MarketWatch.com – Leading indicators of stock market top The stock market sectors that typically shine during the last months of a bull market are doing quite well these days, thank you. And at least some of the sectors that typically do poorly in such months are struggling.That at least is the conclusion that emerges from… Continue reading Is The Stock Market Near A Top?
MarketWatch.com – The higher costs of strategic default Plus, why the number of people walking away from mortgages isn’t going up Homeowners considering strategic default need to know this before taking the leap: The fact that you could have continued paying your mortgage, but chose not to, could mean you’ll face harsher consequences than those… Continue reading Mortgage Defaults
Bloomberg.com – Commodities to Extend Rebound on Gold, Oil Crude oil and gold will lead a rally in commodities as production fails to keep pace with demand, said Ray Eyles, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)’s commodity business in Asia. Oil supply will trail consumption in the second half as the Organization… Continue reading Commodities
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MarketBeat (WSJ Blog) – Silver ETF Unshockingly Sets Volume Record ETF Securities USA announced today that its silver ETF, ETFS Silver Trust, ticker SIVR, experienced record one-day trading volume of 5.25 million shares on May 5 and a record week of volume during the week of May 2. The average daily volume increased 18.5 times.… Continue reading Silver ETFs
The Financial Times – Lex: China’s US Treasury holdings China must buy dollar-denominated assets – though not necessarily Treasury debt or any fixed income instrument for that matter – to maintain (critics would say “manipulate”) its desired exchange rates. This, in addition to anxiety about supplies, may lie behind the rash of deals by China… Continue reading Chinese Holdings of U.S. Assets
Bloomberg.com – EU Sees Possible Greek Debt ‘Reprofiling’ European finance ministers for the first time floated the idea of talks with bondholders over extending Greece’s debt-repayment schedule, saying that last year’s 110 billion-euro ($156 billion) rescue has failed to restore the country to financial health. Europe would consider “reprofiling” Greek bond maturities as part of… Continue reading Greek Debt
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – BDI: never mind the Baltics A moment’s silence, please, for the Baltic Dry Index. For much of its 26-year history, the BDI – a compendium of freight rates for shipping iron ore, coal and grain – was considered a vital indicator, to be tracked as… Continue reading The Baltic Dry Index
The Financial Times – Bill Gross: sticking to his guns Timing isn’t everything but it sure helps. In a letter to investors last week, Jeremy Grantham, the fund manager, detailed his “long and ignoble history” of premature caution. This includes betting against the “nifty 50” stocks two years early in 1972, against Japan three years… Continue reading Bill Gross
MarketWatch – No more free lunch for commodities investors Mutual fund investors who decided a year or more ago to take a chance on commodities funds have now found out what all the warnings and danger signs were about. The question is how they intend to deal with it…Measures of fund flows show money racing… Continue reading Commodity Funds
The Wall Street Journal – U.S. Acts to Keep From Going Over Debt Ceiling The Treasury Department starting Monday will suspend investments in federal retirement and disability funds, the latest steps meant to keep the U.S. government from defaulting. “I have written to Congress on previous occasions regarding the importance of timely action to increase… Continue reading The Debt Ceiling
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