by Zero Hedge - June 7th, 2009 7:55 pm
Also, in the parallel case of Government Motors, a decent profiling of Judge Robert Gerber.
 Email This Post
|
 Twitter
|
LinkedIn
|
 del.icio.us
|
Google+ |
by ilene - June 7th, 2009 7:20 pm
The Perils of Securitization
By MIKE WHITNEY at CounterPunch
Is it possible to make hundreds of billions of dollars in profits on securities that are backed by nothing more than cyber-entries into a loan book?
It’s not only possible; it’s been done. And now the scoundrels who cashed in on the swindle have lined up outside the Federal Reserve building to trade their garbage paper for billions of dollars of taxpayer-funded loans. Meanwhile, the credit bust has left the financial system in a shambles and driven the economy into the ground like a tent stake. The unemployment lines are growing longer and consumers are cutting back on everything from nights-on-the-town to trips to the grocery store. And it’s all due to a Ponzi-finance scam that was concocted on Wall Street and spread through the global system like an aggressive strain of flu. This isn’t a normal recession; the financial system was blown up by greedy bankers who used "financial innovation" game the system and inflate the biggest speculative bubble of all time. And they did it all legally, using a little-known process called securitization.
Securitization--which is the conversion of pools of loans into securities that are sold in the secondary market--provides a means for massive debt-leveraging. The banks use off-balance sheet operations to create securities so they can avoid normal reserve requirements and bothersome regulatory oversight. Oddly enough, the quality of the loan makes no difference at all, since the banks make their money on loan originations and other related fees. What matters is quantity, quantity, quantity; an industrial-scale assembly line of fetid loans dumped on unsuspecting investors to fatten the bottom line. And, boy, can Wall Street grind out the rotten paper when there’s no cop on the beat and the Fed is cheering from the bleachers. In an analysis written by economist Gary Gorton for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s 2009 Financial Markets Conference titled, "Slapped in the Face by the Invisible Hand; Banking and the Panic of 2007", the author shows that mortgage-related securities ballooned from $492.6 billion in 1996 to $3,071.1 in 2003, while asset backed securities (ABS) jumped from $168.4 billion in 1996 to $1,253.1 in 2006. All told, more than $20 trillion in securitized debt was sold between 1997 to 2007. How much of that debt will turn out to be worthless as foreclosures skyrocket and the…
| Email This Post
|
Twitter
|
LinkedIn
|
del.icio.us
|
Google+ |
by ilene - June 7th, 2009 6:13 pm
Interesting interview with Justice Antonin Scalia (below). Click here for a free subscription to PSW Report, it’s really easy and you’ll have immediate access to all the articles. – Ilene
Chartology
Big thanks to Gayle and Sherrie for their donations and support.
| Email This Post
|
Twitter
|
LinkedIn
|
del.icio.us
|
Google+ |
by ilene - June 7th, 2009 5:44 pm
Courtesy of Allan
The focus here is on the bigger picture, although eventually this post will drill down to some more tradable analysis. For starters, lets look at a time frame I have seldom or ever posted before, a monthly view of the SPX:
During the past 15 years, we see two major up moves and two major down moves. Despite the rally of the past three months, the chart shows prices still mired in the most recent down move. Observe the angles of the four major directional moves, one should stand out, the most recent down move. It is by far the steepest of them all. What do you think this means?
The chart above is again a monthly chart, this time with Fibonacci retracements. Notice how prices have just now reached a 25% retracement level of the entire two year decline and that a typical 38% retracement would come in at about SPX 1015. Also observe how short this current three-month rally has been when compared to an 18 month decline. See how Advanced GET is suggesting that the completion of wave 4 will be between 960 – 1020.
Below is a close-up of the above chart via a weekly chart:
This above chart has a more completed look to the wave 4 advance from early March. The problem is that a confirmation will not occur until the Blue Wave sell level is hit. This level was 842.99 last week and will probably be at a higher level next week. We will know the new reversal level on Monday.
Moving to a daily view of the SPX, here is an interesting perspective courtesy of Market Club:
The MC chart is on a buy with a sell basis the weekly charts under 880. I’ve added a Parabolic stop/reverse indicator which is suggesting a level of 887.65 will generate a reverse-short signal. So with a weekly Triangle sell at 880 and the daily at 887.65, we have the makings of important support levels that if breached would signal a major change of trend.
