Dow Futures Hit Max Losses, Market Opens Down 400 Points

What has investors spooked?  read more »

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[Source: The Money Blogs - Blogs all about money]

What's Up With Mortgages?

We're getting a lot of questions lately about mortgages, so we thought we'd get an expert to answer some of them.  read more »

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[Source: The Money Blogs - Blogs all about money]

ELN Verbage Challenged

Elan (ELN) released quarterly results and immediately went into a wordy explanation of where they stood with what drug.  read more »

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[Source: The Money Blogs - Blogs all about money]

Expect more building societies to fail

Is anyone else confused by the events of the past few weeks, with building societies dropping like flies because of esoteric investments in all kinds of financial jiggery-pokery?

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[Source: This is Money | Money blog]

Judith Wilson: symbol of Britain's buy-to-let boom

In boom and bust, there's always memorable symbols of the excesses. In Japan, the Imperial Palace was worth more than California. Judith Wilson may come to be the symbol of Britain's buy-to-let boom

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[Source: This is Money | Money blog]

Whatdya Know Joe (Plumber, Hedge Fund Manager, CEO)

I guess transparency is just  read more »

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[Source: The Money Blogs - Blogs all about money]

It's Friday, and the ES Has Hit Limit Down (-60)

5:15AM EST: Good morning. The ES hit limit down of 60 points a short time ago. It is shaping up to be an interesting - and somewhat scary - Friday. We still have over four hours until the open.  read more »

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[Source: The Money Blogs - Blogs all about money]

The Problem with China

While China is emerging as perhaps the next world super power, it suffers from several flaws that will hold it back from ever being truly dominant.  read more »

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[Source: The Money Blogs - Blogs all about money]

Greenspan - Bad data hurt Wall Street computer models - NYTimes.com

Greenspan - Bad data hurt Wall Street computer models - NYTimes.com : "Greenspan told the committee.  read more »

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[Source: The Money Blogs - Blogs all about money]

Deal Heavyweights on the Future of Mergers and Acquisitions

Wouldn't you have loved to be there for this one?  read more »

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[Source: The Money Blogs - Blogs all about money]

Analysts Still Nuts With Their 2009 Earnings Projections

One of the reasons sell-side analysts on Wall Street are usually pretty bad at picking stocks is because they are reactionary, not anticipatory.  read more »

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[Source: The Money Blogs - Blogs all about money]

How many people have more than 50,000?

How many Britons have more than £50,000 in savings? For those who do the situation they're in is unacceptable. After all the clue's in the name; savings, they're meant to be safe.

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[Source: This is Money | Money blog]

Governor Schwarzenegger Discusses the Economy with Warren Buffett at the 2008 Women's Conference

CHRIS MATTHEWS : The stock market dropped 350 points this morning. What should people do here, do now, today, as they make their investment decisions from here on out, Mr. Buffet?  read more »

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[Source: The Money Blogs - Blogs all about money]

Response To Wbur/npr: American Housing & Finance: What Went Wrong & How To Fix It

WBUR / NPR OnPointRadio: Banks and Housing in CrisisAmerican housing and finance. What went wrong, and how to fix it.You can join the conversation. What new rules should be in place? Should we make it more difficult to buy a home? Should we stop banks from playing with mortgage securities? Should we put up big firewalls on Wall Street to head off future disasters? Tell us what you think.MY COMMENT TO WBUR BLOG, yours are welcome as well:"Speed bumps" to protect the housing market from ov[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Markets Continue Slide As World Economy Faulters - With Charts

Showing signs that the financial rescue plan has done little to quell market worries, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 540 points by midday Monday. Now down well below the 10,000 mark for the first time since 2004, many are worried that the economy has taken a turn for the worst. In an effort to stem the fears of a global market collapse, several European governments have stepped in to assure their citizens that they are protected. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Uni[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Happy Birthday & 100 Most Powerful Property People

Today, a big thanks goes out to all our readers! It’s been three years since our first post (somehow it seems longer than that). We barely have time to celebrate this momentous occasion. Well its not that momentous in the grand scheme of things since there are far more important things than our little blog. Sometimes I’m surprised by who the readers are, where they come from and very often surprised by some of the comments.I guess its fitting that the other day we received an email from a Read More...

