Analysis Topic: Stock & Financial Markets
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Friday, September 07, 2007
Weekly Financial Markets Analysis - US Employment Situation Unchanged? / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets
“Nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged (-4,000) in August, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.”
Unchanged??? If you look more closely at the numbers, the Department of Labor (DOL) had to decrease the civilian workforce by 340,000 in order to achieve that feat. The other trick they pulled out of their hat this month is to add 120,000 fictitious jobs through the CES Birth/Death Model. Neat trick, eh? Could it be that the USA just lost 464,000 jobs last month? We'll never know for sure, but the statistics are underwhelming. The two largest blocks of new hires is health care (35,000) and food service employees (24,000). Meanwhile, manufacturing jobs were down another 46,000 and construction was down 22,000.
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Friday, September 07, 2007
S&P 500 Stock Market Index Trading in a Range / Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets
From a BIG picture perspective of the S&P 500 Depository Receipts (AMEX: SPY), my sense is that the price structure is traversing a range between 149-150 on the high side, juxtaposed against 145 to 143.50 on the low side. A climb above 150 should trigger a run at the July high of 155.53, while a break of 143.50 should trigger downside acceleration towards a retest of the August low at 137.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, September 07, 2007
Financial Aphasia: What happens when Mortgages, Credit and the Economy lose Meaning / Stock-Markets / Credit Crunch
The first time I spoke about the subject of sub-prime mortgages and the potential for this seemingly endless fallout came during a live television show in February of 2006. Granted, the demographic for that medium market audience was not the same as those watching the more affluent Bloomberg network or even the rowdy bunch who tune in to CNBC. Yet it was the very audience that needed to hear what must have seemed at the time like a “sky is falling” report.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Do Stock Market Investors Really Want The Fed to Lower US Interest Rates? / Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets
Investors trying to beat the market are closely following the trends in interest rates, especially the Federal Funds Rates. With many of the market traders and talking heads calling for a cut in the Fed Funds rate, do investors follow their advice or make their own assessment. Let's look at what the theory says about the link of interest rates and the market. Next we will look at the impact of inflation will have on rates and finally a chart that compares Fed Funds rates, the 3 month Treasury Rate and the S&P 500.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Tactical View of the Financial Markets: A Little Help From Our Friends / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets
Tactical View of the Financial Markets: A Little Help From Our Friends
What would you do if I sang out of tune,
Would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not to sing out of key...
-- Joe Cocker, A Little Help From My Friends
IN BRIEF
- George Bush and Ben Bernanke gave a helping hand to the market last week with their accomodative talk. Lucky perhaps, but also part of the expected market script.
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007
FTSE 100 Index Forecast for Sept 2007 - Crash in the Financial Sector / Stock-Markets / UK Stock Market
FTSE 100 rally from the recent lows appears to have ended and is signaling a third leg of the down trend that targets a new low for the year for the FTSE 100 Index. This is on the back of the continuing crash in the financial sector due to the ongoing Subprime sparked credit crunch.
Technical Analysis of the FTSE 100 Index
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Pullback in Nasdaq Should Hold / Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets
The all-day sell-off continues right into the final hour of trading. The Q's (Nasdaq: QQQQ) are nearing important near-term support between 48.80 and 48.50, where I expect the pullback to hold and reverse (not necessarily this afternoon). If such a scenario does unfold in the upcoming hours, an upside reversal off of 48.80/50 should trigger a new upleg that propels the Q's above 50.00 towards a retest of the July high at 50.46. Conversely, a violation of 48.50 will set up an important test of the Aug-Sept. trendline, which cuts across the price axis at 48.10 today.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Stock Market Bargains and Trouble Ahead at the Same Time? / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets
Labor Day is over and investors witnessed a quiet weekend. There were two noteworthy news Headlines this weekend. The first headline was: "Merrill Lynch & Co. cut its earnings estimates for regional banks, citing risks to economic growth.
The second headline was: "U.S. investors are returning from summer vacation to the cheapest stock market in almost 12 years, and some of the biggest fund managers say they're ready to load up on shares of technology, energy and industrial companies."
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Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Stock Market Crash Third Leg - Fingers of Instability Part Four / Stock-Markets / Financial Crash
In This Issue – 2 Fingers of Instability
Reversion To The Mean
Amen Corner
Many in the economic and financial commentary business are calling what's unfolding the big one, the event that brings down the worlds booming economy and a systemic failure of the financial system. While I believe this is a serious blow up and will create lots of opportunities both “Long and short” in many markets I truly believe this is a financial problem only. It is a repricing of risk and a correction of many ill advised investments but not the end of the world. There is TOO MUCH MONEY out there to cushion the downside. The financials sectors and banks are going to get it good and hard, as they should as they tried to reach too far into the cookie jar.
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Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Subprime Hedge Fund Credit Crunch Time-line / Stock-Markets / Credit Crunch
July 18, 2007. Bear Stearns advises investors in two failed hedge funds that they'll get back little if any money. The larger fund (valued at $925 million in March) had borrowed almost $9bn, while the smaller fund (valued at $638 in March) had borrowed $11bn.
