News Posts

Enter the Bull – Barrons.com

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Enter the Bull By GENE EPSTEIN | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR Even by conservative measures, the Dow Jones Industrials could top 15,000 in two years. Dow 17,000 is a 50-50 bet. Based on cyclical patterns of market history, the odds are better than two chances in three that the Dow Jones Industrial Average will reach 15,000 or higher over the next two years. Based on the same cyclical patterns, there’s about a 50-50 chance that the Dow could hit 17,000 or more. Also, the broad fundamentals that could drive the Dow to new highs are fairly clear. The stock market enjoyed double-digit … Read more

‘s Purchase of Motorola Cleared by EU

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Looks like one more hurdle is out of the way for Google to challenge Apple in the wireless world.  The European Union allowed the deal to pass, but warned against excessive fees charged for licensing technology.  The addition of Motorola’s portfolio of patents would provide the search engine giant a strong defense against infringement claims on its Android operating system. From WSJ: “The European Union on Monday approved Google Inc.’s $12.5 billion acquisition of smartphone and tablet developer Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., setting the stage for U.S. antitrust clearance expected this week.  The deal will give Google a powerful arsenal … Read more

China cuts Iranian oil imports, says IEA – FT.com

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China cuts Iranian oil imports, says IEA By Guy Chazan and Javier Blas China is buying about 50 per cent less Iranian oil than it did last year, as international sanctions strengthen its bargaining position with Iran’s national oil company, the International Energy Agency said on Friday. China is the single largest buyer of Iranian crude, and usually takes about a fifth of Iran’s exports – around 550,000 barrels a day. But the IEA, the energy watchdog of the industrialised countries, says China is now thought to be lifting around half of 2011 volumes, probably due to a dispute over … Read more

Use Google? YouTube? Have a Gmail account? Worried? Maybe You Should Be: Part 3

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It’s here.  Google’s new simplified privacy policy popped up today when I opened my Reader account, (if you don’t follow, here’s Part 1 and Part 2) and after 30 minutes or so I came to a single profound, concrete conclusion: it’s long. Now I have to give Google credit, it’s the most user friendly privacy document I’ve seen to date; complete with unsophisticated illustrations that firmly reinforce it’s benign nature. A caricature of how Google uses the information it gathers to improve the user experience. Simplicity aside, what does this mean for the user?  Well, as previously stated it’s a matter of perspective.  Interestingly … Read more

Diamond Foods Now Cooks! …their books. CEO and CFO Out, Forced to Restate Earnings

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Diamond Foods is getting crushed after hours, (down over 43%) on the announcement that they, like an alarming number of corporations, have trouble following longstanding GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).  According to their press release, a total of $80 million in payments to growers was not accounted for during the correct time periods.  In a sign of good faith, Michael J. Mendes and Steven M. Neil have been placed on administrative leave. From Diamond’s press release: “The Audit Committee has concluded that the Company’s financial statements for the fiscal years 2010 and 2011 will need to be restated. Over the course of … Read more

Like Bacon? And Milkshakes? And Getting Fat? Jack In The Box Has You Covered..

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Thanks to YouTube, I’ve seen some pretty corpulent culinary concoctions emerge from channels like Epic Meal Time.  It looks like Jack In The Box (symbol: JACK) is testing the waters of the fat laden phenomenon that’s sweeping the internet; trying to snare some of the free viral publicity for the fast food chain.  And with tens of millions of views per episode, who can blame them.  According to Business Insider, the Bacon Milkshake will be offered for a limited time and customers will have to whisper their order.  Vegetarians shouldn’t feel left out though, since the bacon flavoring is derived … Read more

Saudi Arabia Will Not Let Oil Go Above $100

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According to Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud, the billionaire head of Kingdom Holding Co., Saudi Arabia is poised to limit the appreciation of oil to no greater than $100 a barrel. “We can use our leverage, our excess capacity to be sure to pump more [oil] if needed so it will not impact the consumer countries while they’re getting out of their recessions slowly but surely,” the prince said. As for Iran, he said it is important for the U.S. and other nations to put sanctions on the “renegade country” to force its government to negotiate. Issuing an … Read more

Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Hedge Fund Down 47% In 2011

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2011 was a brutal year for hedge funds, averaging a miserable -4% return for investors.  Billionaire Phil Falcone was no exception as his huge bet on LightSquared dragged performance down to a whopping -47% on the year. Most of the decline in the Harbinger Capital Partners Offshore Fund I came from Falcone’s investment in LightSquared Inc., which plans to offer high-speed data service to as many as 260 million people. The Reston, Virginia-based company is awaiting final clearance from the Federal Communications Commission as regulators weigh test results that show the service’s signals disrupt global-positional system equipment used by cars, … Read more

Sallie Mae: Fees the Unemployed, Then Deletes Backlash on Facebook

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Nominal fees targeted at the demographics who will feel them most simply don’t work.  Bank of America thoroughly illustrated this concept with the short-lived monthly fee on their debit cards, resulting in a plethora of negative press and a number of former clients transferring assets to credit unions.  So why did Sallie Mae think applying a $50 fee to unemployed borrowers would work any differently?  Following BAC’s footsteps and a 100,000 name strong petition, Sallie Mae restructured the fee and now applies the money toward repayment of the loan.  Damage being done however, several people chose to speak out on … Read more

With Iran Offline, Oil Could Jump 30%

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Despite our massive emergency oil reserves (see here), the IMF estimates a halt in Iran crude could produce a rather dramatic effect in the price of oil: “If Iran halts exports to countries without offsets from other sources it would likely trigger an “initial” oil price jump of 20 to 30 percent, or about $20 to $30 a barrel, the IMF said in its first public comment on a possible Iranian oil supply disruption.” “Financial sanctions against Tehran may be ‘tantamount to an oil embargo’ and would imply supply declines of about 1.5 million barrels per day from the world’s … Read more

Thinking About Retirement? Forget 401Ks, Graffiti Pays… A Lot.

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Ok, so maybe picking up a can of spray paint isn’t the best retirement option for everyone, but it certainly worked out for David Choe.  Back in 2005 and under the direction of Napster kingpin Sean Parker, he adorned the walls of the Palo Alto with his street styled tagwork (the rest of his mixed medium works can be seen here).  Upon completion, Parker asked if he would like to be compensated in cash or in an equal value of stock.  While Choe is no beacon of the mainstream social environment, he took a gamble and accepted the offer of … Read more

‘s Kung Fu Grip, One Finger at a Time..

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Remember when China, producer of 95% of all the world’s rare earths, sent shockwaves through the rare earth markets by announcing a 40% reduction in rare earth production (seen here), and further stoked the fire by “mysteriously halting” all exports of the commodity (seen here) in a retaliatory effort against Japan?  While China’s grasp strengthens while Western economies flail, Malaysia sees opportunity in offering some relief from restrictions by the erratic and opaque Chinese government.  According to the NYTimes, regulators have granted an initial operating license to an immense refinery specializing in rare earth production.  Although this is just the first of … Read more

| The White House

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From: The White House “In his State of the Union address, President Obama laid out a Blueprint for an America Built to Last, calling for action to help responsible borrowers and support a housing market recovery. While the government cannot fix the housing market on its own, the President believes that responsible homeowners should not have to sit and wait for the market to hit bottom to get relief when there are measures at hand that can make a meaningful difference, including allowing these homeowners to save thousands of dollars by refinancing at today’s low interest rates. That’s why the President … Read more

Facebook Under Fire as it Approaches IPO

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I’m sick of Facebook.  The name makes me cringe every time the talking heads on CNBC spout out the same regurgitated facts; all too reminiscent of Armani  clad penguins feeding vast fields of their young.  Regardless, here’s some news that might  get a smile out of your spiteful inner self: lawsuits against the social media giant are rapidly piling up as we near the initial public offering.  No, the company didn’t decided to go on one last rampant crime spree just before going public.  It’s the scent of money in the air that drives the shoals of patent lawyers into … Read more

Use Google? YouTube? Have a Gmail account? Worried? Maybe You Should Be: Part 2

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OK, the previous post on this topic generated a LOT of emails.  With excessive use of the caps lock.  All the shouting aside, the responses formed two very distinct camps: those who welcomed the changes with open arms, and those angered to the point that their accounts will be deactivated within the next month.  This apartheid is primarily due to difference in perspective rather than an actual misrepresentation of facts.  Let’s break down the two mindsets so we can understand both sides of the equation. Now it is clear that purely from a functionality standpoint (ignore the politics for just a moment), the … Read more

