My title today pays homage to one of the most esteemed and controversial figures of the twentieth century, Sir Winston Churchill, and a speech he gave celebrating the October 1942, British victory over Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps at El Alamein. In putting the event into perspective Churchill said, “This battle was not the end. It…
Tag: stocks
Session 49–“Buying Stocks, Isn’t It Too Late?”
A friend, someone scared into an excessively conservative invested position by the 2008’s market crash, asked question the above. My answer was “No.” My reply was based on my long-term view detailed in “Session 7.” I believe world economies will continue to grow and, over time, due to competition for resources (Chinese and Indians becoming…
Session 48–A Battle of Wits Between Three Unarmed Opponents
The question asked and debated in the attached clip is; “Is distrust in Wall Street hurting the market?“ (see link at the end of this post) A better question might have been, “Is distrust in Wall Street and the market a positive or negative sign, vis-a-vis where we are in the current market cycle?” To…
Session 47–Bernanke Speaks!
Maybe our title should be, “Bernanke, et. al. Speak, Repeatedly”. For the most part, the message is the same: the tapering of QE will be data-derived and dependent on economic fundamentals in the United States, unemployment stats in particular. The Fed Chair addressed The National Bureau of Economic Research conference today. His topic was a…
Session 46–What Really Worries Me? Part I.
Well, it is not the economy, the “Dreaded Taper” or the market. The ten-year treasury closed Friday at a 2.71 % yield (up over 1% from where it was a month ago). It seems like the market has not only discounted tapering, which has not yet begun, but also some tightening on the part of…
Session 45–“Earnings Season”
Before venturing into one of my favorite topics, “Earnings Season”, I thought it might be useful to explain my reason for creating kortsessions.com. I started my blog to offer a sensible counterpoint to the 24/7 media/ political/ punditry cycle and its continuous barrage of bad news, misinformation and fear mongering. Most of this is noise, doing…
Session 42–Taper Mania, Taper Tip-Off…Whatever…
Taper Mania, Taper Tip-Off, whatever you chose to call it, the obsession with this issue continues to rattle the market. Last I saw, the 10-year treasury was trading around a 2.35% yield in after-hours trading (up from around a 2.18% yield earlier in the day). Volatility has come to the treasury market. And all Bernanke…
Session 41–The Dreaded Taper
As “The Dreaded Taper” has become ‘the next big thing’ for the media and something for the media to obsess about (btw we called this shortly after “the dreaded sequester” turned out to be not-so-dreadful–see session 15), I thought it appropriate to do a session to frame this horrific problem. I hope it keeps you…
Session 40–Be Afraid,Very Afraid!
Now, this is not my message, but it seems to be a message that the folks at PIMCO (Pacific Investment Management Company, LLC) are making a concerted effort to get into the public domain. Their intentions may be pure and noble, but instilling doubt and uncertainty might also be a desirable after effect. Having said…
Session 39–The Media Gets It Right For A Change and Life After (and before) QE
It would not be fair or intellectually honest of me to constantly bash the media without pointing out work really does serve the public good. Today we have two for you to take a look at. The first is a piece from MarketWatch by Quentin Fortrell titled, “10 Things Economists Won’t Tell You.” If…