[Source: The Money Blogs]

Bottom?

It will get better, sooner than later!This sounds like the mom telling her son that the swelling and welt on his face will go away minutes after just getting pummeled by the school bully.Nevertheless, we see some positivity even while stock plunge. The U.S. economy will recover from the current recession in the second quarter of next year, assuming the credit squeeze in global financial markets improves gradually, according to a survey of Read More...

[Source: The Money Blogs]

Okay, This Is The Trader Talking...

...as opposed to the inflation/deflation pondering, safety promoting newsletter writer. Here some thoughts:1) I am becoming wildly bullish the gold stocks now that we are spiking toward 220. We’ll let the dust settle this week and in this weekend’s letter I will review why in detail.2) I am not bearish on the stock market from this level. ’Not bearish’ does not mean actively bullish however. At least not yet.3) I have not lost my mind (I don’t think).4) I am seeing too many articles mentioning things like nuclear war, martial law and the [...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Late Sharp Snapback Rally Pares Losses In Half As Dow Closes Under 10,000

Late Sharp Snapback Rally Pares Losses in Half as Dow Closes Under 10,000 By Harry Boxer, The Technical Trader (www.thetechtrader.com)The markets had another historic day today with extreme volatility both up and down, mostly to the downside early. The indices opened sharply lower on a gap-down and slid hard, had a sharp morning bounce that took the NDX from 1358 back to 1406 , nearly a 50-point rally. At the same point the SPX went from 1027 to 1056, but they were unable to sustain. They initially started pulling back in [...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Five Year Money

FT Alphaville has this quote by Jim Cramer that I am guessing is from the Today Show;Whatever money you may need for the next five years, please take it out of the stock market right now, this week. I do not believe that you should risk those assets in the stock market right now I dont care where stocks have been, I care where theyre going, and I dont want people to get hurt in the market,’ Cramer told Curry. ’Im worried about unemployment, Im worried about purchases that you may need.[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Today Capitulation?

Made several great trades today. Traded the QID, QQQQ, GS and BAGL. BAGL was a super tight risk reward and was a typical Climactic Reversal Play. See how I took the trade at www.atmwallstreet.blogspot.com [...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

NQ - 100308

Below is a 5-minute chart of the E-mini NASDAQ (NQ) from Friday. I am going to explain how I use Fibonacci now in the context of how I used Fibonacci in the past - so, if you are not familiar with my trading you need to read past posts in this blog. A good place to start is by clicking "WELCOME, LINKS TO KEY POSTS, RESOURCES" at the top of the page. On that page, I link to several "key posts" one of them being "How I Trade, and Analyzing Charts".You will notice 5 black lines on the chart (someti[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Bail Out Influences Wall Street Golden Parachutes

The Congressional bail out of Wall Street attempts to limit golden parachutes for senior officers; especially for those that are walking away from impaired or bankrupt companies. The political optics are good. Lots of little people are suffering so we should make sure the big guys take some pain also. Most compensation specialists are scoffing at the present legislation saying it will not effect or affect anything. They speak from a backroom technical perspective. Watch for the next bankruptcy or financial difficulty. If the CEO and other senior officers get golden parachutes the i[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Stop! Hammer Time!

NOTE: Please click on the charts below to enlarge them if they do not appear clearly.Following through on last Friday’s weakness, stocks gapped lower on the open, then built on their losses as the day progressed. At their afternoon lows, the major indices met or exceeded the humongous losses of September 29, but this time a bullish reversal in the final hour of trading enabled the broad market to substantially trim its decline. Roughly halving their maximum intraday losses of approximately 8%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.6%, the S&P 500 3.9%, and[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Late Day Rally Stems Declines

I don’t think I’ve ever been relieved to see the market close down -370 points. But given how things were looking with an hour or so to go, the late-day rally was an improvement.I think the markets are really anticipating some sort of coordinated rate cut, and won’t be satiated until they get one.The volatility index (VIX) hit a new high today, spiking more than +20% to 58.24. I believe this is the highest level since October 1987. And I would be surprised to see this level exceeded this year.There were more than 1600 new lows on the
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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Craigslist Now Requiring Broker Registration

