It’s mid week, so, in honor of the fact that Friday is only two days away, I will throw out three short items today …
First, remember my comment on Monday: “I don’t know about you, but I am sensing a positive shift in the collective psyche we call the “market.” Yes, the up and down of the three barometric indexes suggests my “sense” just might be premature …” Given today’s market action, premature describes my “sense” quite correctly. The market is still exhibiting Jekyll and Hyde characteristics. Witness the excerpt below.
Stocks slumped at the open on Wednesday after weaker manufacturing data from China and a gloomier growth outlook from the Federal Reserve underscored a lackluster global economic recovery.
Then again, if GM is symbolic of anything it is that the economy is not headed off a cliff again, even if the breathless media is, once again, suggesting we are headed for a double-dip recession.
(Reuters) – General Motors Co is preparing to report second-quarter results that will show a substantial gain over the first quarter in a report it will use to bolster its bid to return to capital markets and pay back taxpayers, two people familiar with the matter said.
Second, I have a little follow up on the poker analogy I made the other day, which relates to both my quoted comment above and the large reversal in the market today. When I am in a hand that has uncertainty in it, meaning, everyone is light betting, my goal is to keep that pot small, even if I think my hand is a”winner.” Someone could be “trapping” with strong cards, and I don’t want to get trapped with an all-in bet on top of a big bet of my own. In a market such as we have these days, it is wise to keep your bets small, just in case …
Third, I have a “shameless pitch” to throw at you today. Remember the woman who wrote to me asking me if I knew where I might find the coffee mug with the saying “It’s Monday – only 4 days till Friday”? Remember I wrote back and told her I did some research but could not find it. Guess what? One of the coolest folks here at TraderPlanet has an entrepreneurial side. She read my column that day and decided “the heck with finding the mug – I’ll just create it,” and so she did. The TraderPlanet mug with the saying can be found at:
http://www.zazzle.com/trader_ed_monday_mug-168898046286108480
Here is the pitch. If you need, want, or otherwise desire a coffee mug, please go to the above link. TraderPlanet is a free, educational service, so if you purchase a mug, you are demonstrating that you believe what is happening here is a good thing. As well, the mug says what we all must feel from time to time – It’s Monday – only 4 days till Friday.
Trade in the day; invest in your life …
