Blog Archives

Different Administration, Same Problems


Good morning. Dull and down for the market last week, with the SPY down 1.95, or 2%, to close at 87,96. The onslaught of earnings season continues this week, but the initial earnings report of Alcoa (AA) showing sales down over 40% from last year tells the tale. It’s true that AA has shown some management aggressiveness in cutting costs (and some solid PR in telling everyone what a good job they are doing) so the earnings, although negative, were not as bad as expected.

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Don’t Drink the Water


Good morning. A mostly sane and slightly positive week last week, with the SPY up from 86.66 to 87.89, or 1.4%. The relative sanity was reflected in the continuing drop in the VIX, from 36.81 to 35.29, or 4.16%. You would need to go back to last September to find the VIX this low, and again it is an indication that investors are starting to feel (rightly or wrongly) that some positive things are starting to happen and maybe the worst is behind us.

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The Toxic Assets Avenger


Good morning. Last week the market had some volatile moves on a daily, or hourly, basis, but closed the week with a gain of only .8%, with the SPY moving from $76.09 the week before to close at $76.70. Be mindful, however, that the $.72 dividend in the SPY did come out as it went ex on Friday, meaning that it was actually up another $.72. The big news, however, came on Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve announced a long rumored plan to buy some long-term treasury securities.

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Will it Take a Musket Some Day?


Good morning. A whole different tone in the market this morning from prior weeks, with the stock market staging a significant rally last week. Last week the S&P was up $7.17, from a close on March 6 of $68.92 to a close last week of $76.09, a gain of 10.4%.

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