Craigslist in the Seattle/Tacoma area is now asking for real estate brokers to register before being able to post ads on the site. Is this the first step before charging brokers for the ads? It could be that the party will soon be over, as Craig expands his pay ads from New York to other areas of the country. Though I will be very sad, it could be that these ads will become more useful as there are always idiots out there who spam the classifieds with their "No Down Payment" ads over and over again. If you start charging them a few bucks for t[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

John Bogle: Keep Investing

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Nice Catch By The Amateur Economist

"Bootleggers, Baptists, and Car Washes".Some politicians and do-gooders in Indiana Washington [thanks, Reggae] want to ban people from washing their own cars in their own driveways.And guess who supports it? The International Carwash Association.&0160; (ht: Debbie Schlussel)[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Legislation Behind Us, Can We Move On?

Weekly chart for the Nas Composite is oversold and closed back in the May 2005 range. Daily closed with some divergence and both weekly and daily left marubozu candles. Nas 100 (NDX) the weekly closed back in the July 2006 range. The weekly is oversold, but daily although closed extreme it isnt oversold. The daily did have divergence though on the CCI. S&P 500 (SPX) weekly is oversold and like the NDX and COMPX closed with a marubozu candle on the weekly, but not the daily. The Daily closed with some slight divergence and a very weak close back i[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Alberta Population On The Rise Again

Thanks very much to "itchy" one of our frequent commenters who pointed out this article from Finance Alberta which shows that Alberta experienced strong in-migration in the second quarter of 2008. "Albertas population growth continued to be the highest among all provinces in the midyear of 2008, though slower than the previous twelve months. During the second quarter of 2[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Limited Time: "bailout Bonus" For 4th Quarter Bargain Hunters

As the housing market enters the final quarter of 2008, Read More...

[Source: The Money Blogs]

Capabilities

If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.~Thomas Alva Edison[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

All Eyes Are On The House

The market is bouncing this morning amid optimism that the House will get it right this time and vote in favor of the $700 billion asset purchase plan (does this thing have a real name yet?)The bounce came despite a weak jobs number this morning. Nonfarm payrolls fell -159,000 in September, the 9th consecutive month of declines. This figure was above consensus for -105,000, but last month’s figures were revised higher to reflect declines of -73,000.Credit market angst is still high this morning, as 3-month Libor has c[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

When Good (lefty) Papers Go Bad.

When the New York Times starts bringing up the possibility of global cooling, you know it’s about to get interesting. Note the oblique reference to global cooling, "would more than offset the warming effect".New York Times: Sunspots Are Fewest Since 1954, but Significance Is Unclear.Quotes:Scientists are not sure why this minimum has been especially minimal, and the episode is even playing into the global warming debate. Some wonder if this could b[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

A Look At The "Big Picture" Monthly Charts

NOTE: Please click on the charts below to enlarge them if they do not appear clearly.Stocks showed resilience yesterday, as the major indices moved lower in the morning, then reversed and recovered much of their early losses by mid-day. Relative weakness in tech stocks held the Nasdaq Composite down to a 1.1% loss, but the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average declined just 0.3% and 0.2% respectively. Lagging alongside of the Nasdaq was the small-cap Russell 2000 and S&P Midcap 400 indices, both of which fell 1.2%. The main stock market indexes[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Ecb Worried About Stagflation - Keeps Rates Unchanged

As widely expected, the European Central Bank’s (ECB) governing council unanimously voted to keep its key interest rates unchanged on Thursday.The council’s decision was fairly easy as both Eurozone inflation and money supply M3 growth have reversed direction recently, coming off their record highs seen earlier this year. ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet said the[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Largest 1 Day % Drops In The Dow

The media made a big deal that September 29th was the largest 1 Day Point drop in the Dow. However one should look at % Drops and not Point Drops to judge how bad things can actually get. For example going all the way back to 1900 these are the largest 1 Day % Drops in the Dow by rank. As you can see September 29th ranked number 27 on the list on a % basis and was nowhere near as bad as the worst two days which occurred on 12/13/1914 and on 10/19/1987. If you think things are bad today you should look at 1929 when the Dow dropp[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

