The Wall Street Journal – Too Big to Fail Casts Long Shadow Should the government backstop even more of the financial system than it already does? That seems an almost heretical notion given the desire to end bailouts and the too-big-to-fail status of some banks. Yet it is also a possibility being debated within regulatory… Continue reading Too Big To Fail
The Wall Street Journal – With Stock Prices Soaring, Investors Fear Another Crash Dow 14000? Again? Like Lucy with her football, forever enticing Charlie Brown to one more kick, Wall Street is waving at Main Street yet again and shouting, “Have a little faith—try me one more time.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average this month… Continue reading Is This Stock Market Rally For Real?
Reuters.com – Fed’s Lockhart sees bond buying through year end The Federal Reserve will likely need to keep buying bonds until the end of this year given the still-feeble state of the U.S. labor market, a top Fed official told Reuters on Tuesday. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart, who is seen as a… Continue reading The Federal Reserve
The Wall Street Journal – Business Loans Flood the Market Carl DelPrete, chief executive of suburban New York supermarket chain Uncle Giuseppe’s Inc., couldn’t be happier with the current lending environment. To fund a recent expansion, he got bids from three banks and calls the terms on the $14 million loan “the best we’re ever… Continue reading Banks Put Their Liquidity To Work
The Associated Press – U.S. mergers and acquisitions on rapid pace If stock investing is like playing the lottery, your odds of winning the jackpot just got a little better. Companies are buying each other at the fastest pace since before the Great Recession. Since November, U.S. companies have announced a dozen purchases worth $3… Continue reading More On M&A
The Financial Times – Why the euro crisis is not yet over If all members of the eurozone would rejoin happily today, they would be extreme masochists Is the eurozone crisis over? The answer is: “yes and no”. Yes, risks of an immediate crisis are reduced. But no, the currency’s survival is not certain. So… Continue reading Europe
The Financial Times – Obama takes aim at ‘meat cleaver’ cuts President Barack Obama has warned Congress that $1.2tn in automatic spending cuts at the Pentagon and other government agencies, due to come into effect on March 1, represented a “meat cleaver” approach to deficit reduction that would “jeopardise our military readiness” and “eviscerate job-creating… Continue reading Budget Cuts
Bloomberg.com – Spain Said to Impose Yield Ceiling on Bond Sales by Regions Spain is limiting the amount of interest its 17 semi-autonomous regions can pay to borrow, shutting many out of debt markets, as it seeks to repair the nation’s finances, two people familiar with the matter said. The government wants administrations to pay… Continue reading Spain
None Today
Comment Jim was on CNBC Friday discussing the markets. To view the interview click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews click here.
The Wall Street Journal – Investors Finally Shed Fears Comfort Level Is Increasing That Another Major Market Meltdown Isn’t Lurking In the constant battle between fear and greed for U.S. investor sentiment, fear appears finally to be losing ground. Individual investors are doing more stock trading. Mutual-fund companies are seeing money being put to work… Continue reading A Story For Contrarians
<Click on chart for larger image> MarketWatch – Mark Hulbert: Beware the Great Rotation It might be time to pull back from stocks, not dive in The most cited bullish argument these days, at least among the couple of hundred investment advisers I monitor, is that the stock market will “melt up” as investors sour… Continue reading Rotation Skepticism