Here is a daily view of the SPX, showing a much closer Blue Wave sell level:
The daily chart above has a much closer Blue Wave reversal sell level, 918, only a little over 20 SPX points lower.
Finally, the 120-minute chart, a time frame…
| Email This Post
|
Twitter
|
LinkedIn
|
del.icio.us
|
Google+ |
by ilene - June 7th, 2009 5:31 pm
Courtesy of Mish
Economics may be the "dismal science" but economists as a group sure seem to be an optimistic lot. Yes, there are a handful of "doomers" like Nouriel Roubini but most economists did not see the recession coming until it was already 10 months old.
Please consider unemployment forecasts. The Fed forecast unemployment at 8.4% in 2009 and the "adverse forecast" was at 10.3% in 2010.
Hello Ben, in case you did not notice, Jobs Contract 17th Straight Month; Unemployment Rate Soars to 9.4% and Bankruptcy Filings Reach 6,000 A Day.
Adverse Assumptions
Let’s take a look at all the Fed’s adverse assumptions for the recently conducted "stress-free test" as laid out in the Fed’s Stress Test White Paper.
Click on Table for Sharper Image
1 Percent change in annual average.
2 Baseline forecasts for real GDP and the unemployment rate equal the average of projections released by Consensus Forecasts, Blue Chip, and Survey of Professional Forecasters in February.
3 Annual average.
4 Case?Shiller 10?City Composite, percent change, fourth quarter of the previous year to fourth quarter of the year indicated.
Case Shiller Housing Index
Please consider the latest Case Shiller Housing Index.
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index ? which covers 20 metropolitan areas ? showed a price decline of 18.7% in March, suggesting a greater fall in prices than expected. Analysts were looking for an -18.40% reading, following the -18.67% reading for February. The 10-city measure fell a similar 18.6%.
The numbers were even worse on a quarterly basis. The Q1 report ? which covers all nine U.S. census divisions, rather than just 20 metropolitan areas ? recorded a 19.1% decline compared to the first quarter of 2008, marking the steepest fall ever in the 21-year history of the index.
“All 20 metro areas are still showing negative annual rates of change in average home prices with nine of the metro areas having record annual declines,” said David Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “Seventeen metro areas recorded a monthly decline in March, with Minneapolis, Detroit and New York posting record monthly declines.”
Note that the baseline scenario for housing for 2009 is -14%. Home prices are already down 19.1% and the adverse scenario will be under
…
| Email This Post
|
Twitter
|
LinkedIn
|
del.icio.us
|
Google+ |
by ilene - June 7th, 2009 4:09 pm
Click here to sign up for a free subscription to the PSW Report. It’s easy!
Adam Hewison, co-creator of Market Club, sent me his new video analysis of the S&P 500, which he calls a "conundrum wrapped in an enigma" – here’s his intro and video below. – Ilene
Courtesy of Adam of Market Club
A conundrum wrapped in an enigma… that’s the S&P 500 index.
I was just looking at the S&P 500 index as we come to a close for the week of June 6th. While the market appears to be higher for week, it also appears that we’re losing momentum on the upside.
This can be seen in the second attempt to close over the 950 level. Also some of our momentum indicators are showing negative divergences. This means that while the S&P 500 is making new highs for the move, the momentum indicators are not showing the same configuration and making new highs. This can often be the first clue of a potential market correction.
In this short video on the S&P 500, you’ll will see exactly what I’m looking at and why.
[Click on chart to watch the video.]
| Email This Post
|
Twitter
|
LinkedIn
|
del.icio.us
|
Google+ |
by Zero Hedge - June 7th, 2009 3:29 pm
Chartology
Big thanks to Gayle and Sherrie for their donations and support.
| Email This Post
|
Twitter
|
LinkedIn
|
del.icio.us
|
Google+ |
by ilene - June 7th, 2009 2:40 pm
[Click here to sign up for a free subscription to PSW - no credit card, it's easy!]
