Let's talk about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. How could these two companies be "OK" a week ago --- and now this week they seem on the brink of disaster? If you've heard of these two companies, but you're not really sure who they are and what they do, just understand --...
Looking at relative strength changes really helps to drive home underlying themes in the market. As I have been saying for several weeks, there are only a few sectors that have been going up -- most sectors have been just treading water -- and some sectors are...
This article could be titled: Can (fill in the blank) go any lower? I'm not picking on Merck. The reality is you could drop in Merck, Citibank, General Motors, Ford, J.P. Morgan, along with most other names in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (and most of the largest...
In just the last month, assets in exchange traded funds increased $17 billion. Total assets in ETF's now total over $600 billion, according to State Street Global Advisors of Boston. Yeah...so? I'll tell you why this matters. In 1994, the first ETF's were launched....
The market averages seem to be starting summer early. We saw a broad-based sell-off this past week, after several weeks of positive movement. For now, this looks more like a pause (a breather) than the beginning of something substantial. Our signals are still flashing...
All these firms hold the same investments. There is STILL considerable risk in the group. Why did this happen to just Bear Stearns? One of the first things I learned about investments was when it comes to bonds, think chocolate and vanilla, super simple: when interest...
UPDATE: Sunday evening, 03/16/2008: Bear Stearns to be acquired by JPMorgan Chase for $2.00 in stock swap deal. That is NOT a typo! The stock closed at $30 on Friday. On Thursday, it was $57.00. And yes, it was $150 last summer. This, essentially became a giant margin...
The news surrounding Bear Stearns on Friday morning was not good! There are several important elements to this story. The first element is the most important one: Bear Stearns appears to be out of cash. If you've ever traded on margin (or know someone that does),...
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped below 12,000 today, March 7. In technical terms, this is a significant move. On my point and figure charts this represents another sell signal and tells us that the average may have further to fall. Not that I want to be in the...
Another Weird Day on Wall Street Today, Tuesday, February 26, 2008 we received some negative economic news. There were reports of surging inflation and declining consumer confidence, and the early indications were the stock market would be down nearly 100 points. Not...