The Blood Is Running In The Streets

Those of us who make the right investment decisions in coming weeks will come out of this wealthy beyond our wildest dreams. What will make you rich will be 100% different to what will make me or your neighbor rich. Let me start with the basic rules: Number one rule. The price you pay now will determine the profit you make on the other side. You’re not looking for bargains now. You’re looking for steals. Today’s Wall Street Journal talks of home builder D.R. Horton unloading land across California "at big discounts." Sample: They rec[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Midday Check: Market Shrugs Off Senate Approval

The market has been under heavy selling pressure all morning, despite the Senate passing the mortgage relief plan last night by a 3-to-1 margin. The European Central Bank left rates unchanged at their meeting at 4.25%. This was expected, but I think they are beginning to realize that despite their misplaced concerns about inflation, the next move for them is to lower rates.I say "misplaced" because this whole credit crunch is a hugely deflationary event. Economic growth is slowing quickly, and inflation will follow suit. Just look at[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Weekly & Monthly Update On The Edmonton Real Estate Market

Double whammy today - the final numbers are out from the board so you get the weekly and final monthly update at the same time!The Journal bragged "City Home Sales Skyrocket in September" this morning, with talk of our strong local economy along lower prices and inventory to blame for the increase in sales. There was no mention of the end of 0/40 mortgages as part of the reason for the increase in sales, which we are starting to think may have had more of an impact [...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

It’s Thursday - Do You Know Where Your Money Is?

Everyone has probably heard that the "new bailout bill" passed the Senate last night; the real challenge is what will the House do?The Vice Presidential debate is tonight. I predict it will be a dud, as expectations for Palin are so low that as long as she doesn’t drool or fall off the stage, most people will say she did well.
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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Understanding Overnight Index Swaps (ois)

Written by S. Wade Hansen Why Should You Care About OIS? Overnight Index Swaps (OIS) are not exactly a topic that comes up a lot in dinner-party conversation. In fact, it is probably not a term that comes up in a lot of conversations about the financial markets. However, it is an important concept to understand because the OIS plays a vital roll in a market indicator that many economists and analysts watch every day to determine the health of the credit marketsthe LIBOR OIS spread. This is the second in a three-part series. Par[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

What Regulatory Reforms Are Needed To Protect Real Estate Consumers?

[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Getting Shafted By Arrow Tax Break?

As soon as the Senate passed the financial services bailout package last night, critics re-emphasized their complaints that taxpayers are getting shafted. And one of the provisions they’ve been pointing to is the repeal of the 39-cent excise tax on some wooden arrows.Specifically, the tax break would apply to "Wooden Practice Arrows Used by Children," which are defined as arrows measuring 5/16 of an inch or less and unsuited for use with a bow with a peak draw we[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Creepy Tenants Become Squatters In Foreclosed Home

This is just one story in the naked city, but I imagine this kind of thing takes place all over the U.S.. In "Home Free: Foreclosure Crisis Benefits at Least One Group: Renters", writer Dominic Holden interviews a group of users who quit paying rent and now have lived in their foreclosed home for free for almost a year.[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Small And Mid-caps "atching Up" To The Broad-based Weakness

NOTE: Please click on the charts below to enlarge them if they do not appear clearly.Well, so much for resilience. Despite acting well by retaining most of their September 30 gains in the preceding session, stocks got slammed again yesterday. After opening lower, the broad market trended steadily lower throughout the entire day, causing most of the major indices to finish at or below their recent lows. With the exception of the Dow, all the main stock market indexes plunged at least 4% yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.2%, the S&P 500 4.0%, and the [...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

House Sells For $1.75 On Ebay. And Elvis Museum For Sale Again

With a winning bid of just $1.75, a Chicago woman has won an auction for an abandoned home in Saginaw. Joanne Smith, 30, recently was the top bidder for the home during an auction on eBay, The Saginaw News reported. Her bid was one of eight for the home. But befor[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

The great stock market ransom

Bankers took too many risks and destabilised the world economy. Now its time for taxpayers to pay up or face further hardship... or bankers will throw their toys firmly out of the pram.

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[Source: This is Money | Money blog]

The Consumer Bailout That Nobody Knows About

Home prices in Phoenix see 29% drop, an article from The Arizona Republic, reports that according to a housing index released Tuesday, July home prices in Phoenix were down a record 29% from a year earlier. The Standard and Poor’s/ Case-Shiller 20-city housing index fell 16.3% in July, with home prices dropping by the sharpest annual rate since the index was created in 2000. Phoenix home values have steadily decreased si[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Friday Roundup

On Tuesday I asked rally or pullback; here is the chart of QQQ showing it breaking through the Monday lows:The decline since mid-August is astounding:Read More...

