With the exception of those directly affected and impacted by the government shutdown, it doesn’t seem like the public really cares. If it wasn’t constantly shoved down our throats by the media, I am not sure most people would even know. From the polls I have seen, the public is not in favor of closing the government as a strategy to forestall ObamaCare, but at the same time, they are also not in favor of ObamaCare itself. So conclude what you […]
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The government may be closed but the markets are open for business and apparently not too concerned about the shutdown. This week stocks are down less than 1% and trade as if a solution is not too far off. That’s not how I see it, but what do I know?!?! My thoughts were and remain that if we saw a shutdown for more than a day, it would be a lengthy one that would bleed into the debt ceiling deadline on […]
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Stocks continue to feel the hangover from the post Fed no taper party as well as Larry Summers stepping aside. While the Russell 2000 Index of small caps briefly saw all time highs today, the other major indices remain in pull back mode. This all seems very healthy and routine and I would expect another leg higher in the bull market after this period of weakness ends over the coming 2-7 weeks. In the very short-term, stocks are oversold and are supposed […]
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Last week, Dow Jones, the keeper of the popular stock market indices Dow Jones Industrials, Transportation and Utilities, had a major shake up in their most widely watched Industrial Average. Being thrown out are Alcoa, Bank of America and Hewlett Packard. On the other hand, Goldman Sachs, Nike and Visa are coming on board. On the surface, this makes all the sense in the world as Alcoa has been a stodgy old aluminum company while B of A and Hewlett are […]
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I will on CNBC’s Closing Bell today, Friday, at 4:00pm discussing the lack of any taper from the Fed, what they see that the masses don’t and where the markets are ahead. Earlier this week in Street$marts (click on link to see) and on my blog, www.investfortomorrowblog.com I spelled out the three scenarios that could result from the Fed meeting. While I did not believe any taper was warranted, the market was expecting a token $10-$15 billion. When Bernanke & Company did nothing, risk […]
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Why does it seem like every single Fed meeting has become “the single most important FOMC meeting ever” in the media? And here we are again. The Fed begins a two day meeting tomorrow and it is widely expected that they will announce the first of many subsequent tapers at either this meeting or the one in November. The only surprise will be if they remove any kind of taper talk from their announcement or commentary. Although I do not agree with tapering […]
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What a pleasant surprise when I walked in the door from my daughter’s softball game and saw that Larry Summers had withdrawn his name from consideration to succeed Ben Bernanke. It’s not a new topic here nor in my commentary in the media that I thought Summers was the wrong person at the wrong time for the job. The man doesn’t play well in the sandbox with others and stuck his feet in his mouth regarding women when he was president of Harvard. […]
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Today, we remember the horrific and cowardly events of September 11, 2001. I was not alive when JFK was assassinated or when Pearl Harbor was attacked, but those who were often speak about where they were or what they were doing at that moment. I remember sitting in my office watching CNBC. They had Breaking News that a plane flew into one of the towers at the World Trade Center. My first reaction was a skeptical one. I didn’t see any […]
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Stocks have a done a good job over the past few weeks of shrugging off the events in Syria, the uncertainty at the Fed and the less than stellar economic news. It doesn’t “feel” like the two month consolidation is over and Dow 16,000 is right around the corner, but we will let the market tell us. I do continue to believe that more all time highs are ahead in the fourth quarter and into 2014. Here is my most […]
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I am going to be on Fox Business’ Markets Now on Monday August 26 at 1:00pm. The stock market began a small bounce last week and looks to continue that move this week. Yes, it’s the unofficial last week of summer although many schools have already started and many more begin on the 26th. Volume is typically light this week, but when a geopolitical event occurs like we saw in 2011, 2010, 2008 and 2007, volume will certainly spike. I […]
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Stocks continue to trade very heavy, but we should be on guard for a strong bounce at any time here. I think the top is in for a while so bounces are now selling opps and a better buy point should be seen after Labor Day. To reiterate what I have said for a while, this pullback should not be the beginning of a new bear market, just another healthy cleanse in an aging bull market. Here is the segment […]
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The stock market continued digesting gains seen from the June 24 to mid July rally. So far, the consolidation has been constructive with the Dow Jones Industrials being the weakest index of the majors. Over the very short-term, the major indices should see a bounce but not exceed the all time highs seen in July. It’s too early to tell whether this will end up being an intermediate-term decline lasting well into September or short lived. One clue will be […]
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I am scheduled to be on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street on Friday at 10:30am discussing Thursday’s market rout, how much lower it’s heading and how to invest in this suddenly volatile environment.
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I haven’t done a canaries in the coal mine update in a while, but with the major market indices hitting fresh highs last week, it’s time to check if any are dead. Remember, canaries in the coal mine are only useful at bull market peaks and bear market troughs. In other words, they are very helpful at spotting beginnings and endings of bull markets, but not much in between. They are so important because they usually give ample warning that […]
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Should we break out the crash helmets? The market just went down three straight days! Yes, it was and is stretched, but there isn’t enough internal damage to warrant more than a routine, healthy and normal 3-8% pullback. A much larger correction is coming; it’s just not right now. If and when the major market indices close below the lows from August 7, we should see a deeper bull market pullback. Here were my comments from the interview I did […]
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I am going to be on CNBC’s Closing Bell TODAY (Aug 5) at 4pm discussing where the stock market is headed over the coming weeks and into September’s Fed meeting where the “taper” could begin. Over the past few weeks, I visited Fox Business and Yahoo Finance. Regarding the Fed, here were and are my thoughts: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/fed-meeting-tap-investors-await-bumpy-ride-112711784.html.
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The biggest economic report of the month is due out at 8:30am on Friday. It’s become even more closely watched if that’s possible because of the Fed’s focus on the unemployment rate for scaling back their massive bond purchases and then raising interest rates. It is widely forecasted that tomorrow’s number will be good to strong. What becomes very interesting for me is how the market would view better economic news. Is good news still good news or will we […]
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Every month or so, I write an update on the market’s canaries in the coal mine to get a sense where the bull market stands. Nothing has changed on that front in that we having an aging bull market, but one that should live on through the next correction and probably into 2014. As the market builds towards the next meaningful pullback, here are a few things to watch as I briefly discussed on Fox Business. http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/2565939221001/correction-coming/
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Here are my thoughts on the Fed meeting today and into the fall as well as Bernanke’s impending successor. I think this was one of the clearest, most concise Fed discussions I have had. What do you think? http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/fed-meeting-tap-investors-await-bumpy-ride-112711784.html For today, anything other than what Bernanke said in front of Congress last week will be a big surprise. And no, I absolutely do not think Bernanke knows what Friday’s jobs report will be. As a tiny business who participates in the […]
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As I started my first segment with the folks at Yahoo Finance, SAC was indicted. Here is the on the spot discussion we had. http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/sac-capital-indicted-criminal-securities-fraud-155459600.html
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