July 29, 2007 . “ Germany puts rescue fund in place for IKB… The German government has begun a rescue operation to shore up Europe's first big casualty of the US subprime crisis …German finance minister called leading banking executives to discuss a bailout…a pledge to guarantee obligations of more than €8bn (£5.4bn) – more than five times IKB's stock market value.” ( Financial Times)
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Tuesday, September 04, 2007
NOLTE NOTES - Let's Get Back to the Financial Markets / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets
The extra day off – thanks to the hard, back breaking work of the “laborer”, got an added boost from the unlikely duo of Mr. Bernanke and President Bush. While working hard in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Mr. Bernanke indicated that the Fed stood at the ready to provide liquidity to the markets in case of additional disasters in the mortgage market. President Bush, as only a CEO could do, pre-empted his appointee and announced that he was proposing legislation to help all those poor souls who got themselves in too deep chasing the American dream. The pronouncements put some added juice into the financial markets and they recovered all that was lost early in the week – albeit on very low volume.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Bernanke Blinks on Credit Crunch – But Will It Matter? / Stock-Markets / Credit Crunch
Well, Bernanke was wrong , and those pointing out the credit crunch was contagious , including yours truly , were right. Of course it should have been no surprise hearing such an official forecast considering what's at stake, that being the global economy. Oh – and that's not all that's at stake. The Fed's future ability to affect the economy is also at stake, where many are watching to see how Bernanke stacks up in comparison to Greenspan under pressure, this being Bernanke's first big test. Here, if Ben were perceived to fail, where Greenspan is to this day viewed as a winner, there's no telling what to expect in financial markets this fall. A collapsing dollar ($), collapsing bond market, and quite possibly plunging stocks markets in turn certainly come to mind. And unfortunately, even he and the global Working Group on Financial Markets do stave off disaster in the short-term, which they will surely attempt, this would only postpone the inevitable, as already it's largely understood the credit crunch is for real, where no matter what measures are undertaken in defense of the system (including the suppression of gold), the dominos of disaster are already falling. Let's open this line of thinking up further below.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Sub-prime Mortgage Credit Crunch From Bad to Worse / Stock-Markets / Subprime Mortgage Risks
Well, that poor bull seems to be tiring. Uh, oh! No! Wait! I believe there's life in that ole' gold bull yet. Anyway, there is life for those with enough sense to observe its strength and consistency.
Well, I spent an entire article last week about this subprime mess and scandal and I still do not feel I said enough on the topic. The damage this will cause our country and the rest of the world really is enormous. I really don't like to come across as a doom and gloomer, but I would be a coward to run from the subject and choose to ignore it.
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Sunday, September 02, 2007
The Weiss Stock Bear Market Strategy / Stock-Markets / Financial Crash
Sebastian Leburn writes: I'm the portfolio manager of the Weiss Bear Strategy, and I think it's time we talk about the risks of U.S. stock market declines.
Most people think the risk is greatest when corporate profits are sinking or unemployment is rising. However, some of the sharpest and most prolonged stock market declines in history began in the best of times.
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Sunday, September 02, 2007
Stock Market Update: Ghost of Crashes Past / Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets
This week brought back memories of when I would post at different boards on the web where no one wanted anything to do with a bullish chart that ultimately, if they'd listened, would have saved them tens of thousands of dollars. It was the October 2005 low, everyone in the world of Elliott wave was predicting a crash, and I just had to leave that suffocating, doom and gloom atmosphere. Because of that, TTC was formed.
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Saturday, September 01, 2007
Global Financial Markets Analysis - Technically Precious with Merv / Stock-Markets / Global Stock Markets
It's been a quiet week in the precious metals. The action has been basically lateral with some upward bias. Friday was good but probably with little volume. So, this week I thought I'd go into something different and just take a quick review of the some markets around the globe.
GOLD
Let's just take a quick look at gold and get it out of the way.
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Saturday, September 01, 2007
Macro Musings: Make Way For the Sovereigns / Stock-Markets / Credit Crunch
TO EVERYTHING there is a season, the Byrds sang. (And the good book said.)
For leveraged hedge funds, ‘tis now the season for blowing up; the Metamorphosis we spoke of back in June is now on full display.
Stale Prices and Daisy Chains
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Saturday, September 01, 2007
The Wilshire 5000 Stock Market Index Revisited / Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets
Perceptions from May of 2007:
Four months ago, we presented Bullish: Like There's No Tomorrow , which presented a bullish view and critical-mass-breakout buying opportunity for long term-investors interested in capturing further upside potential in the Wilshire 5000 index.
We don't get fooled again:
Those adhering to the general protocols outlined in that piece are flat - as they now hold this index sternly to task - awaiting a long-side re-entry signal upon a close back above the 14991.68 level.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Seelking Apha in Financial Market Investments / Stock-Markets / Risk Analysis
In this issue:Past is Not Prologue, and Hope Is Not a Strategy
Eliminating Negative Alpha
Our Biggest Bet is Equities - Does Cap Weighting Weigh Us Down??
Practicing What We Preach
Update - Fundamental Index™ Today
New Orleans, London and South Africa
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Saturday, September 01, 2007
Weekly Financial Markets Analysis - Deja Vu / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets
“This is like déjà vu all over again.” Yogi Berra
When I read the following article, I get the feeling the feeling that, somehow, we've been here before. The Wall Street Journal Online printed an article called, “ 'Conduits' in need of a fix .” The article describes a practice at commercial banks of keeping certain assets “off the books” in order to avoid disclosure rules and collect additional fee income. Until now, this has been a very profitable practice for banks. However, subprime mortgages have found their way into these conduits and are causing havoc in the money markets due to the inability to gauge the risk of these vehicles.
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