[Source: The Money Blogs]

Third Quarter Roundup

Third quarter was pretty ugly, across the board. The S&P 500 declined -9.0%, which was relatively less of a decline than most markets across the globe.Here is how the major indexes stood for the year, as of 9/30:S&P 500: -20.7%; Nasdaq 100: -24.0%; Russell 2000: -11.3%China: -56.4%; Japan: -26.4%; Brazil: -22.5%The dollar spiked +11.7% during Q3, and is +3.4% for the yearOil tanked -28.1% during Q3, and is only +4.9% on the year currentlyOff all the mutual funds in the universe that I follow for our f[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Headed For A Retest (at Least)

No such thing as "down too much" if there are more willing (forced) sellers.[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Very Difficult Trade

Yesterday, mid day, I sold half of my SDS across the board.As I sat there with my finger literally on the button the SPX was between 1150 and 1155. At that level it was down 26.5% from the peak of 1565. I don’t think I would get much of an argument in saying 26.5% is down a lot.Sentiment stinks, no one has faith in anything, the consequences from all the stuff happening will be bad, you can’t swing a dead terrorist without hitting a bailout (or similar action), the house of representatives acted as childish as I can ever recall (I don’t follow politics that closely howe[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

How Will The Bailout Bill Impact Home Buyers & Sellers? Txt Your Answer

If you’re unable to join us at the TweetUp tonight at TogetherInMotion, One Broadway in Arlington, text your response to our Wiffiti board so anyone online or at the TweetUp can read your perspective. <[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Bailout: The Compulsory Bank Investment With No Return

Ever since the Wall Street bailout plan was brought to Congress with a "this must pass NOW, or else!" label attached to it by Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke, the disconnect between the leadership and the American people who empower them has never been more clearly highlighted. What we’re seeing right now is a combination of panic and genuine ideological tunnel vision that is further leading our policy makers down the path of nationalizing the private sector.The ironic thing is that this is all being done under the guise of what’s in the best interest of the people.[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Trading A Dead Cat Bounce - Part One

by John Jagerson Extremely volatile markets create an environment for the formation of a very specific type of technical price pattern. The "Dead Cat Bounce" pattern (DCB) may have a macabre name but it comes with very nice profit potential and is relatively easy to identify. At its heart the DCB is a great study in investor psychology. It occurs when investors have panicked or have been caught by surprise which is why the pattern occurs most frequently in bearish and volatile markets. Investor psychology comes into play because traders are likely to become fearful a[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Canslim.net Morning Comment And Links (for Traders)

MORNING MARKET COMMENTARYfor Wednesday, October 1 2008Major Averages Post Big Gains On Lighter Volume - Kenneth J. Gruneisen, CANSLIM Certified, Registered Principal, Source Capital Group, Inc. (Members NASD, SIPC) Stocks rebounded in the US on Tuesday as expectations grew that Congress will salvage the $700 billion bailout plan later this week. Volume totals reported were lighter on the major exchanges compared to the prior session, indicative of tepid buying from the institut[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Memo To Congress: Thanks For Nothing

I hope those Congressmen (and women) are happy that they voted down the TARP plan today and caused the market to lose $1 trillion in market value. Do you think when the economy goes into recession and their constituents lose their jobs that they will be happy that their representative voted "No" on a plan that might have stabilized things? (Here is the list of how your reps voted)The Dow lost -777 points today, the largest on record. But that headline that you will see all[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Markets Make History

Monday, we made history across the markets. But this isnt the kind of history you want to be making. Failure to sign this bill disappointed an already weak market that sent us to levels we havent seen for years. BIG flush and our volume outpaced Fridays by a significant amount leaving huge distribution days for the NYSE and Nasdaq. Oil fell $11.06 to close at $93.83, which was overshadows by the markets alarming drop. Gold rallied $10.00 to $898.50 showing some flight to safety but not at hysterical levels. Nas Composite (COMPX) at May 2005 lev[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

