OUCH!!!
Tough week for Ben Bernanke gets worse as he throws ice cold water on the stock and bond markets, hinting that the $85B per month in money printing will begin to be reduced later this year and eventually ended in 2014 with rates rising in 2015. As much as I love Big Ben, I have less confidence in the Fed’s long-term forecast than my local weatherman’s five day forecast. Bernanke can jawbone all he wants, but I for one will be […]
Read More
Date: June 19, 2013
It’s All About Big Ben
The stock market rally that began last Thursday continued into the “all important” Fed meeting on Wednesday. It seems like every Fed announcement is now hailed as the most important one ever and this one is certainly no exception. To keep everyone on their toes, Bernanke & Company changed the announcement time to 2:00pm with the press conference beginning at 2:30pm. There has been a strong tendency for the market to close higher almost 70% of the time on announcement […]
Read More
Date: June 19, 2013
Squawk Box TOMORROW at 6:30am
I am going to be on CNBC’s Squawk Box tomorrow, June 18, at 6:30am discussing the upcoming Fed meeting and the market impact their announcement could have.
Read More
Date: June 17, 2013
Who Turned the Lights Out?
After a nice opening by the bulls on Wednesday, the bears came out en mass to print a fairly ugly day across the board except for gold and the stocks. It looks like stocks are heading back to revisit the lows from last week which should happen in the next few days. The stock market is now as oversold as it has been at any time since the November bottom. Failure to respond positively over the coming week would be […]
Read More
Date: June 14, 2013
Where Did the Bulls go?
I did not like the action today to begin the new week. After Thursday and Friday, the bulls needed to hold serve and not let the bears see any weakness. Monday and Tuesday saw the bears take over and that does not bode well in the short-term, even though the stock market is oversold. More caution is warranted.
Read More
Date: June 12, 2013
Bears in Full Attack Mode
Just one week ago, all the talk was about Dow 16,000 and even higher. They said the year was just like 1995. HA! Years like 1995 come along once every investment cycle, almost like we saw in 2003. The major indices were solidly red today for the second time in four sessions. Contrary to popular belief, trees don’t grow to the sky and neither do stocks! So far, this is an orderly and healthy pullback that should max out at the […]
Read More
Date: June 7, 2013
Bears Still Fleeing Bonds et al
It’s been a relentless assault on the bond market and other interest rate sensitive instruments of late. Treasury bonds, mortgage backed securities, high quality corporate bonds, junk bonds, utilities, REITs have seen intense selling pressure that has only paused for a day here and there since late April. Telecom, REITs and high yield bond mutual funds all hit our sell triggers last month and it certainly feels like consumer staples mutual funds and a few more bond ETFs aren’t too far behind. […]
Read More
Date: June 5, 2013
Apple Is Still Vulnerable, Could Test $250 in Bear Market
A familiar and often controversial topic over the past year or so has been my very negative forecast for Apple. As you know, we do not buy or sell individual stocks as part of our investment strategies but used to view Apple as THE market leader and now a bellwether stock. Long-term, nothing has changed in my view, but I do think a potential rally is setting up that could take the shares into the mid $500s. I will discuss […]
Read More
Date: June 5, 2013
Why Bernanke Can’t Be Fully Transparent
After being interviewed by Melissa Francis for so many years both at Fox Business and CNBC, it was great to finally meet her in person on set. She definitely does not lob softball questions! Here is the segment from the other day. http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/2404884981001/why-bernanke-cant-be-fully-transparent/ Action in the stock market on Thursday and Friday was positive enough to indicate at least one more run to all time highs sooner than later. It was be interesting to what leads and lags if that […]
Read More
Date: May 30, 2013
Bond Market Sending Warning Sign
Tuesday’s stock market rally looked better in the media than in reality. Early strength was sold and there was not much conviction from the buyers. Unless we see the bulls step up and close above Tuesday’s high, stocks look like they need a pause or pullback here. Closing below Dow 15,175 should set off even more selling while closing above 15,550 should entice more buyers back in. I am concerned here that high yield bonds have taken it on the […]
Read More
Date: May 30, 2013
