Analysis Topic: Stock & Financial Markets

The analysis published under this topic are as follows.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Ultra Low US Inflation Makes QE A Markets Slam Dunk / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2010

By: PaddyPowerTrader

U.S. stocks fell marginally on Thursday, weighed down by 3M who drove industrial shares lower after cutting its profit forecast, helping erase an early gain triggered by Exxon Mobil’s better-than-estimated earnings report. 3M sank 5.9% for it’s biggest loss since February 2009, after saying full-year earnings will be 6 cents lower than previously forecast. And Halliburton dropped 8% as a report cited unstable cement the company recommended to cap BP Plc’s Gulf of Mexico oil well as a factor in the spill. But Exxon bucked the downtrend and rose 0.8% as growing global fuel demand helped boost earnings.

Friday, October 29, 2010

The Fed Underwrites Asset Price Explosion / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2010

By: Fred_Sheehan

"That the economists...can explain neither prices nor the rate of interest nor even agree what money is reminds us that we are dealing with belief not science." ~ James Buchan, Frozen Desire (1997)

The Federal Reserve is in disarray. Unsure of whether its QE2 strategy (quantitative easing - second round) should be tabled (see speeches of Thomas Hoenig, president of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank) or if it should pump $10 trillion into the economy (the unsolicited advice from economic columnist Paul Krugman), the New York Federal Reserve Bank has now asked bond dealers what it should decide at its upcoming November 3 meeting. ["Fed Asks Dealers to Estimate Size, Impact of Debt Purchases."]. Since it is the belief in the integrity and competence of the Fed that backs the dollar, asking Wall Street what it wants is another reason to sell dollars.

Friday, October 29, 2010

U.S. Mid-term Elections Stock Market Trend Pattern / Stock-Markets / Seasonal Trends

By: Money_Morning

Don Miller writes: The Democrats and Republicans have spent a record $3.5 billion in preparation for this year's midterm elections. But regardless of the outcome - whether you're a Democrat or Republican - the good news is that the stock market traditionally has performed well during midterm election cycles.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Stock Market Mixed, Choppy Session / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2010

By: Harry_Boxer

The stock market indices closed mixed today after a choppy session. The day started out with a gap to the upside, as the Nasdaq 100 ran to new highs at 2135.69, while the S&P 500 reached above 1189.53. They then rolled over in a 3-wave decline and formed a falling wedge.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Rule of Law and the Mortgage Mess / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2010

By: David_Knox_Barker

The Chronicles of Atticus McShrugg are fiction, but intended to give relevant, timely and sometimes entertaining perspective into current events in the global financial crisis and international political economy from a free market perspective. Atticus McShrugg is Special Assistant to the President of the United States, Director for Global Financial Market Stability. McShrugg boss is Admiral Clark, Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economic Affairs. For background on Atticus McShrugg, please see, Who is Atticus McShrugg?

Thursday, October 28, 2010

2011 Boom Time for Businesses that Profit From the Suffering of Others / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2010

By: PhilStockWorld

Please Baby, One More Chance - That is how Jon Stewart summed up the Democrats' strategy for the President last night.  It was a great interview and I won't rehash it here but it's well worth watching.   At this point, it's very likely the Democrats keep the Senate and the President made several mentions of the Senate rules that have allowed the Republicans to filibuster over 90% of legislation brought before the Senate in the past two years, which has ground the Government to a virtual halt and prevented the Democrats from advancing their agenda.  I'm sure if you are a Conservative you think that's a great thing, but it's not Democracy - it makes a mockery of the process.  If things work out, the Dems plan to change the rules of the Senate when the Senate disbands for the elections after which point it will only take a simple majority vote to pass the laws.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Stock Market Sells Hard Early...Rallies Late..Nasdaq Green / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2010

By: Jack_Steiman

And this is what normally happens in markets that are trending higher. The Nasdaq, or higher risk stocks, usually do better and today was no exception. On a percentage basis the Nasdaq held up significantly better than the rest of the major sectors within the market. The market was due to sell some based on some overbought daily index charts. Lots of 70 RSI's out there. The doji on Monday was a predictor of some selling, although it took two days instead of one to get going. Not much selling yet though in the world of technology.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

What is Quantitative Easing? Fed’s Perspective and Writings / Stock-Markets / Quantitative Easing

By: Chris_Ciovacco

A Wall Street Journal article (10/27/10) on quantitative easing (QE) hints the Fed will take a middle of the road approach in terms of the size and duration of QE2. As we would expect, the stock and commodity markets’ initial reaction is negative. A middle of the road approach to QE seems counter intuitive to the Fed’s own historical analysis of why quantitative easing was ineffective in Japan. In CCM’s July 2010 review of James Bullard’s Seven Faces of “The Peril”, our read between the lines interpretation of Bullard’s take on QE included:

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Imminent Big Bank Death Spiral Means Gold Price Will Sky Rocket / Stock-Markets / Credit Crisis 2010

By: Jim_Willie_CB

The mortgage & foreclosure scandal runs so deep that ordinary observers can conclude the US financial foundation is laced with a cancer detectable by ordinary people. The metastasis is visible from the distribution of mortgage bonds into the commercial paper market, money market funds, the bank balance sheets, pension funds under management, foreign central banks, and countless financial funds across the globe. Some primary features of the cancerous tissue material are mortgage bond fraud, major securities violations, absent linkage to property title, income tax evasion, forged foreclosure documents, duplicate property linkage to single mortgage bonds, NINJA (no income, no job or assets) loans to unqualified buyers, and more. In fact, more is revealed it seems each passing week toward additional facie to high level and systemic fraud. The world is watching. The growing international reaction will be amplified demand for Gold, from recognition that the USDollar & USEconomy have RICO racketeering components extending to Wall Street banks and Fannie Mae mortgage repositories.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

What Does Doctor Copper Say on the Health of the Economy? / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2010

By: PhilStockWorld

They call it "Doctor Copper" because copper pricing is a pretty good indicator of economic health.  It's more of a demand metal than gold or silver and hard to fake and there aren't any silly ETFs stockpiling it although China has socked away a full-year's supply, which has given copper a very false sense of demand while our masters hoarded the World's substantial excess capacity at an average of less than $2.50 per pound.  China is up 52% on their investment, not bad considering they're holding 300,000 tons of it.  

