— A series of new all-time index highs but no popping of corks — A flight to safety goes on under the surface–a 1.25% yield on the 10-year Treasury July 7, couple with a ‘risk off’ 7% drop in the Russell 2K since July 1 — Are we headed for an economic slow-down or recession? This question…
Tag: wall street journal
“Americans Can’t Get Enough of the Stock Market”–Big Problem?
This is the kind of headline that makes a contrarian want to hit the exits–When everybody’s in who will be left to buy? The stats and interview commentary that accompany this headline from a prominent financial daily are pretty scary too given a lack of historical perspective. We provide the prospective to quell the nail-biting. “Bull…
The Tradition Continues: September, the worst month to be in the market
“Stocks Roll Through Summer’s End. But Now Comes September” (you need a Barron’s subscription to view) It is September again and the perennially negative are out worrying about the calendar. “To paraphrase Mark Twain, September is a peculiarly dangerous month to speculate in stocks (Twain goes on to posit, to also paraphrase, so is every other…
“Eve of Destruction”
Eve of Destruction “Eve of Destruction ” was the cheery title of Barry McGuire’s chart-topping single of September 1965, words and music by P. F. Sloan. This war protest song shot to the top of the charts almost overnight. Take a listen, and I bet you have to agree the more things change the more…
Will miracles never cease?
That proverbial ‘cold day in July’ happened Friday, February 20. King Rant, Rick Santelli, not only did not rant, but his segment on why people should not fear the Fed’s upcoming moves to raise and normalize interest rates (“Santelli Exchange: Alarm over interest rates”) was actually a rational examination of the question. Amazing! A miracle! Santelli’s…
Session 138–Welcome to the panic!
Panic may be a bit hyperbolic; but, as of Friday’s close, things were getting a bit goofy in the market. Of course, when this happens on the downside it is usually a good thing, signifying that we are a lot closer to a bottom than a top. This is really intriguing, since we are only…
Session 134–These numbers will blow your mind!
Especially if you’ve been doubting the idea that common stocks are useful as an asset class for healthy long-term returns. Judging from many comments in the media and individual investors that doubt this construct to be real, I am presenting a chart extracted from a headline article in MarketWatch (the on-line service of the Wall…
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…
Session 82–“A Correction Is Coming!” Part II
Lest I appear to be a complete “Pollyanna,” I thought it would be useful to point out that, yes, there are many negatives facing the market: some real, some imagined and some not yet foreseen. I subscribe to the old saw, “no tree grows to the sky.” I am acutely aware that the current, unabated…
Session 75–“Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble.”
“Double, double toil and trouble” is an apt descriptor of what the average hedge fund manager has been going through the past couple of years. To be hedged in a roaring bull market is indeed a witches’ curse. According to the Business Insider the average hedge fund was up 6% the first nine months of…