From the category archives:

Stock Market Commentary

Price to Earnings Ratios Gone Wild – A Measure for Investors to Follow?

I came across this visual and thought it was worth sharing. With data from Robert Shiller’s Irrational Exuberance, this BusinessWeek chart highlights the massive secular trends that span years at a time where Price to Earnings ratios of the companies that comprise the S&P500 rarely actually stay around the mean of 16.3, but they do […]

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Corporate Pension Plan Shortfall – The Next Crisis?

US Corporations are walking a thin line with Pension Plan Shortfalls that may well translate into the next global crisis. Now that the mortgage crisis is behind us (that is, until the next wave of defaults hit due to more interest rate resets and the reconfigured mortgages that fail anyway – and commercial mortgages to […]

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Why were the Risk-Averse so Heavily Invested in Stocks?

Akin to how our grandparents’ generation is known for their thrift and frugality from living through the Great Depression, our generation may very well be known for a similar sort of risk-aversion…a changed generation of humility and financial conservatism, after seeing the worst financial conditions and stock market deterioration in our lifetime (note: in our […]

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Stocks Making New Highs in Surprising Places

What if I told you a year ago that the Dow Jones Industrial average would have lost over 50% of its value and that the leaders in the market would be selling pasta and, while the big three automakers were decimated, an auto parts supplier would also be a shining star. In my latest update […]

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Using Google Search Trends to Exploit Market Moves

In thinking about market trends and how demand for goods and services (and hence subsequent share prices) is driven by human psychology, media coverage and herding, a lightbulb went off. I wondered if there was a correlation or leading indicator in Google search trending for various terms and subsequent share prices. It’s evident that for […]

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Gold ETN GOE up 421% in 1 Month – What Gives?

There’s no doubt that Gold’s been hot, to the tune of 16% up in the past month. However, even the most ambitious leveraged ETF can deliver a 2X return on gold prices via (UGL). In order to obtain a 421% return on GOE during this timeframe on an ETF/ETN, you’d be talking a leverage factor […]

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Is Now a Good Time to Start Investing in Stocks?

This is the proverbial question for which there is no simple answer. Much depends on a prospective investor’s risk tolerance, investment horizon and personal financial situation. However, given the current economic malaise, investors have been holding much cash on the sidelines. Often times, when market capitulation occurs and both retail and institutional investors throw in […]

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8 Most Shocking Market Events from 2008

Looking back at a rather abysmal year for investors and employees alike, there were some other shocking events from 2008 that have already fallen from the forefront. Below is a list of the most surprising, shocking, unanticipated developments from 2008. Stock Market Crash of 2008 – This one stands out most prominently. Investors globally suffered […]

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Market Commentary Dec 11,2008

In a general down day in the market today, more news continued to roll in after hours, which portends for more gloom in the markets in the days to come: In market news today, the bid to save ailing automakers failed in the Senate where a major point of contention was Union wages. Republicans sought […]

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