By Nikki Finke of Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily
Excerpt:
It’s a very dangerous situation when any huge multinational corporation wages war against media companies. Especially when that huge multinational corporation is General Electric, which itself owns a media company, NBC Universal, and it’s using all its power and influence and money to try to harm another media company, Nielsen, and Nielsen Business Media, and its trade publication The Hollywood Reporter. This certainly sounds like a situation which the FCC, and the FTC, and the U.S. Justice Department should be investigating. Just one problem: the controversy stems from GE/NBCU’s coverage of President Obama. Here’s what happened:
According to my sources inside and outside Nielsen Business Media, The Hollywood Reporter trade publication ran a story dated April 22nd and updated on April 24th covering the "drama" at the most recent GE shareholders meeting in Orlando. THR‘s West Coast Business Editor Paul Bond wasn’t sent to the meeting, but he interviewed about half a dozen people who’d been inside the shareholders meeting and told him what transpired (see below). Bond’s THR story focused on the attempts by stockholders and Fox News Channel and other media to find out whether or not GE Chairman/CEO Jeffrey Immelt ordered his news operations to be less critical of President Obama and his policies.
Bond’s story was immediately picked up by The Drudge Report under the headline "GE shareholders outraged over MSNBC bias; Microphone cut off." It became a widely posted news story on conservative and liberal and media websites everywhere. That’s when, sources inside and outside Nielsen Business Media tell me, GE Chairman Jeff Immelt ordered a GE company-wide ban on all of The Hollywood Reporter‘s parent company Nielsen: advertising, editorial, the works… Continue here.
| Email This Post
|
Twitter
|
LinkedIn
|
del.icio.us
|
Google+ |
by Zero Hedge - June 7th, 2009 1:05 pm
“Dark pools,” where orders are anonymously matched so that traders do not alert the wider market to their intentions, have triggered concerns that stock pricing may not be transparent.
But the growth of those run by broker-dealers such as Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse are squeezing other “dark” electronic trading venues, as well as exchanges, resulting in lower fees.
“The dark pools are definitely going to grow; the wild card is any new regulation,” said Dmitri Galinov, director and head of liquidity strategy at Credit Suisse’s advanced execution services, running the bank’s CrossFinder dark pool.
Overall, dark market share rose last year, but in the last eight months hit a ceiling near 9 percent of the U.S. market.
And while dark pools controlled by independent private ventures such as ITG would be a perfectly normal response to market demand for liquidity facilitation, it is surprising to discover that a vast majority of the pools are in fact controlled by the very same recipients of TARP funding (who are now doing all they can to issue stock so they can repay their TARP bonus burden).
Dark pools owned by brokers and large market makers accounted for 70 percent of all dark U.S. equity volume in April, up from 64 percent in December and from 58 percent a year earlier, according to Rosenblatt Securities, a widely referenced agency broker that tracks 18 dark pools.
Dark pools, which usually publish trades to the consolidated tape with little detail well after they are executed, have been around for decades, but their brands have gained more exposure in the last few years.
As frequent Zero Hedge readers know, when it comes to program trading on a traditional exchange such the
…
| Email This Post
|
Twitter
|
LinkedIn
|
del.icio.us
|
Google+ |
by ilene - June 7th, 2009 12:04 pm
[Click here to sign up for a free subscription to PSW - no credit card, it's easy!]
Courtesy of John Mauldin, Thoughts from the Frontline Weekly Newsletter
We are coming to a critical inflection point, perhaps the most critical point that we have had in 70 years for the US and to a great extent the global economy. The choices we make (or that Congress and the Fed make for us) will affect not just our investment portfolios but business and our jobs for a very long time. Last week I talked about the three paths we face as a nation. I want to go back to that theme and expand upon it. You need to clearly understand what the risks are so that you can interpret the actions and data that will be coming at us in the next few quarters. I am feeling a little tired today, so I am going to take the liberty to reproduce Bill Gross’s latest comments as well, which are somewhat in line with my own.
But before we jump into the letter, I want to acknowledge the very large response I got from readers about the cut and paste I did about the differences between the national health care systems of Canada and Great Britain the health care system of the US. To say that I touched a raw nerve is an understatement. I should also admit that I learned a great deal from some very cogent and thoughtful letters. I often write about the problems with using selective statistics in gauging the economy. I have learned that you can do the same with health care statistics.
