cash

Differentiating Between An Irrational Market Or Strong Bull Market Trend?

by

Guest post by: Kirk Differentiating Between An Irrational Market Or Strong Bull Market Trend? These past two weeks have been tough as an options trader. Differentiating between trading an a possibly irrational market or bull market trend is sometimes very difficult to assess. We all know that the stock market can push us to extremes and then, just when we “give up” and “give in” the turn happens. Timing is really everything. Blow-off Top or Pull-Back? Most traders I talk to are in one of two schools of thought right now. Either you think this is the best shorting opportunity for the … Read more

Investors slash equities in August melt

by

Reuters) – Global investors slashed their holdings of equities below 50 percent this month and piled into cash, reflecting what was lining up to be the worst August for world stocks since 1998. They also lifted exposure to bonds in North America, Britain and, to a lesser extent, the euro zone, where Germany is considered a safe haven. Reuters polls of 57 leading investment houses in the United States, Europe ex-UK, Japan and Britain showed the average stock holding in a balanced or model portfolio falling to 49.2 percent. It was the lowest since at least February 2009, when the … Read more

The Joy of Cash

by

By Chris Farrell You’ve probably heard of a “black swan,” the catchphrase coined from the 2007 book by author and investor Nassim Nicholas Taleb. A black swan for investors is essentially an outlier event that dramatically affects the economy and markets. For example, the 1998 Russian debt default that unexpectedly took down the Long Term Capital Management hedge fund and the 2008 global financial free fall when Lehman Brothers imploded. It doesn’t take much imagination to see black swans lurking throughout the global economy. Europe’s crisis with the sovereign debt of the euro zone’s periphery nations threatens the health of … Read more