Use Google? YouTube? Have a Gmail account? Worried? Maybe You Should Be: Part 1

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I admit, I constantly use all three in almost every aspect of my life.  But it looks like my Hotmail account, Yahoo Finance, and Vimeo are about to see a lot more of my traffic, and here’s why.  I received an email from Google just earlier today about their ‘new privacy policy’.  It seemed harmless enough, even like a step in the right direction of reducing these longwinded legal documents into something the average user can understand: We’re getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google and replacing them with one that’s a lot shorter and easier to … Read more

The Roof Has Been Raised: $16.4 Trillion Debt Ceiling

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Well, it’s looking like  the Senate was unable to muster enough votes to reject the newest debt ceiling hike in a 52 to 44 vote.  Due to take effect this Friday, we will be looking at a new ceiling of $16.4 trillion with our current levels reaching the $15.4 trillion mark. From Zerohedge: “Since roughly $100 billion was plundered from Pension Funds in the past month, The US will have about $15.4 trillion in debt with the Monday DTS. The question then is how long will the $1 trillion in debt capacity last: at $125 billion/month it won’t be enough … Read more

Iran, Nuclear Policy, and America: An Investment Opportunity In Disaster?

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  We have a delicate balancing act at hand between the threat of an emerging nuclear power, our rapacious thirst for oil, and responsible diplomatic policy.  The consternation in the air is palpable, bringing to mind Buffet’s famous words “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful”.  So how does one put such words of wisdom into an actionable trade idea?  Since going long nuclear fallout seems short sighted, let’s look at how to take advantage of a potential event driven jump in the price of oil once we fully grasp the situation at hand. At … Read more

‘s got it right CNN or WSJ?

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There are major implications for short-term trading here.  Natural gas E&P companies were the biggest gainers today while the drillers like BAS were some of the biggest losers on the idea that natural gas prices are bottoming since Chesapeake Energy announced major curbs on drilling due to collapsing natural gas prices.  If Obama sounds sympathetic to nat gas and promotes it in any kind of meaningful way, BAS and others could rocket. State of the Union to offer a blueprint for the economy By Jessica Yellin, CNN Chief White House Correspondentupdated 5:29 PM EST, Mon January 23, 2012 A source … Read more

Ex-Wife Says Gingrich Wanted ‘Open Marriage,’ ABC Reports

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In the sport of mudslinging timing is everything.  And Mitt Romney is breathing a sigh of relief as ABC’s report detailing his attempt to initiate an open marriage between his ex-wife (his current wife at the time) and current wife (his mistress at the time) hit headlines just in time to draw attention away from his admittance to multiple offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands.  Tax evasion just doesn’t seem to pique the interests of the American population the same way a spousal approved Ménage à Trois does.. Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) — Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich asked for … Read more

Arctic Adventure – A 1,500-Mile Trip by Sea Kayak

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Two incredible athletes from vastly different backgrounds are brought together by the love of both kayaking and adventure.  Having had the opportunity to paddle with the same crew of whitewater kayakers that Eric Boomer films with, I can say that making the transition from a whitewater boater to distance explorer, with little experience in some of the harshest conditions imaginable, is most impressive. Odd Couple’s Amazing Trek: 1,500 Arctic Miles by Kayak To stave off a breaching 3,000-pound walrus from the cockpit of a small sea kayak, Erik Boomer recommends using the paddle.  Sort of like a Heisman stiff-arm, hit … Read more

Einhorn Ends 2011 Just Over +2%, Closes FSLR Short, Warns On Asia, Mocks “Lather. Rinse. Repeat” Broken Markets

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Anyone wondering why FSLR just jumped, it is because as was just made known, David Einhorn’s Greenlight has decided to close its FSLR position, after bleeding that particular corpse dry. “Our largest winner by far was our short of First Solar (FSLR) which fell from $130.14 to $33.76 paper share and was the worst performing stock in the S&P 500.” Einhorn also announces that he was among the “evil” hedge funds who dared to provide market clearing transparency and buy CDS on insolvent European governments: “We also did well investing in various credit default swaps on European sovereign debt.” As … Read more

Yahoo Shares Rise as Co-Founder Jerry Yang Resigns (YHOO)

