.html?iid=Lead
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/italians-flock-to-berlin-to-join-flourishing-start-up-scene-a-903908.html
$100 Barrel Oil?
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100819317
The Fed And The Market http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/06/16/Will-the-Fed-Be-Able-to-Rein-in-Volatile-Markets.aspx#page1
Economist Defends The 1%
http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mankiw/files/defending_the_one_percent.pdf
Fed Meeting Hangs Over Market
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/17/us-markets-global-idUSBRE88901C20130617
Figure It Out
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-16/big-short-on-aussie-tells-loomis-time-to-buy-australia-credit.html
Good Or Bad For Economy
http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/14/pf/credit-cards/index.html?iid=Lead
Sunday, June 16, 2013
ABOUT TIME
For a long time we've railed against the CDC nonsense about the flu vaccine.
Now a Johns Hopkins flu expert steps into the breech of what has been suspected for some time. First these flu scares are just that--over-hyped scares. But the over-reaction about the flu isn't the only area where the CDC is little more than a panic-mongering group of pseudo-scientists who love power and authority.
That power and authority is the life's blood of their funding. Much of what they do is little more than incestuous scientific masturbation. Keep the funds coming. Vaccine makers love the CDC.
These vaccines, like the ones for pneumonia and herpes zoster, to name just two, are aggressively hawked by health care organizations and big-time workman's comp providers, mostly as a so-called preventative and public service. Hundreds of firms have one of these health care providers come out annually and inoculate their entire staff. It's like an annual annuity that just keeps throwing off income.
Walk into any major pharmacy during the so-called flu season and you'll see ads for the flu shot. The smell of money is everywhere. This is a self-perpetuating sham. America is the most over-medicated, over-inoculated nation on the planet.
Another one is the tetanus vaccine. It used to be marketed for every 10 years. Now overly-aggressive health care providers push it on unsuspecting patients every five or eight years. And they have, like more and more things in medicine, expanded or widened the net for those who supposedly should get it.
http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/Newswidget/flu-shot-risks-benefits/2013/06/14/id/510050?promo_code=F492-1&utm_source=Test_Newsmax_Feed&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1
Now a Johns Hopkins flu expert steps into the breech of what has been suspected for some time. First these flu scares are just that--over-hyped scares. But the over-reaction about the flu isn't the only area where the CDC is little more than a panic-mongering group of pseudo-scientists who love power and authority.
That power and authority is the life's blood of their funding. Much of what they do is little more than incestuous scientific masturbation. Keep the funds coming. Vaccine makers love the CDC.
These vaccines, like the ones for pneumonia and herpes zoster, to name just two, are aggressively hawked by health care organizations and big-time workman's comp providers, mostly as a so-called preventative and public service. Hundreds of firms have one of these health care providers come out annually and inoculate their entire staff. It's like an annual annuity that just keeps throwing off income.
Walk into any major pharmacy during the so-called flu season and you'll see ads for the flu shot. The smell of money is everywhere. This is a self-perpetuating sham. America is the most over-medicated, over-inoculated nation on the planet.
Another one is the tetanus vaccine. It used to be marketed for every 10 years. Now overly-aggressive health care providers push it on unsuspecting patients every five or eight years. And they have, like more and more things in medicine, expanded or widened the net for those who supposedly should get it.
http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/Newswidget/flu-shot-risks-benefits/2013/06/14/id/510050?promo_code=F492-1&utm_source=Test_Newsmax_Feed&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1
A FEW CENTS SHORT
I'm a few cents short.
I'm a few cents short of putting gasoline in my car. Ain't it funny how the money can change our lives. I'm a few cents short of seeing you tonight, a few cents short of being where you are.
I'm a few cents short of holding you in my arms, a few cents short of keeping us from falling apart.
Those are the words of a John Michael Montgomery song from the past. Most of us know that feeling. Most of us at one time or another have been a few cents short.
Today it's more like a few dollars. It's funny how the money can change our lives. And that's the big concern among investors if and when Bernanke and crew cut off the liquidity spigot. The proof's in the market's recent jitteriness.
Turning off the spigot finally is a newly sharpened blade. For investors caught on the wrong side of that action it could turn out like a dark and stormy night, a season full of rain and a horde of investment portfolios full of pain.
