Contributors

Finacial Reform in Greece

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Speaking before Parliament’s plenary session, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos referred to the finance ministry’s draft bill stressing that “the scenery should change” and underlined that “this transitional period will have to be managed with prudence, professionalism, caution, consensus and a sense of responsibility.” “The months of August and September should be exemplary in terms of swiftness,” he said, responding to criticism by opposition parties regarding the procedures followed. “We are caught in an worldwide vortex and we have to utilise the opportunities created by us for us. We should be reliable as regards our obligations towards our lenders and meet … Read more

‘ Beta and Leverage

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Even though U.S. politicos appear ready to reach an agreement on the debt-ceiling front, the fiercely polarized debate has introduced uncertainty into what was previously thought to be an obligation with certainty. Some no longer consider U.S. government debts to be risk-free. Some foreign central banks seem to be speaking with their feet by diversifying away from the U.S. dollar and are considering gold to be a safe-haven asset, and its price has continued on an upward tear. Many speculate that the last-minute compromise might avert technical default, but given the inability of the political machine to reach any pre-emptive … Read more

Data Reinforce Economic Malaise

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Americans saved more and cut their spending by the most in nearly two years in June, a broad retrenchment that is both the cause of and a reaction to the slowing economic recovery. Consumer spending—which accounts for 70% of economic activity —decreased 0.2% in June, compared with a 0.1% increase in May, the biggest drop since September 2009, the Commerce Department said Tuesday Full article provided by Wall Street Journal @: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903520204576483882838360382.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Fxml%2Frss%2F3_7011+%28WSJ.com%3A+What%27s+News+US%29

Sea Change in Map of Global Risk

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With Crises Shaking Confidence in U.S. and Europe, Investors Turn to Debt of Emerging Lands The black-and-white borders of the bond market are graying. As the pristine credit rating of the U.S. remains under threat, and the debt crisis in Europe rolls on, investors, traders and policy makers are grappling with fundamental changes in the global bond markets. Many so-called emerging countries, which have typically been charged higher interest rates because of their perceived risk, are now paying as little to borrow as developed nations, if not less. Full article provided by Wall Street Journal @: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904292504576480142807295216.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Fxml%2Frss%2F3_7011+%28WSJ.com%3A+What%27s+News+US%29

‘t Help

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Economy Looking Weak, Data Revisions Don’t Help The economy is certainly weak. The latest report on GDP showed sub-par growth in the second quarter. Revisions to past data, which occur every summer, showed that the first quarter was even worse than we previously thought. Here’s a comparison of GDP growth rates, with “old” indicating the official data as released prior to today, and “revised” indicating the new view. I’ve highlighted the significant differences. Looking at past history, the recession was worse than we previously thought–not a surprise, really, when you think about the sharp decline in employment at the time. … Read more

A Crisis of Faith in America

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While the media has focused on the short term debt issue matters and to a lesser extent the long term implications what they have not addressed is the way this Circus has impacted the credibility of the USA Capital Markets. The political rhetoric and the refusal to deal with the issue at hand will have a lasting impact on the way the world looks at investing in America. Since 2008 the Government and those elected to represent the American people have made reactionary, over bearing legislation based on there popularity on the given day. Dodd-Frank, Capping Financial Institutions Wages, Over … Read more

Banks Finding Few Signs of Distress in Repo, Credit Markets

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July 28 (Bloomberg) — U.S. banks searching for hints of credit-market distress ahead of next week’s deadline to raise the debt ceiling are finding few signs of panic so far. Commercial banks and securities firms are tracking how money-market funds adjust holdings and whether participants in repo markets, where financial firms obtain short-term financing, change terms for collateral including Treasuries, according to executives in charge of finance operations at five of the largest U.S. banks. They are also looking for disruptions in commercial paper and swaps markets, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the deliberations … Read more

Hedge Fund Regulation Is Backfiring: SAC Capital Edition

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Is SAC Capital going to escape hedge fund regulation? On Tuesday we learned that George Soros was returning all of the capital of outside investors to his fund, following a path laid down by legendary investors like Stanley Druckenmiller and Carl Icahn. By closing their funds to outside investors, these managers will be able to escape attempts to regulate them. They won’t be classified as hedge funds anymore. Despite their billions of dollars under management, they’ll simply be private investors or family funds. Today we learn that Steve Cohen, the founder of SAC Capital, is closing his flagship fund to … Read more

