“We’re in a period of volatility. We’re not out of the woods yet….. All of the things that bothered the market last week are still around….” – Bill Nichos (subscription required), Trader, Bear Stearns After the brutal selloff last week, stocks…
On a day like today, after a big drop, I think the markets are more about emotion than they are about facts and fundamentals. Therefore, I find it useful to look at the charts for some guidance about how people…
All you really need to read to understand today’s market crash is an article on the front page of The Wall Street Journal titled: “Banks Delay Sale of Chrysler Debt As Market Stalls” (subscription required). If you really want to…
The Dow closed above 14,000 for the 1st time today – at 14,000.41. It’s taken less than three months, only 12 weeks and a day, for the Dow to make the 7.7% climb from 13,000 (which it first closed above…
“I do not view this as a Bear Stearns problem, but a systemic one.” “This could force a wide variety of other holders of subprime mortgage securities and CDOs to meaningfully revalue their holdings. That would cause significant declines in book…
It seems like the biggest story of the last 4 weeks, the problems at two Bear Stearns hedge funds involved in subprime mortgage backed securities, is coming to an end. In a letter to clients (subscription required) Bear had this…
“What you’re seeing is a very cautious shopper that’s pulling back on major purchases.” – Donald Soares (subscription required), Principal at Capgemini’s retail practice “This is a remarkable two-day turnaround.” – Uri Landesman (subscription required), Senior Portfolio Manager, ING Investment Management “…….
“The fallout of the subprime meltdown on financial services companies that hold some of the debt creates some risk to earnings. The financials make up over 25% of earnings for the S&P 500, so a series of disappointments in financials…
“There’s anticipation that second quarter earnings will be better than expected.” – Jim Herrick (subscription required), Head Trader, Robert W. Baird “We think people are gunning to the low side on where earnings should come in…. We think analysts have overdone…
Every market needs a sector or sectors to lead it (up or down) and every investor should know what they are. (This is one of the points from William O’Neil’s How To Make Money In Stocks that I’ve really taken…