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The Market Impact of $100 Billion a Month of Quantitative Easing / Stock-Markets / Quantitative Easing

By: Dr_Jeff_Lewis

Wall Street is going wild with new quantitative easing talk.  However, as the Street moves to front-run Ben Bernanke, one perspective is very much understood: QE2 will be nothing like we've ever seen before.  The new quantitative easing will be monstrous, persistent, and of a size, scope and direction never before seen.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

U.S. Bank Failures Trend in Slow Motion / Stock-Markets / Credit Crisis 2010

By: Douglas_French

Every Friday evening a few more banks are closed — seized by the various state banking regulators and handed over to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for liquidation. This all happens rather quietly, barely making the news. We're told these bank failures are no big deal. No reason to panic. The names of the banks change over the weekend and many customers don't notice the difference.

We've only had 294 failures this cycle, but it is a big deal: adjusted to current dollars, the Depression banking crisis was $100 billion, the S&L crisis was $923 billion, and the current crisis is nearly $8 trillion.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Stock Market Dow Jones Index Priced in Gold, What It Means for the Long-Term Trend / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2010

By: EWI

Of the many forward-looking market indicators we at EWI employ, one of the most interesting tools (and least discussed in the financial media) is the DJIA priced in gold -- "the real money," as EWI's president Robert Prechter calls it. What implications might the present position of Dow/gold have for the long-term trend of the nominal Dow? In this video, Elliott Wave International's Steven Hochberg shows you several revealing charts that answer this question.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Stock Markets Worried by Watered Down QE2 / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2010

By: PaddyPowerTrader

The market put in a respectable performance Tuesday considering the amount of negative news. Despite Ford beating expectations by a whopping 25 percent the stock only rallied 1.5 percent. Three of the major Steel Players (MT, X, AKS) missed and fell 4 percent on average. Meanwhile Kimberly-Clark , the maker of Huggies nappies and Kleenex tissues, lost 5.8 percent as profit dropped amid higher costs for materials. But IBM climbed 0.6 percent after its board authorized buying back as much as $10 billion in shares.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Marc Faber Says QE2 to Drive Down Stocks / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2010

By: Videos

Marc Faber discusses the potential impact of further quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve on stocks.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The Wall Street Buttonwood Gathering - View from the Top / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2010

By: PhilStockWorld

This was an interesting event!  
On May 17th 1792, twenty-four stock brokers met under a buttonwood tree outside 68 Wall Street and agreed to set up the New York Stock and Exchange board. The tree was a symbol of Wall Street, but also, it was where people originally met to trade, to discuss and to argue.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Quantitative Easing Targets Asset Prices, Not Bank Reserves / Stock-Markets / Quantitative Easing

By: Chris_Ciovacco

With markets coming off of overbought levels, bullish sentiment high, and gold backing off a vertical ascent, we believe investors need to be ready for a quantitative easing (QE) disappointment pullback. A “buy the QE rumor, sell the QE news” event needs to be considered from a portfolio management perspective. Having said that we also believe most investors and many financial professionals do not fully understand how QE works in the real world and that one of QE’s primary objectives is to inflate asset prices.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Stocks Tread Water Ahead of Consumer Data / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2010

By: PaddyPowerTrader

U.S. stocks rose Monday, sending the S&P 500 Index to a 4th straight gain, after the Group of 20 nations pledged to avoid “competitive devaluations” of currencies and investors bet the Federal Reserve will announce further bond purchases next week. Stocks wise DuPont, Kraft Foods and Walt Disney all climbed more than 1.4 percent to lead gains amongst the largest U.S. companies. And Citigroup rallied 2.4 percent after Goldman Sachs added the shares to its “conviction buy” list. Elsewhere CommScope surged 30 percent on news a private equity firm is considering a takeover while Office Depot also gained 3.5 percent after saying earnings will beat estimates.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Why Wall Street Bonuses Will Cost Us All in the Long Run / Stock-Markets / Market Regulation

By: Money_Morning

Martin Hutchinson writes: Wall Street firms may not be reaping the record-breaking revenues of 2004-2007, but they're paying themselves the lofty bonuses of that lavish era - and they're doing it at our expense and with the government's blessing.

Wall Street's pay packages, including bonuses, are set to total 4% more in 2010 than in the already record year of 2009, The Wall Street Journal recently reported.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Stock Market Has Another Positive Start to the Week / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2010

By: Harry_Boxer

The stock market indices started the week out on a positive note, although a last half-hour sell off took back a chunk of the profits.

The day started out with a gap up and strong early morning rally that took the Nasdaq 100 to new highs at 2127 and the S&P 500 to 1196. They then sold off, backed and filled, consolidated, and tried an afternoon rally, which got up to the morning highs but couldn't quite break out late and run. When that occurred, they rolled over hard in the last half hour to pare back the gains.