Source neurope.eu All parties have finally come to an agreement which was meant to be a solution for the crisis in Greece. That is, if you believe pumping more money in a bottomless pit can be described as a ‘sustainable’ solution. More money will be forked over to Greece, and the European Central…
Over the past week most of my core market health indicators improved. However, none of them moved enough to change the core portfolio allocations. This is a little discouraging given the fact that the S&P 500 Index (SPX) has rallied sharply. The overall picture I’m seeing is a thinning market that is trying to recover….
The federal government and Gulf Coast states announced a record-setting $18.7 billion settlement with BP on Thursday that resolves years of litigation over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill and delivers the largest environmental settlement ever. The settlement announcement comes as a federal judge was preparing to rule on how much the British oil…
Choosing the right financial advisor for your unique situation is not an easy task. Recommendations from a friend or business colleague can be a good source, but remember the right advisor for one person may not be a good fit for your needs. Here are seven steps to take in evaluating either a new financial…
Equities: Although performance was not robust, stocks bounced off their lows and finished at the upper end of their weekly trading range. Weekly percent changes: SP-500 (SPY) +0.39%; Nasdaq-100 +0.82%; and Russell-2000 (IWM) +0.82%. Volatility: The VIX exchange traded fund has now declined 5 out of the last 7 trading weeks. After several previous weeks…
Just three days ago in “Wall Street To Enter Hollow Guilty Plea On FX Rigging, Return To Business As Usual,” we lamented the fact that the Justice Department’s latest attempt to convince an incredulous public that the government is willing to prosecute white collar crime at TBTF institutions (which includes an amusing ‘crack down’ on UBS which…
Precious metals have been under pressure for a long time, but the three charts below indicate that silver might be breaking out. The last breakout attempt of the white precious metal was capped by the rally of the US dollar (starting August 2014). At this point in time however, it seems like nothing stands in silver’s…
by Stock Pucker It’s here, 13F day that is; in working up the suite of activist investor focused newsletters to go out in a few days, it’s hard not to get distracted by the various other 13Fs from value investors like Seth Klarman coming across the wire. If you want to get a look at last…
The economic news today was not good. The Fed’s Industrial Production index for April posted its fifth consecutive monthly decline. Michigan Consumer Sentiment took a dive, its biggest plunge since December 2012. The market was not particularly troubled. The S&P 500 opened higher, vacillated a bit and hit its -0.20% intraday low with the bad consumer sentiment…
The “in-coming” data turned into a blizzard of bad news today, but the Cool Aid dispensers at the New York Fed urged us not to fret—–it was all a temporary blip: New York Fed staff economists said in a new report growth should regain some of its swagger after stumbling during a chilly first quarter…… it believes first-quarter weakness…