‘ hedge fund money

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  (Reuters) – Billionaire investor George Soros, whose stock-picking career has spanned nearly four decades, said he will manage money only for himself and his family as new regulations threaten to crimp the hedge fund industry he made famous. The octogenarian fund manager, known as much for earning $1 billion on a nervy currency bet as for giving away millions to support liberal causes, will return roughly $1 billion to outside investors most likely by the end of the year and turn Soros Fund Management into a family office. The sum represents only a small portion of the $25 billion … Read more

US Property Prices Fall

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Real Estate prices in major US cities rose for the second straight month in May, propped up by a flurry of spring buyers. But after adjusting for such seasonal factors, prices fell in a majority of markets. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home-price index released on Tuesday showed that prices rose in 16 of the 20 cities tracked. Boston posted the biggest monthly increase, followed closely by Minneapolis and Washington. Prices in three metro areas hit the hardest by the housing crisis – Detroit, Las Vegas and Tampa (Florida) – fell to their lowest points since the recession began. Prices in … Read more

Using Logic To Examine Risk

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This article is very interesting and should be read. You can find it at:http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Using-Logic-To-Examine-investopedia-437029966.html?x=0 Brian Bloch, On Friday July 22, 2011, 11:52 am EDT In 1660, Blaise Pascal did some pioneering work on risk. He was dealing with theology, but the implications for the capital market are unmistakable. His original concern was the expected value of believing in god.. He attempted to convert nebulous uncertainties into calculable probabilities – what we now call risk. His “expected values” are the basis of modern risk theory. Pascal demonstrated that uncertainty is about people, their beliefs and their courage, while calculated risk is … Read more

6 Likely Social Security Changes

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6 Likely Social Security Changes Philip Moeller, On Monday July 25, 2011, 12:53 pm EDT Washington’s current soap opera, As the Debt Ceiling Turns, is winding down to its season finale. Grand plans for a “big deal,” including changes to Social Security and Medicare, have given way to face-saving efforts to permit the country to issue new debt and still allow the political parties to claim the high ground as they gear up for 2012 election campaigns. So, for the time being, retirees can breathe a bit easier about changes to their key benefits. Even though nearly every “reform” plan … Read more

USA Miners a Buy as Nations Tighten Grip on Resources

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USA Miners a Buy as Nations Tighten Grip on Resources     USA Miners a Buy as Nations Tighten Grip on Resources A new dynamic is developing in the flow of natural resources, countries from Indonesia and India to China and Russia are tightening their grip on natural resources as they limit exports to build up domestic industry in a trend that will spawn many challenges to World Trade Organization rules. However the move is not going to stop, this makes natural resource owners and miners in large consumption markets in the USA a strong buy. USA Industry will have … Read more

Politicians Creating Crisis

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Politicians Creating Crisis     As the economy improves and Companies post record profits, the market remains suppressed, Gold is at an all time high and the doom and gloom talk continues. The only real chance of a global slowdown is from politicians addressing their agenda and not the issues. From the USA to Europe we are seeing more and more political posturing and less constructive progress. There are to many Government officials in Europe and the USA that presume they are qualified at some level to speak on the national and international financial system, the fact is most are … Read more

Using the Relative Strength Index (RSI)

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The Relative Strength Index (RSI) was first developed by renowned technical analyst J. Welles Wilder. It is not to be confused with relative strength, which compares a stock’s price performance to that of an overall market average, such as the S&P 500. Instead, the RSI analyzes the recent performance of a security in relation to its own price history. RSI is a valuable tool to determine overbought/oversold levels. There are five major principles of RSI analysis: 1)  When RSI goes above 70 or below 30, it indicates that a stock is overbought or oversold and vulnerable to a trend reversal. … Read more

Will The U.S. Default Before Greece?

