Sign inRecent Commentaries tagged (market-commentary)
Foreshadowing Rising Taxes
The startling graphic below shows the change in debt outstanding by sector as a percentage of GDP over the past 30 years. This data was compiled by the good folks over at EconompicData, and we think it provides some excellent insight into just how deep a hole the federal government now finds...
The March Jobs Report Better Be Fantastic
The U.S. may add as many as 300,000 jobs in March, the most in four years, setting the stage for what some economists say will be sustained employment gains. Better weather, hiring of temporary government workers and a growing economy may bring the biggest job increases since March 2006, said...
Retail Sales Impressive in February
Shoppers prevailed over winter weather last month, as retail sales showed impressive gains nearly across the board. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, an index of 31 retailers showed sales rose by 3.7% from a year ago. Of course, comparisons are relatively easy...
Pay Czar Lets a Big One Slip with GMAC
The new CEO of thrice-bailed-out lender GMAC pulled down $1.2 million in pay and stock options for the 45 days he worked in 2009. Bloomberg observed that on an annual basis GMAC’s Michael Carpenter was paid roughly the equivalent of Goldman Sachs’ (GS) Lloyd Blankfein, who runs the most...
AIG: When Losing $8.9B Constitutes A Major Improvement
“Let’s talk about AIG…The Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, a couple of weeks back Geithner said this about AIG. He said, the situation of AIG today is substantially better than it was six or 12 months ago. AIG’s insurance subsidiaries are open for business and generating positive returns. Fast...
Freddie Mac: Final Nail in the Coffin of Interest Only Mortgages?
Freddie Mac (FRE) announced today that it would no longer purchase or securitize interest only loans, in a move that just makes you wonder, what took so long? The government sponsored entity is the second largest purchaser of U.S. residential mortgages and has dealt with very underachieving...
Latest Data Shows Sentiment is Firmly Bearish
Stocks climbed back to nearly even for the week after the close of Wednesday’s trading, as the stock market continues to be inundated with some heavily bearish sentiment indicators. Recently, it seems there are a number of different indicators which suggest the market may be slightly overheated...
FDIC Problem Banks List Balloons: What Recovery?
Banking industry regulator Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. released a new tally of at-risk banks which places the total at 702 banks, or nearly one in every eleven FDIC-insured banks. The banks on the list for the fourth quarter 2009 have assets totaling nearly $403 billion. This is the...
Bloomberg Highlights Homebuilder Stock Disconnect
Bloomberg.com featured the relative performance of the Homebuilder stock index versus the S&P 500 index year to date as its Chart of the Day on Monday. Homebuilder stocks as a whole have outperformed the broad market index by 21.5% through last Friday’s close, which spans about 7 weeks. This...
More Greek Debt Won’t Smooth Over the Crisis
By now, most investors understand that the crisis in Greece is potentially very serious, and staying current on the European sovereign debt situation is imperative. In today’s Wall Street Journal there is a story about Greece’s next bond sale which will be put to the market in the next few...
The Battle Ensues : Morning Market Commentary
9:15am Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle. -George S. Patton Good morning readers. Today the battle continues as we watch and see if this bounce can really turn the corner into a true rally or if it will fizzle out like the trend has said it will. The bulls...
The Enterprising Investor’s Guide 2-15-2010
The price-to-peak earnings multiple rose to 12.1x as of last week’s close. U.S. equities reversed four weeks of declines in last week’s trading as earnings continue to come in better than Wall Street’s expectations. European sovereign debt issues, which have weighed heavily on the minds of...
Bloomberg: More Evidence of Chinese Real Estate Bubble
Slowing growth in China has sent a chill through the global economy over the past few weeks, as Chinese central bankers have aimed to slow rapid growth through quantitative tightening. According to an article on Bloomberg.com, those efforts to dampen growth may be too late for the Beijing...
In Defense of CNBC Ratings
I recently came across a post on the Wall Street Cheat Sheet blog (Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out: CNBC Ratings Get Smashed) that tells of a large decline in ratings for CNBC programming. The table of data below shows that, according to Nielson ratings service, viewership during the day has...
Is the Carry Trade Unwinding?
Many analysts have speculated for months that a sharp rally in the U.S. dollar could create a quick and dramatic sell-off in equities around the world (as well as in the U.S.), as global currency speculators move to close out short-term debt positions in the U.S. As a result of last year’s...