100-year Events - Now Happening Every Day

Who knows, but once the present has turned into history today’s rejection of US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s $700 billion bailout package by Congress may be seen as the final straw that broke the back of international capital markets.100-year events are becoming common fare these days and central banks have no other idea than to turn the spigots wide open. In a concerted action the central banks of the USA, Canada, the UK, Denmark, Norway, the Eurozone, Switzerland, Australia, Japan and Sweden [...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Savings compensation just got a lot more confusing

The fall of Bradford & Bingley has made the issue of savings compensation even more complicated. Great, just what we all need

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[Source: This is Money | Money blog]

Why The Bailout Should Not Happen: Time Magazine

Like you, I have been alarmed by what is happening in Washington and on Wall Street.I have spent many hours over the past few weeks trying to understand the causes of the financial crisis that the world is facing today.I’ve purchased 4 books on the subject, researched extensively in the Congression Record from 1994 on, studied what Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger his partner have been saying about derivatives for years, and more. I am trying to understand root causes and possible solutions. And I have come to the firm conclusion that the proposed bailout will cause even [...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Another Piece Of Edmonton?s History Gets Demolition Order

What makes a city beautiful? Today I don’t want to talk about the stock markets crashing around the world, or the credit crisis or bailouts....lets have a break. Tomorrow the monthly stats go up and we can all get back into the debate.Comment on our city. What would make it more beautiful? More attractive to young families, more enjoyable to live in?Many people think the climate in Edmonton will always prevent it from being a great city. I disagree.... I think one of the major things that is holding us back is our "tear it down and build something cheap on t[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Today&#8217;s Open: Up

Financial Industry Turmoil Deals Another Damaging Blow to Major IndicesPICTURED BELOW: The S&P 500 Index fell -8.81% yesterday and hit a new 2008. Over the weekend, Congress made significant progress on the $700 billion bailout plan but markets around the world plunged and effectively cast a "No" vote. Volume totals reported were higher on the major exchanges compared to the prior session, indicative of heavy distributional action as mutual fund managers unloaded shares more aggressively. Decliners outnumbered advancers by almost a 17-to-1 rat[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Steelcase Clueless About Future?

Steelcase (SCS) issued Q2 results and supposedly beat the street estimates. Their stock has been dropping for the past year. In a sense they are an economic indicator. You do not buy office furniture if you expect poor results.The earnings release would delight a book-keeper but the management comments leave the financial analyst wanting more. Essentially they are pointing to commodity inflation as squeezing margins. But international sales are looking very good. James P. Hackett, president and CEO. promises to monitor world events. No substantive comments about specific markets, p[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

The Mother Of All Excuses

Noted economist Paul Krugman, 10:44 a.m. today:But putting myself in Barney Frank or Nancy Pelosis shoes, Id look at it this way: the Democrats could start over, with a bailout plan that is, say, centered on purchases of preferred stock and takeovers of failing firms basically, a plan clearly focused on recapitalizing the financial sector, with nationalization where necessary. Thats what the plan Read More...

[Source: The Money Blogs]

Fed Bailout Package - Waiting For Round 2

NOTE: Please click on the charts below to enlarge them if they do not appear clearly.In keeping with the true fashion of nearly every day of September, stocks wrapped up the third quarter of 2008 with a sharp, whipsaw reversal in the opposite direction of the previous day’s move. Not to be outdone by Monday’s sell-off flashing the worst percentage losses in many years, the bulls aggressively reversed stocks in the opposite direction yesterday, dizzying traders and enabling the major indices to score their biggest single-day gains in years. The S&P 500 rallied 5.3%, th[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Cafferty On Palin

I’m a little behind lately, but I just saw this reaction from Jack Cafferty to the answer that vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin gave to a question about the $700 billion bailout package.Now I try to leave politics out of this blog, but this is definitely a cross-roads between politics and and finance (and there’s been a lot of that lately). I really can’t add too much to what Cafferty said, the answer that she gave is really pretty pathetic and to an issue that will be one of t[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Are We Close To A Bottom?

