Blog Archives

The New Taxation

November 9, 2009

Good morning. It was a very strong week for the market last week, with the SPY making up most of the previous week’s sell-off. The SPY closed at 107.13, up 3.4% from the previous week’s close of 103.56 and almost equal to the 108.08 close of the week before. Even more of interest is the dramatic drop in the VIX last week, down to 24.19 from the last Friday close of 30.69, or a whopping 27%.

General Motors

June 1, 2009

Good morning. A powerful advance last week in the market, with the S&P running Friday on the close to finish up 3.9% on the week, moving from 89.02 to 92.53. Continual upward moves in oil and other commodities are fueling the rally, as evidenced by the XLE being up 6.3% for the four-day week. Depending on your point of view, the increase in oil prices is an indication of a start to the recovery or an amazing example of the power of OPEC and the oil companies to hoard and store oil for the purpose of driving up prices.

Don’t Drink the Water

May 4, 2009

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.

The Toxic Assets Avenger

March 24, 2009

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.