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    Will The U.S. Default Before Greece? By Dirk Van Dijk on July 18, 2011 | More Posts By Dirk Van Dijk | Zacks.com    I thought this was an interesting article on default and earnings by Van Dijk “The fundamental backing for the market continues to be solid. It is important to keep your eyes on the prize. There’s lots of news out there, and much of it is more dramatic than earnings results, but rarely does it have more significance for your portfolio. Earnings are, and are going to remain, the single most important thing for the … Read more

Insider Buying: 5 Recent CEO Buys of at Least $100K

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Insider Buying: 5 Recent CEO Buys of at Least $100K 12 comments  |  by: Steven Kiel July 8, 2011  | about: KGJI, NPO, RENT, TEAR, TRST         This week I have five stocks with CEO insider buys of at least $100,000. One of the reasons why I regularly do these lists is to learn about companies that I otherwise wouldn’t have come across. There are a few interesting ones in this list that I think require more research and are reasonably priced. As I’ve previously mentioned, I prefer CEO and CFO insider buying to other buyers. Those two positions give … Read more

Indonesia May Ban Mining Exports

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Indonesia May Ban Mining Exports     Disturbing news today from Indonesia is that the country is considering a ban on mineral exports that would have a severe impact to a number of the regions biggest mining companies. Indonesian miners may face a massive sell off if the law is passed. Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold in Papua, Newmont Mining on the islands of Sulawesi and Sumbawa and Australia’s BHP Billiton are also at risk under the new laws. The government is drafting a mining regulation that in the next three years could see the export of raw minerals banned, … Read more

The Basics of Fibonacci Retracements, Fans, Arcs, and Time Series

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The Basics of Fibonacci Retracements, Fans, Arcs, and Time Series   If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Either way, thanks for checking us out! Fibonacci retracements, fans, arcs, and time series are some of the best technical analysis tools for traders. They are not a perfect indicator (what is right) but they are very helpful if you know the basics. Many years ago an Italian gentleman named Leonardo Fibonacci discovered ratios that exist throughout all of nature. These ratios are used to describe the proportions found … Read more

Businomics Blog: Small Business in the Economic Doldrums

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Small Business in the Economic Doldrums Small business is down in the dumps. Just compare the attitudes shown in NFIB’s survey of small business owners with the Business Roundtable’s survey of corporate CEOs: It’s always a little dangerous to compare one survey with another, but it sure seems that the corporate honchos are feeling better than they did before the recession, whereas small biz owners are up from the depths of the downturn, but not yet back to where they had been. Better understanding comes (as usual) from looking at the hard numbers in financial statements. Earnings of small business … Read more

Chilling Warning from Shilling!

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20% Drop in Housing to Cause Recession in 2012, Says Gary Shilling By Peter Gorenstein     Stocks rallied Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested the central bank would go ahead with another round of stimulus — aka quantitative easing — if the economy continues to slump. In this scenario, the Federal Reserve would once again purchase assets to keep interest rates low in an attempt to support the economy and prop up asset prices. So far, the Fed’s actions have done more good for asset prices like stocks (see: S&P 500 chart since 2009) while doing less … Read more

‘s Monster Quake

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  The Economic Impact of Japan’s Monster Quake 45 comments  |  by: Darrel Whitten March 13, 2011  | about: AFL, EWJ, FUJHY.PK, FXY, HMC, JXHLY.PK, MRAAY.PK, NSANY.PK, PC, SHECY.PK, SNE, SWCEY.PK, TKOMY.PK, TM, TOSBF.PK       The largest natural disaster in Japan’s modern history began with a massive quake with a magnitude of 8.9~9.0 in the Pacific Ocean seabed off the coast of Sendai, north of Tokyo. The effect of this earthquake was like dropping a boulder the size of the Isle of Wight, the largest island in the U.K., into the ocean. It was up to 1,000 times more powerful than … Read more

Fed Officials Told to Shut Up

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Fed Officials Told to Shut Up New US Fed rules clamp down on “Chatty” officials The US Federal Reserve, in a push to control the often wayward communications of its top officials, issued detailed rules Tuesday dictating what they can and cannot do. The US Fed has come under fire for speaking with a dissonant voice and sometimes allowing details of its highly market-sensitive policy meetings to leak to the media or former staffers. “To the fullest extent possible, Committee participants will refrain from describing their personal views about monetary policy in any meeting or conversation with any individual, firm, … Read more

