All Entries in the "Portfolio Update" Category
Week in Review 9/7/07 – Jobs Fall Through the Floor
All week CNBC hyped Friday’s job numbers as the most important economic report of the year. A weak number (~50K) would provide the ammunition for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to appease the market and cut interest rates. A strong number (~120K) and he would continue singing his economy is fine tune. No one expected a [...]
Week in Review 8/31/07 – Believe It Or Not Market Up 1% in August
If you were fully invested on July 31st and simply buried your head in the sand for the month August – the market rewarded you with a 1% return on your money. Not bad for being oblivious to the turmoil that has been roiling the market since it peaked on July 19th. The rest of [...]
Week in Review 8/24/07 – Don’t Fight the Fed
As the Fed’s liquidity injections and cut in the discount rate have had a calming effect on the market, it appears as though the old play book – don’t fight the Fed is back in vogue. However, this is doesn’t feel like your normal run of the mill financial crisis and Bernanke is showing that [...]
Week in Review 8/17/07 – Uncle Ben to the Rescue
Two weeks ago the DOW closed up, but most didn’t feel good going into the weekend. This week the DOW closed down and many feel renewed. Go figure. On Friday, the Fed cut the discount rate that it charges to banks by 50 basis points. The DOW jumped 233 points on the news ending a [...]
Week in Review 8/10/07 – Bernanke and Paulson Blew It
After being slapped around for 3 weeks, the market was overdue for a bounce. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were quite accommodating as the DOW rallied 286, 35 and 153 points. Just as soon as we thought the water was safe, we were hit with a 380 point loss on Thursday. The subprime mortgage fiasco that [...]
Week in Review 8/3/07 – Stocks Pummeled Again
It looks like “talk-too-much-itis” is running rampant amongst the financial company executives. Last week Angelo Mozilo, CEO Countrywide Financial (CFC), held the longest conference call in history. The more he talked the more the market dropped. We almost escaped this week without another market moving speech, but at 2PM on Friday Bear Stearns (BSC) decided [...]
Week in Review 7/27/07 – Stocks Pummeled
The euphoria of the DOW closing over 14,000 seems like ancient history. In the six trading days since, the market has gone into free fall. Triple digit down days has become the norm. Last Friday’s 149 point loss was a victory compared to this week’s 226, 311 and 208 point losses on Tuesday, Thursday and [...]
Week in Review 7/20/07 – DOW 14000, If Only For One Day
The DOW closed at 14,000 on Thursday for the first time in history only to sell off 150 points the next day. Subprime woes took some of the blame, but disappointing earnings were the true story. Intel kicked the week off with a stink bomb. Revenue and earnings were in line with expectations, but profit [...]
Week in Review 7/13/07 – Trade What You See; Not What You Think
The DOW 14,000 watch begins this week. It was only a few months ago (February) that it looked like we were going to crash down through 12,000. How the tides have turned? The bears had their heads handed to them on Thursday as the DOW spike up 284 points. It was the largest one day [...]
Week in Review 7/6/07 – Sell in May and Go Away Ain’t Working
Sell in May and go away is one of many sayings on Wall Street. It has been proven in several studies that gains from November through April are typically better than May through October. It’s somewhat understandable. Would you rather spend time on the beach during the summer or on the trading floor? That reasoning may not [...]