There are many letters I could quote, but let me give you a counter for the statistics from last week from Raoul Pal of Spain. And of course, there are other statistics that can be brought in to make almost any case you want. But I found these to be very thought-provoking.
"Using the Economists World in Figures I think there is a very interesting and maybe appalling story to tell. In its simplest terms a healthcare system is there to extend the longevity of live of the population. It is the single best and simplest way to judge it because we can all find examples of where one country is better than…
| Email This Post
|
Twitter
|
LinkedIn
|
del.icio.us
|
Google+ |
May 23rd, 2013 6:35 pm
Courtesy of Doug Short.
The pre-market anxieties were little changed by this morning's slightly better-than-expected unemployment claims. The eurozone indexes were all down 2% to 3% when the US markets opened. The S&P 500 promptly plunged to its -1.20 intraday low in the first nine minutes of trading. But the index trimmed its losses in an irregular trend to its afternoon intraday high at 2:50 PM, when the market was just a hundredth of a point from break even. This was in contrast to eurozone, where the STOXX 50 closed its session down 2.05%. The S&P 500 saw some selling in the final hour and finished the day at -0.29%, well off its morning low. Presumably the abated selling suggests generally reduced fears about the Fed tapering QE in the near term.
Here is a 15-minute loo...
May 23rd, 2013 5:56 pm
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by Tyler Durden.
There is a saying that debt can't buy growth. When it comes to the US, that saying is absolutely correct: only lots and lots of debt can "buy growth."
As the chart below shows, since officially leaving the gold standard in 1971, annual GDP growth has outpaced the growth of federal debt on just 11 occasions, and of these half were during the dot com boom of the late 1990s. Obviously this chart would look far worse if instead of just federal debt - which is merely a portion of total we used total credit market debt (which...
May 23rd, 2013 4:56 pm
Medallions & State-Mandated ScarcityBy Ilene
Why is your NYC taxi fare is so expensive?
The price is high due to NYC's limited supply of Medallions.
The taxicabs of New York City, with their distinctive yellow paint, are a widely recognized icon of the city. Taxicabs are operated by private companies and licensed by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC). It also oversees over 40,000 other for-hire vehicles, including "black cars", commuter vans and ambulettes. "Medallion taxis," the familiar yellow cabs, are the only vehicles in the city permitted to pick up passengers in response to a street hail. Wikipedia....
May 23rd, 2013 1:40 pm
Reminder: David is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.
Click here for the full report.
May 23rd, 2013 7:15 am
Submitted by Mark HannaCourtesy of MarketMontage. View original post here.
Some quick notes:
May 23rd, 2013 1:52 am
Courtesy of Sabrient Systems and Gradient Analytics
The market went through some gyrations on Wednesday in reaction to Fed Chairman Bernanke’s testimony before the Joint Economic Committee. He first defended continued quant easing by warning, “A premature tightening of monetary policy could lead interest rates to rise temporarily but also would carry a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery.” Stocks dutifully rallied and all major indexes hit new intraday highs.
But alas, consensus is apparently not a given over the longer term. The minutes hinted that a tapering off could start sooner, “A number of participants expressed willingness to adjust the flow of purchases downward as early as the June meeting if the economic information received by that time showed evidence of sufficiently strong and sustained growth.” So …...
May 23rd, 2013 12:00 am
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Few stocks have attracted more news over the last six months than nutritional supplement maker Herbalife (NYSE: HLF).
Even casual market observers are aware of the circumstances surrounding the the initial bout of extreme volatility in the name back in December 2012. The shares went into free-fall at the end of the year after hedge fund manager Bill Ackman revealed in typical sanctimonious fashion that his firm Pershing Square Capital Management was short around $1 billion worth of the stock.
Amid much pomp and circumstance, Ackman laid out his short thesis at a New York investment conference and...
