Good news from North Korea will get Asian stock markets hopping
There’s a good chance that the biggest financial story on Wednesday August 5 won’t be a financial story at all. In a stunning turnaround North Korea’s Kim Jong Il has pardoned two American journalists and ordered their release from a North Korean...Is the global current stock rally counting on more spending than the U.S.consumer will deliver?
We know that the U.S. consumer isn’t spending. Consumer spending, known to the government as “personal consumption expenditure,” fell at an annualized rate of 1.2% in the second quarter. That’s a bigger decline than government figures showed for the economy as a...Here we go again! Remember how hard it is to exit a momentum market?
Investors have convinced themselves that the economy is getting better faster than they expected. Unfortunately, that’s the kind of emotional feedback loop that gets investors and markets in trouble. Know what the most important evidence these investors cite is...It's official: This is now the longest recession since the Great Depression. Here's why that matters
With the GPD numbers for the quarter that ended on June 30 showing that the U.S. economy is still shrinking, it’s now official: the recession that began, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, in December 2007 is now the longest at 17 months and...Look out for natural gas Monday
Last week it was oil companies reporting their earnings numbers. Monday investors get a big dose of numbers from natural companies. The earnings aren’t likely to be pretty although since many producers wrote down billions in assets last quarter–Chesapeake...Death and power in Shanghai through the eyes of Inspector Chen
Mysteries are the quickest and most enjoyable way to get to the heart of a culture. Including today’s China. As the fictional detective sifts through clues to track down the criminal, the readers experiences how that society draws the lines between morality and...GDP numbers show the recession crawling to an end but followed by a very slow and weak recovery
The government’s reports on quarterly GDP (gross domestic product) are the most detailed picture investors get of the state of the economy. The initial report for the second quarter shows an economy that’s still contracting but at a much slower pace than...Now that's volatility! First Solar goes from up $15 to down $7 in an hour. That doesn't say anything good about this market
Granted that First Solar (FSLR) is the big momentum momma of the solar sector, but still… The stock, already up $22 a share in a week as investors bid shares higher in anticipation of the company’s July 30 earnings report, closed the day up $5.56 a share....China's new bubble is still inflating; when it busts the damage will be worst outside China, I fear
Even the go-for-broke gamblers on the Shanghai stock exchange are getting worried. On July 29 rumors that the Chinese central bank was going to step on the brakes sent that market down 5%. The next day stocks made up part of that loss by tacking on 1.7% as the...Chinese stocks fall and commodities take a big hit
Always good to know what’s connected to what at the moment. Helps you avoid jumping to conclusions as an investor. After the July 29 market action around the world I’d say that when Chinese stocks fall–the Shanghai Composite was down 5% on the day,...Chinese stocks crack: Time to go bargain hunting–in Brazil
The Shanghai Composite stock index closed down 5% on July 29. The intraday damage was worse with stocks down 7% at one point. The rout wasn’t surprising. The Shanghai market was up almost 80% for 2009. And rumors have been swirling in recent days that officials...Now, the chip wars get nasty; expect the survivors to go after the solar cell makers
Chip makers are packing more circuits onto their chips. The next generation will be dense with circuits just 28 billionths of a meter–28 nanometers–wide. That will expand, yet again, the power and speed of semiconductors, and increase yet again the number...The big test: How long will it take this rally to bust through 1,000 on the S&P?
Notice that I’m asking When?and not If? This rally looks like it has enough momentum to get through the 1,000 barrier. It sure helps that the big alternative to stocks, money market funds, are paying just 0.5% right now. With lots of cash on the sidelines I do...The July 27 battle in housing stocks is a preview for rising volatility across the market in the days ahead
It’s going to be one bloody battle. Bulls are bidding up the shares of home builders on reports that U.S. new home sales climbed 11% in June. That’s the biggest jump in eight years. Last week,before the news, short sellers had been loading up on these...How long can the rally run? How fast can Wall Street raise earnings estimates?
Call it the over-reaction reaction. Now that stocks are rallying and companies are beating Wall Street earnings estimates, Wall Street analysts have started to raise their projections for 2010 earnings. The move may not be based on real fundamentals, but it will...Same old bear or brand new bull? I'm afraid the answer is "Yes"
Has the stock market rally that has seen the Standard & Poor’s 500 index climb 44% off the March 9, 2009 low ended the bear market that began in October 2007? Or is the bear still fully in charge and the recent rally merely a typical bear market rally? Deciding...Next week it's oil, oil and more oil earnings. To know where the industry is going, forget profits and look at capital spending
Exxon Mobile (XOM). Chevron (CVX). Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A). BP (BP). ConocoPhillips (COP). Noble Energy (NBL) Apache (APA). Petro-Canada (PCZ). All these production companies report quarterly earnings next week. Add in drilling equipment and oil service companies...What to look for today July 24: The traditional Friday selling after a rally
Thank God it’s Friday. After moving up so strongly–aother 4% gain on the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index from Monday to Thursday–the stock market is almost certain to retreat tomorrow. But because it’s a Friday–and the market...The key to commodities investing now is idle capacity. And how quickly it gets back into production
In its regular report on June iron ore production, delivered on July 22, BHP Billiton (BHP) gave investors the key to investing in commodities over the next year. Ignore this at your portfolio’s peril. BHP just told us all what to buy, what to avoid, and when....Would you like cream with that red herring? More great crime fiction from Sweden
Has Sweden produced another series of great murder mysteries? I’ve just finished the first novel from Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and I’d have to say it’s a real possibility. The book, published after Larsson’s death in 2004 at the age of 50, is a...Jim’s Daily Email Alerts:
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