Using the S&P 500 as a proxy for the general market lets put this current market down trend into perspective. Over the last 50 years the largest decline was 32% from the 2002 peak. The next two largest declines were during the recessions of 1956-58, down 22% and 1989-90, down 24%. The average recessionary earnings decline from its peak has been approximately 17%. Based on yesterdays, September 29th, low the S&P 500 is down 29.4% from its peak of 1576 in October 2007. A 32% market decline would put t[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Real Estate Sales Higher Than Expected In Edmonton

1729 residential MLS sales in Edmonton in September 2008.Lets put that in perspective:Last September there were 1042 sales, it was the worst September in recent historyLast month there were 1541 salesSales typically drop from August to September1141 single family homes sold this September, 1019 in August477 condos sold this September, 427 in AugustRead More...

[Source: The Money Blogs]

Shortage Of American Gold Buffalo Coins

The market dropped a stunning 777 points today, the worst drop in years. Not surprisingly, gold held it’s ground today.In fact, it even popped $20 this morning as the market plummeted. The same way oil is reverting to a thought process of old, gold seems to be regaining its role as a ’flight to safety.’ It’s currently selling for just over $900/oz.But gold is still down 10% from it’s highs this year of $1030/oz. Funnily enough,as the market for gold ramps up, the U.S. government has suspended sales of its most popular 24-karat gold coin.The 24-karat Read More...

[Source: The Money Blogs]

Witnessing History

Can you recall the last time the Dow fell 777 points in a single day? Well, it never has, until today. This post will be brief. I am going to forget about the market and focus instead on the Ravens/Steelers game tonight (I am from Baltimore, but moved to Pittsburgh earlier this year) to try and take my mind off what happened in Congress today. In coming days we will likely see another bill come up for a vote, perhaps better, perhaps worse, than the current one. The Republicans will vote for it and hopefully we can make back much of today’s loss in relatively short order. Hopefully people will [...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Washington Post Non Disclosure

Washington Post (WPO) just announced the takeover of Foreign Policy Magazine. Sounds like a good idea that enhances the political clout of Washington Post. The class B shares which trade around $550 a share and are trading near their 52 week lows were up slightly in this mornings early trading.OK let me get this straight. A news organization that fights for disclosure, clarity, transparency, even the truth, announces a deal with financial implications and utters not one word about the financial ramifications. Lots of verbiage about the editorial side of Foreign Policy, which is all[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

The great stock market ransom

The great stock market ransom

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[Source: This is Money | Money blog]

Morning Update: Credit Markets Remain Tight

The equity markets are lower this morning on continued tightness in the credit markets, which is spilling over and affecting GE today.The credit derivative swaps for GE Capital are spiking this morning, which is putting the stock under heavy pressure. This is despite the fact that GE is a AAA credit. Just shows you how whacky these markets are. Nonetheless, GE is currently -8% lower today.Bank stocks are actually bucking the weakness and up on the day. The bank index is up +2.9% right now, while the oil index is down -3.3%, along with the broader ma[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Will The Bounce Hold?

The market is getting a nice bounce in the first hour of trading, with the S&P 500 up as much as +3.0%. The bank index is leading the way, after yesterday’s drubbing, rallying +11.22%. Homebuilders and biotechs are lagging.The selloff yesterday afternoon was sparked by the House rejecting the financial relief plan. They saw the stock market’s response yesterday, and today they should look at the Libor market, which is the rates banks charge each other for short-term loans.Libor has surged as much as 430 basis[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Bailouts Don&#8217;t Address The Real Problem

Every pundit on Earth is playing the game of picking the various bailouts apart and proposing their own improved bailout schemes. But I think that most of the conversations going on out there miss a critical point: that this bailout and the ones that will in all likelihood follow it fail to address the root cause of the problems.That root cause, in my opinion, is that the vast majority of political leaders, regulators, and pundits zealously cling to a deeply flawed analytical framework. To put it more simply: the people and principles that blithely led us into this mess ar[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]

Nixing Mark-to-Market Accounting Is Not The Solution

I am a little confused. How will removing the mark-to-market accounting rule, an idea that is rapidly gaining traction, help solve the problem? If balance sheets are not prepared with market prices, it will allow companies to arbitrarily assign a price to the illiquid assets it holds. What kind of price are they going to select? Obviously, a high one!To me, this will just lend less credibility to bank balance sheets because investors will assume the banks are choosing artificially high prices for the assets they get to assign values to. Will sovereign wealth funds, private equity f[...]

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[Source: The Money Blogs]