A popular gym saying a while back was go big or go home. Here it's more like get it right or get poorer.
The trend may be your friend, but politicians, bureaucrats and markets ain't. All three can turn into your darkest nightmare. Take your eye off the bouncing ball now and you'll most likely turn up more than a few cents short.
I'm a few cents short of putting gasoline in my car. Ain't it funny how the money can change our lives. I'm a few cents short of seeing you tonight, a few cents short of being where you are.
I'm a few cents short of holding you in my arms, a few cents short of keeping us from falling apart.
Those are the words of a John Michael Montgomery song from the past. Most of us know that feeling. Most of us at one time or another have been a few cents short.
Today it's more like a few dollars. It's funny how the money can change our lives. And that's the big concern among investors if and when Bernanke and crew cut off the liquidity spigot. The proof's in the market's recent jitteriness.
Turning off the spigot finally is a newly sharpened blade. For investors caught on the wrong side of that action it could turn out like a dark and stormy night, a season full of rain and a horde of investment portfolios full of pain.
A popular gym saying a while back was go big or go home. Here it's more like get it right or get poorer.
The trend may be your friend, but politicians, bureaucrats and markets ain't. All three can turn into your darkest nightmare. Take your eye off the bouncing ball now and you'll most likely turn up more than a few cents short.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
BRIEFS
Once again investors need to learn a vital lesson from what's going on in Detroit.
Profligate governments that will not voluntarily right their fiscal houses should have their financial feet held to the free-market flame. One way to do it is never, ever, no matter how enticing the offer, lend them your money for unsecured securities.
Avoid investing in any institutional firms that might do so also. Forget the rating agencies; they've proved irrelevant for the most part. Shareholders can send a message to companies that buy this unsecured government garbage. We will avoid your products and dump your equities.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324688404578545373282545626.html?mod=ITP_pageone_0
_________
Addictive Nipple
If you already don't know, Ben Bernanke's set to speak next Wednesday. By some estimates Bernanke might be the second most powerful bureaucrat on the globe. People hang on every utterance.
The important utterance this time, as it has been for awhile, will be about liquidity--to continue or not to continue it, the economic equivalent of Hamlet.
Liquidity is the oxygen of any free market, but to paraphrase Winston Churchill, never have so many depended on so few for so much. The few, besides Big Ben, include Japanese, Chinese and EU central bankers.
Fear begets people heading for exits. The nipple can become addictive.
_______
Profligate governments that will not voluntarily right their fiscal houses should have their financial feet held to the free-market flame. One way to do it is never, ever, no matter how enticing the offer, lend them your money for unsecured securities.
Avoid investing in any institutional firms that might do so also. Forget the rating agencies; they've proved irrelevant for the most part. Shareholders can send a message to companies that buy this unsecured government garbage. We will avoid your products and dump your equities.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324688404578545373282545626.html?mod=ITP_pageone_0
_________
Addictive Nipple
If you already don't know, Ben Bernanke's set to speak next Wednesday. By some estimates Bernanke might be the second most powerful bureaucrat on the globe. People hang on every utterance.
The important utterance this time, as it has been for awhile, will be about liquidity--to continue or not to continue it, the economic equivalent of Hamlet.
Liquidity is the oxygen of any free market, but to paraphrase Winston Churchill, never have so many depended on so few for so much. The few, besides Big Ben, include Japanese, Chinese and EU central bankers.
Fear begets people heading for exits. The nipple can become addictive.
_______
Friday, June 14, 2013
INVESTMENT OUTLOOK
We never use the term tip. Tips are more dangerous than my old girlfriend.
Do your homework. Energy has been one of the orphans in this segment of market euphoria. The market will set interest rates, not Bernanke. Bonds hate inflation. Talk about energy surpluses is rife in the news. Economic slowdown fears are on nearly everyone's lips.
Expect the unexpected. Look where most aren't. Energy.
------
Do your homework. Energy has been one of the orphans in this segment of market euphoria. The market will set interest rates, not Bernanke. Bonds hate inflation. Talk about energy surpluses is rife in the news. Economic slowdown fears are on nearly everyone's lips.
Expect the unexpected. Look where most aren't. Energy.
------
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)