‘s $14 Billion Mortgage Settlement Should Boost Stock – Barrons.com

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Barron’s Take | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011 BofA Settlement a Bullish Turn By TERESA RIVAS | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR Saying it has set aside $14 billion for mortgage-related claims, Bank of America has removed a major longstanding hurdle. Article Comments (5) + text size − print email Share more Twittertwitter DiggDigg Facebookfacebook LinkedinLinkedIn StumbleuponStumbleUpon YBuzzYahoo! Buzz MySpaceMySpace Deliciousdel.icio.us NewsVineNewsVine MixxMixx reprints get rss “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Faulkner’s words referred to a fallen Southern belle, but could just as easily apply to Bank of America, which continues to pay for its past sins during … Read more

|| Equities, Forex, Gold, Silver and Oil Trading

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Market Oversold on News Not Information Stocks seen heavy losses on Friday based on News sparked worries about the Italian banking sector and Greek austerity plan, but the S&P 500 managed to hold its 200-day moving average, there was not spike in the Gold price and the VIX was little changed in a sign of market strength. Aside from the misleading doomsday headlines, the US economy showed a strong turnaround and the EU have agreed to stop any default in Greece. The U.S. economy expanded at a 1.9 percent annual rate from in January through March after expanding at a … Read more

Multinational Execs seek tax changes for US units

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Multinational Execs seek tax changes for US units BUD, NSRGY, GSK Corporate executives of US units of foreign-based companies including Nestle SA (VX:NESN), (PK:NSRGY) Thursday pushed for changes in the US. tax code that they argue would encourage more foreign investment in the United States. The US tax code’s restrictions around certain deductions and high corporate tax rate limit the attractiveness of keeping business in the US, executives told lawmakers Thursday at a hearing of the Revenue Measures panel of the House Ways and Means Committee. Many businesses whose parent companies are HQ’d abroad share a move by many US-based … Read more

Insiders are Buying Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. NYSE:OSG

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Insiders are Buying Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. NYSE:OSG   Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. NYSE:OSG has seen a flurry of insider buying with 5 insiders making significant purchases since June 3. CEO Morten Arntzen bought about $105,000 worth of shares on June 15 after previously buying about $84,000 on June 8. Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (OSG) is a bulk shipping company engaged in the ocean transportation of crude oil and petroleum products. During the year ended December 31, 2009, the Company owned or operated a fleet of 106 vessels (aggregating 10.9 million deadweight tons and 864,800 cubic meters), of which 84 … Read more

Beware Contagion From Greeks Baring Rifts?

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Thursday, June 16, 2011 Beware Contagion From Greeks Baring Rifts? Richard Barley of the WSJ reports, Beware Contagion From Greeks Baring Rifts: Euro-zone politicians may be fiddling while Athens burns. Tuesday’s meeting of finance ministers brought no progress on how to address Greece’s funding problems and avoid setting off a financial crisis. But conditions in European markets are deteriorating. The main risk from Greece has always been contagion, and that process is already under way. Most directly, prices of Portuguese and Irish bonds have fallen sharply, with 10-year yields rising above 11% and the cost of insuring their debt at … Read more

Coles and Hawkins, MIDAS Technical Analysis

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Coles and Hawkins, MIDAS Technical Analysis Anyone who trades using technical analysis would do well to read MIDAS Technical Analysis: A VWAP Approach to Trading and Investing in Today’s Markets (Bloomberg/Wiley, 2011) by Andrew Coles and David G. Hawkins. It’s not that the MIDAS method, pioneered by Paul Levine in 1995, is the holy grail. I recommend the book because the authors have done such a thorough job of explaining and, after extensive research, expanding on the notion of volume-weighted support and resistance curves. In the process they touch on a wide range of technical approaches to the market, some … Read more

Insiders are Buying Valeant Pharmaceuticals NYSE:VRX

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Insiders are Buying Valeant Pharmaceuticals NYSE:VRX   Valeant Pharmaceuticals NYSE:VRX acting CFO and board member Philip Loberg purchased 7,500 shares on June 9 for a total purchase of $396,150. Loberg bought shares ahead of an expected FDA decision on an epileptic seizure drug, Potiga. This drug was approved for limited use on June 13. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., formerly Biovail Corporation, is a multinational, specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets a range of pharmaceutical products. The Company’s specialty pharmaceutical and over-the-counter (OTC) products are marketed under brand names and are sold in the United States, Canada, Australia and … Read more