Tech Wreck Stops Market Rally Cold
Wow. What a turn around in just a few days. When I was writing my previous post after the close last Tuesday the market was starting to look up. We’d had a nice rally on Thursday and Friday (Jan 11…
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Notes on the First 9 Trading Days of 2007
We’re 9 trading days into 2007 and I thought I’d comment on some of the things I’m seeing in the market. (1) Changing Perceptions About the Fed – When the Fed minutes were released on the year’s first trading day,…
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The Market Gets Hammered – The Dow Down 158 points and the S&P 500 19 Points on Monday
Great! Right after I tell everybody to go long the S&P 500 by buying call options the market has it’s worst day in 6 months. The Jan07 SPY 137 calls that I recommended lost a third of their value today…
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Raise A Little Cash, Get Defensive
I tend to agree with Graham Summer’s Growth Stock Wire missive this morning, “The Correction is Here”: It’s quiet …… too quiet. I don’t mean to rain on everyone’s parade but September has been much too tame so far. There…
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US Consumer Looks Strong For Now – Bed, Bath and Beyond, Circuit City and Nike All Report Strong Quarters
The US consumer is holding up nicely thus far as Bed, Bath and Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY), Circuit City (NYSE: CC) and Nike (NYSE: NKE) all reported strong quarters this past week. Bed, Bath and Beyond, owner of 762 Bed, Bath…
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Which Way is the Economy and the Fed Going?
The Fed decided today to leave the federal funds rate at 5.25%. The interesting thing is that the bond market is pricing in rate cuts in the next year or so. Justin Lahart, author of the Wall Street Journal’s daily…
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Tom Petruno: Market Positioning Itself for “Soft Landing”
On Friday I wrote: The markets are somewhat confusing right now. For the 9 weeks beginning Monday July 17, the Dow has rallied from around 10,750 to today’s close of 11,560 – a 7.5% rally. Over the same period the…
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The Interpretation of the Best Buy Quarter and the Last 9 Weeks in the Stock Market
On Tuesday I wrote: The Street interpreted Best Buy’s results as saying that the American consumer is not dead and will continue to spend on discretionary items. That interpretation seems to have played out this week. The S&P Retail Index…
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Best Buy’s Good Quarter Boosts Wall Street’s Confidence in the Consumer
Before the open today Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), the nation’s largest electronics retailer, announced a pretty good fiscal (ended Aug 26, 2006) second quarter. Same store sales in the United States were up 3.0% in the three months ended Aug…
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Fed Minutes Reveal Balancing Act at the Fed
A few weeks after each Fed meeting, the minutes for that meeting are released. The minutes are not an actual transcript of what was said but a shamelessly doctored summary. As I tried to explain a couple weeks ago the…