Suddenly stopping...from Belmar, NJ along the way to NYC. A question came up recently from a client... "we invested in the stock recently, and it went up nicely at first. But recently, the stock has started to fall. I'm not sure if we should close this position...
There's a great story I read in the New York Times. It’s part business/part technology. While it delves into some pretty sophisticated topics, I'll try and summarize it as best I can right here. The author, Anne Eisenberg, wrote about an experimental website,...
Pretty sad story reported recently...but sad, as in pathetic. Guy Wyser-Pratte, who is known on Wall Street as a shareholder activist and runs a $500 million hedge fund, recently reported that the private banking operation of J.P. Morgan Chase had "somehow" allowed...
Recently, oil and commodities dropped 20 to 25% in four very fast weeks, catching nearly everyone off guard. But as fast as the drop took place, we start to see signs of a reversal back up. These sharp violent corrections often take place in long sustained bullish...
In one of my most recent posts I discussed the "ready to explode" product issued by brokerage firms called "auction rate preferred securities." Well, that didn't take long. In this past week UBS (the parent company of PaineWebber), announced they are spending $19...
Exxon reported nearly $12 billion in profits for the previous quarter recently. $12 billion! More net profits in one quarter, than ever recorded in the history of mankind. And what did the stock do? It went down. Numbers like $12 billion generate emotional responses:...
Nearly 20 years ago, when I worked in Chicago, I became friends with a gentleman named Joe Lopresti. Today, Joe is the President of Arlington Capital Management. We've remained in touch and share our thoughts and outlooks on the market periodically. Joe recently put...
Sometimes, trying to get your arms around a gigantic number (for example, the area of earth covered by land) just takes time. So it's no surprise (to me) this week the Commerce Department announced "oh by the way, remember three quarters ago... the fourth quarter of...
"Mr. Valentine has set the price!" Or, in this case Mr. Bernanke sets the price. This week the Federal Reserve announced that the "open spigot" of money available to investment banks will be closing January 30, 2009. This is six months away. What this means is that...
You may not have heard of the term "auction rate preferred securities." Yet. If you have not, you probably will soon. Essentially, these are longer-term investments but they have an unusual feature: an interest rate that resets – usually every 7, 14, 28 or 45 days....