May 22nd, 2013 8:36 pm
Today’s tickers: SKS, USG & PFE
SKS - Saks, Inc. – Timely bullish bets initiated in Saks options just seconds prior to the closing bell on Tuesday are generating sizable gains for at least one trader today, with shares in the high-end retailer up at the highest level since 2008. The stock closed Tuesday up 11% on the day at $13.67 after the company reported first-quarter revenue above average analyst expectations. Within minutes of the close shares in SKS moved sharply to the upside after the New York Post, citing a source familiar with the matter, reported...
more from Caitlin
May 19th, 2013 11:38 pm
Reminder: OpTrader is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.
This post is for all our live virtual trade ideas and daily comments. Please click on "comments" below to follow our live discussion. All of our current trades are listed in the spreadsheet below, with entry price (1/2 in and All in), and exit prices (1/3 out, 2/3 out, and All out).
We also indicate our stop, which is most of the time the "5 day moving average". All trades, unless indicated, are front-month ATM options.
Please feel free to participate in the discussion and ask any questions you might have about this virtual portfolio, by clicking on the "comments" link right below.
To learn more about the swing trading virtual portfolio (strategy, performance, FAQ, etc.), please click here
Optrader
...May 19th, 2013 1:09 am
NEW: Newsletter writers are available to chat with Members regarding topics presented in SWW, comments are found below each post.
Here's the latest Stock World Weekly! Just sign in with your PSW user name and password, or sign up to try it out.
...May 15th, 2013 7:35 pm
Reminder: Craigzooka is available to chat with Members regarding his virtual portfolio performance, comments are found below each post.
By Craigzooka
I am going to share with you how I manage my IRA and the power of reducing your cost basis. My goal each year is a 20% return in my IRA. Sometimes I make it and sometimes I don't, but I believe that all of my success is due to reducing my cost basis. To illustrate the power of reducing your cost basis here are some trades we did last year. These trades are taken from an educational portfolio we ran in a paper-trading account for a little more than a year.
May 12th, 2013 7:23 am
Courtesy of John Nyaradi.
Stock market posts another record setting week, but the big news came after Friday’s close.Courtesy of NASA
The stock market put on another record setting show with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSEARCA:DIA) closing at a record high 15,118 and the S&P 500 (NYSEARCA:SPY) closing at 1633.70, another all time closing high.
For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSEARCA:DIA) gained 1%, the S&P 500 (NYSEARCA:SPY) climbed 1.2%, the Nasdaq Composite (NYSEARCA:...
January 21st, 2013 8:09 pm
Reminder: Pharmboy is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.
Well, well, well....it is good to know that there are others in the scientific arena who believed that YMI Bioscience's data (cough - Gilead) is a better drug than Incyte's Jakafi. Now, the definitive data are still unknown, but there was enough evidence from a Phase 2 trial to take a small risk for a huge reward. So, let's forget about Apple (AAPL), and do nothing but biotechs from now until Congress passes universal health care coverage for prescriptions....and drive the prices down so that research and development is no longer feasible to conduct in the US. Even Seattle Genetics (SGEN) has been on a tear as of late...
Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...
Ilene is editor and affiliate program
coordinator for PSW. She manages the Favorites backup site
(blogroll, archives,
more).
Contact Ilene to learn about our affiliate and
content sharing
programs.
|
Note: The material presented in this commentary is provided for informational purposes only and is based upon information that is considered to be reliable. However, neither Philstockworld, LLC (PSW) nor its affiliates warrant its completeness, accuracy or adequacy and it should not be relied upon as such. Neither PSW nor its affiliates are responsible for any errors or omissions or for results obtained from the use of this information. Past performance, including the tracking of virtual trades and portfolios for educational purposes, is not necessarily indicative of future results. Neither Phil, Optrader, or anyone related to PSW is a registered financial adviser and they may hold positions in the stocks mentioned, which may change at any time without notice. Do not buy or sell based on anything that is written here, the risk of loss in trading is great.
This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or other financial instrument. Securities or other financial instruments mentioned in this material are not suitable for all investors. Any opinions expressed herein are given in good faith, are subject to change without notice, and are only intended at the moment of their issue as conditions quickly change. The information contained herein does not constitute advice on the tax consequences of making any particular investment decision. This material does not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situations or needs and is not intended as a recommendation to you of any particular securities, financial instruments or strategies. Before investing, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and, as necessary, seek professional advice. |
German
Spanish
French
Italian
Portuguese
Japanese
Korean
Russian
Chinese