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  Shares of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), the online media company, are gaining in early trading today after the Sunnyvale, California-based company said that its co-founder, Jerry Yang, has resigned. Yang co-founded Yahoo in 1995. His departure has pleased shareholders, who were upset with him for obstructing deals which could have transformed the struggling company. Yang’s resignation comes two weeks after Yahoo announced the appointment of Scott Thompson as its new CEO. Analysts believe that Yang’s departure from Yahoo clears the way for a major infusion from private equity firms or a deal to sell a major portion of the … Read more

Facebook Integration May Be Coming To iOS 5

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With the integration of Twitter into iOS 5 and so much cash sitting on Apple’s balance sheet, many investors are left wondering when rather than if Apple will make the move to purchase the social media stream.  So how will this new proposed partnership translate into an increase in value?  Well, a step toward being more open source friendly is a start..   After finally bringing Twitter to iOS 5, it looks like Apple is considering integrating other social networks as well. This weekend, iMore discovered references to Facebook integration in the latest developer beta of iOS 5. They also … Read more

Iran To Give Back Drone As A Toy

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Iran Says It Will Give Back The Downed US Sentinel Drone — As A Toy Model Is Iran’s display of a sense of  humor a break in the tension between the two Nations or an attempt to belittle the American military in the eyes of Iranian citizens?  I think the $4 price tag suggests the latter.. After losing the RQ-170 drone in the skies over Iran in November, the White House first admitted the drone was real, and then further outraged the Iranians by asking for it back. With a burst of Irony, Tehran has agreed to comply, but instead … Read more

Your Reading, Watching, And Cooking Habits Will Start Showing Up On Facebook This Wednesday

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Secretly enjoy a good cry to a romantic comedy?  Well , you’re about to know a lot more than you wanted to about the personal habits of your ‘friends’.. Think this could be a nice avenue for exposure for companies like Netflix?  Other than the benefit of name recognition, the intrusive nature will very possibly be a negative attribute.. In September, Facebook announced a variety of partners for its new Open Graph platform like Netflix, Nike+ Plus, Spotify, and others. These Open Graph apps will pop updates into your live News Ticker like “Ellis Hamburger ran 2.8 miles using Nike+” … Read more

Romney Pays Less In Tax Than His Secretary

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Romney Pays Less In Tax Than His Secretary First Buffet, now Mitt Romney. Via Bloomberg: ROMNEY SAYS HIS EFFECTIVE TAX RATE CLOSER TO 15% ROMNEY SPEAKS TO REPORTERS IN FLORENCE, SOUTH CAROLINA ROMNEY SAYS MUCH OF HIS INCOME COMES FROM INVESTMENTS Next thing you know he too will offer all Republicans a one for one match on all US sovereign debt repayments, and will demand that all millionaires generously hand over their income. As for us, we quietly wonder whether the account clerks at Zurich banks are sweating already? via Romney Pays Less In Tax Than His Secretary | ZeroHedge.

Hedge Funds to Draw $80 Billion in 2012, Most in Five Years, Barclays Says – Bloomberg

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Hedge Funds to Draw $80 Billion in 2012, Most in Five Years, Barclays Says By Bei Hu – Jan 15, 2012 8:47 PM MT Investors may add about $80 billion of new capital to hedge funds globally this year, the most since 2007, Barclays Plc (BARC) said in a report. About 56 percent of investors surveyed by Barclays plan to increase such investments in the coming year, more than seven times the number that plan to reduce their allocations, the U.K. bank said in an e-mailed statement dated Jan. 13. Endowments, foundations, private banks and public pensions will most likely … Read more

‘s Roundtable

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Schafer: Most of us have been in the business long enough to remember when the Aug. 13, 1979, cover of BusinessWeek declared the death of equities. The next year the market was up 13%. In the next five years it was up more than 50%. In the next 10 years it rose more than 250%. There is a lot of pessimism around, and a lot of opportunity.

‘t Mourn For Kim Jong-II To A Labor-Training Camp

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North Korea Is Sending Anyone Who Didn’t Mourn For Kim Jong-II To A Labor-Training Camp Sounds totally reasonable… Appreciate your weekend.     North Korea is punishing citizens who didn’t participate in the organized mourning period following Kim Jong-Il’s death by sentencing them to six months in a labor-training camp, according to The Daily NK (via Msnbc.com). The decision to ship North Koreans off to re-education camps follows a series of “criticism sessions” that began on Dec. 29. A source from North Hamkyung Province told The Daily NK that officials are also punishing those “who did participate but didn’t cry … Read more