Scary…Painful…Ugly Well, what did you expect? This looks like that ugly correction we have mentioned in several posts made in the last year, worrying about a problem that had yet to happen (a la Mark Twain). The chicken looks like it finally has come home to roost, and it is probably a good thing…
Session 99–Nasdaq Meltdown: Shades of Y2K
It’s Friday April 4, 2014. I am getting ready to run out the door to a meeting and I hear someone compare the the Nasdaq mini-meltdown of recent days (down 2.6% on Friday) to the beginning of the “tech bubble” bursting in March of 2000. Unfortunately, I was not recording at the time and there…
Session 98–“The Stock Market Is Rigged!”
Thus spake Michael Lewis, author and financial journalist (CBS 60 Minutes, 3/30/14). The investing (and media) world shuddered. This is big stuff, right? Not really. These types of charges have been being made since the beginning of stock market time…the only thing new is the methodology, High Frequency Trading (HFT)…trading done through a maze of…
Session 97–“Get ready for stocks to drop 25%”
This was one of the cheery headlines that greeted me this morning (Friday March, 28 2014), proffered up by those fine folks at CNBC. The expert providing the fearsome warning was private equity guru, John W. “Jay” Jordan, II. Even though Mr. Jordan is a native of my home town, about my age and has…
Session 96–Way To Go Janet. I Hope You’re Happy!
You really stepped in it this time! You know, the little faux pas you made during your first post-FOMC meeting press conference when you gave the markets a flash that the Fed might start moving short rates higher six months after the end of Quantitative Easing (QE). Even though this policy move and its trajectory…
Session 95–Keep it simple stupid
These four words, often referred to as the “KISS Theory,” should be a mantra for many investors who have neither the skills nor time to manage their own investments. I have a very credible ally in this thought process, Warren Buffett, who is advising his own heirs to “Keep it simple…”, to invest their inheritance…
Sesssion 94–Rootin’, Tootin’ Putin
What a guy. His continued saber rattlin’/pistol packin’ stance over the Ukraine, plus continued worries about a Chinese debt crises and, voila, you have a mini market meltdown. It always amazes me how quickly the market can turn tail and run on little or no new news. On the other hand, yesterday may have…
Session 93–“10 things the gun industry won’t tell you”
Interestingly, this was the “Number 1″ searched article in this morning’s (March 8, 2014) edition of MarketWatch.com, followed closely by: 2. ” 7 signs we are near a market top” 3. “How to prepare for the next bear market” The banner headline was: “How the S&P 500 gets to 2500 next year” What struck me the most…
Session 92–Forget the Ukraine. Focus on China.
Interesting concept, but why not worry about both? It makes for much better TV. The last week (2/27/14 to 3/6/14) has been particularly difficult to write about. On the one hand we had been inundated by scary headlines on geopolitical events and weakening economic statistics. On the other hand, given close scrutiny, it has been…
Session 91–“Born Under A Bad Sign”
“Born under a bad sign. I’ve been down since I began to crawl. If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.” This is one of my favorite tunes from one of the finest rock bands to come out of the 1960’s, “Cream”, music and lyrics by William Bell and Booker…