CORRECTION?

Despite the recent turmoil in the Nasdaq, someone has been buying the dips. Although down from its March high, the index has yet to register a pullback of 10% in what many would consider a true correction.
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2014/04/15/chart-nasdaq-composite-flirts-with-correction-territory/

STOCK MARKET POETRY

If you're a lover of poetry....and we're uncertain everyone is?
....you might want to weigh this...if you're in the stock market gambling biz....http://www.dailyspeculations.com/wordpress/?p=9253

SMOKING BUBBLE

Most of us are familiar with the textbook definition of inflation.

But here's another one with a slight variation from five burning questions presently puzzling investors, one of which has to do with currently smoking-hot marijuana stocks: "Too many investors are chasing too few stocks with too little in real revenue at this point."

Couple the run-up in share prices with media mesmerizing, an ever-present constant, toss in investor fears about missing out and you have the makings of the big B word.  

http://business.financialpost.com/2014/04/11/5-burning-questions-investors-have-about-markets-right-now/

EASTER INDEX

It's a holiday-shortened week. Notwithstanding today's apparent upturn, the market's been in a sell-off led for the most part by tech stocks. So if you're searching for an omen, this week's focus could center on what techs do and where the market finishes the week.

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2014/04/14/when-stocks-are-down-year-to-date-at-easter-thats-been-bad-news-for-the-rest-of-the-year/

FLASH BOYS

Here's more of a commentary than a review of Michael Lewis' new book about Wall Street, Flash Boys. It's a commentary every young and old seeker who can read ought to read.

In case you don't know, Flash Boys is about electronic cutting to the front of the line. An ultimate act of contempt, front running any and all who have the audacity to play by the rules. In the electronic age rule players and snoozers equal losers.

Reading is the lost art, reading to mine for meaningful information even more so. Forget old guys.

If it's superficial it rules. Even better if it's quick and superficial. Devoid of lines. Forget Jones. It's not about whatever happened to him. Thinking, rule playing, integrity, now there's some real pain.

http://t.ritholtz.com/bigpicture/#!/entry/flash-boys-rules,534a918a025312186cf5af24/1

THE CHASM WIDENS

We noted in an earlier post, The Chess Match, the role natural gas plays in this scenario. As the lines in the sand get drawn the energy sector will become more volatile.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/12/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA3A1B520140412

NOW OR LATER

Some investors have been looking for a market correction for some time. With the past week's downturn many are asking: "Is this it?" Here's the view of one strategist.
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2014/04/11/a-bigger-10-15-correction-is-coming-this-autumn-bank-of-america-merrill-lynch/


http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2014/04/11/a-bigger-10-15-correction-is-coming-this-autumn-bank-of-america-merrill-lynch/

WILL THEY OR WON'T THEY?

Recently, we overheard one wag saying: "A consensus is the most assured way to get whatever is being consented to wrong."

Now we don't know if anyone at the ECB is listening, but waiting for a consensus is just another other form of CYA. Politicians and bureaucrats love CYA. It's the old "misery loves company" couched in alphabetic slang. Here is a decent read http://www.marctomarket.com. Will they or won't they?

HEDGING AT ITS BEST

This article is essentially about the PPI, the producer price index. But then there's the CPI, core inflation, unprocessed goods, whole goods prices, a new index just invented that tracks the price of goods and services meant to be sold to consumers and a whole host of other indicators economists like to play with to try to get a handle on real (Sorry, we didn't mean to confuse by using an economic term!) inflation.

Bottom line: this is just so much economic masturbation. Sad to say, it will be around as long as economists are around. Most of it is grounded in two not so secret secrets: they haven't got a clue and the need to keep the natives from getting restless.

This economic mumble-jumble shares a commonality with the psychiatry fraternity. If you loaded both groups on a huge barge, floated it out in to the deep blue sea and blew it up, nothing would be any different. So much for two of society's best hedgers.

So here's the link. Read it and decide for yourself.  Just know there's much more inflation lurking in the shadows than they want you  to realize.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-wholesale-prices-rise-sharply-in-march-2014-04-11?dist=countdown

UPDATE
 Last year we had a hard drought. Farmers took their stock to market early owing to unaffordable corn or feed prices. A similar situation happened in the hog market. One can rotate crops and plant more of one thing much easier than rotating pigs and cows. 

If you like sausages and deli meats, here's an update about how your consumption pocket is now being picked. We live in an age of government spying nonpareil, the biggest, latest satellites, drones and computers, but food and energy prices are too volatile to track accurately courtesy of your Federal Reserve and government bureaucrats.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/04/11/no-baloney-sausage-deli-meat-prices-surge/?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLE_Video_second

THE CHESS MATCH

Most who paid attention last year to the Cyprus mess knew it was really about energy, natural gas. Europe in its zeal for global cleanliness has played its hand poorly becoming dependent on Russia's abundant natural gas.

The eastern Mediterranean is loaded with natural gas according to some reports. Russia is hardly alone in wanting to get its hands on it. That would be the other half of the pincher movement. And every movement needs a pawn. Enter the Ukraine.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26978356