Bloomberg.com – Caroline Baum: Low Inflation Alone Can’t Deliver Promised Land Cleaning up after the housing bubble burst seven years ago turned out to be a lot harder than the Federal Reserve imagined. And for a while, it seemed as if the cost of risk-taking run amok was enough to put the fear of God… Continue reading Inflation & Monetary Policy
The Wall Street Journal – Firms Race to Raise Cash Companies are taking advantage of the stock market’s record-breaking rally to raise funds. The rush to sell shares is a sign of U.S. corporations’ desire to boost growth by investing and acquiring rivals after years spent licking the wounds inflicted by the financial crisis. As… Continue reading Are Companies Buying Or Selling Their Own Stock?
The Wall Street Journal – Peter Wallison: How to Repeat the Mortgage Mess This week, the head of the federal agency that supervises Fannie and Freddie, Edward DeMarco, outlined a sensible plan that would prepare the companies—which remain the dominant players in housing finance—for either full privatization or government ownership. These are the obvious alternatives,… Continue reading Fannie & Freddie
The Financial Times – Dow should be consigned to history The Dow Jones Industrial Average has hit an all-time high, as anybody who has seen the headlines splashed across the front of this and many other newspapers will know. But should we care about this landmark? No. The Dow’s methodological flaws are overwhelming and there… Continue reading Scrutinizing The Construction Of The DJIA
The Wall Street Journal – Bad-News Bears Crash the Party The Dow Jones Industrial Average has hit an all-time high. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index is close behind. Stock prices remain reasonably priced based on many measures, individual investors are shifting back to stocks and corporate profits have been strong. So what are a… Continue reading Bulls vs. Bears
CNBC – Sorry, Stock Pickers—You’re Still Getting Crushed Even amid declining stock market correlation, active managers are still having a tough time staying competitive. The fall in correlation—the extent to which stock prices rise and fall together—has spurred hopes that stock-picking could be coming back into fashion after years of sub-par results. But low levels… Continue reading Stock Picking Is Still A Dead Art Form
The Big Picture – Markets Then & Now As Zero Hedge Chris White of Dewiler Fenton noted yesterday(hat tip Art Cashin). See these abridged & paraphrased before and afters: Dow Jones Industrial Average: Then 14164.5; Now 14,304 GDP Growth: Then +2.5%; Now +1.6% Unemployed: Then 6.7 million; Now 13.2 million Food Stamp users: Then 26.9… Continue reading Despite New Highs In Stocks, Are We Really Better Off Now?
The Wall Street Journal – Stopgap Spending Bill Passed by House The House on Wednesday moved to put aside the threat of a partial government shutdown this spring, sending to the Senate a bill that funds government operations through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. The legislation, approved 267-151, is necessary to keep… Continue reading The House Kicks The Can
TheHill.com – Holder: Big banks’ size complicates prosecution efforts Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Holder told lawmakers that he is concerned that some institutions have become so massive and influential that bringing criminal charges against them could imperil the financial system and the broader economy. His remarks come as a growing number of lawmakers… Continue reading Too Big To Jail
Conference Call Presentation/Charts of the Week Audio [audio:https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/503842-674290.mp3|titles=Conference Call] Topics Covered This Week Include: What Is Expected For The Economy? The Trend In Economic Surprises Earnings Outlook – Poor Now, Hope Later Earnings Beat And Error Rates Revenue Outlook – Going To Wrong Way Mutual Fund Flows – The Non-Existent Rotation Is Over Stock Bond… Continue reading Conference Call Presentation/Charts of the Week
Barron’s – Randall W. Forsyth: Bernanke Should Get Credit for Dow Record More than anything else, Fed purchases drive stock prices. Printing our way to prosperity? With all the encomiums delivered on the occasion of the Dow Jones Industrial Average record having been attained Tuesday, the credit clearly should go to the Federal Reserve led… Continue reading Congrats To The Federal Reserve For The New High In The Dow