Barron’s – Think Contrarian Meryl Witmer, Marc Faber, Mario Gabelli and Oscar Schafer share their investment picks for 2011 in the final installment of this year’s Barron’s Roundtable Meryl, a general partner at New York’s Eagle Capital Partners, says it’s a lot harder to find cheap stocks now that the market has rallied. That is… Continue reading Barron’s Roundtable, Part 3
Bloomberg.com – Kevin Hassett: AAA Rating Tough to Defend as U.S. Debt Soars Last week, Standard & Poor’s lowered Japan’s bond rating to AA-, the fourth-highest level. By that standard, the U.S. got away with a slap on the wrist from Moody’s Investors Service, which warned merely that “the probability of assigning a negative outlook… Continue reading The U.S. AAA Rating
The New York Times – Inflation in China May Limit U.S. Trade Deficit Inflation is starting to slow China’s mighty export machine, as buyers from Western multinational companies balk at higher prices and have cut back their planned spring shipments across the Pacific. Markups of 20 to 50 percent on products like leather shoes and… Continue reading Inflation Everywhere
The Wall Street Journal – Home Prices Sink Further Declines Reported in All 28 Major Metropolitan Areas; Unsold Inventory Piles Up Home values are falling at an accelerating rate in many cities across the U.S. The Wall Street Journal’s latest quarterly survey of housing-market conditions found that prices declined in all of the 28 major… Continue reading Falling Home Prices
Bloomberg.com – Lonely Analyst Warns of 2015 Bank Crisis Amid `Upbeat’ Davos As politicians, executives and financiers networked at parties and panels last week in Davos, Switzerland, Barrie Wilkinson was in a nearby hotel, warning that a 2015 financial catastrophe may be looming. “The fundamentals haven’t been addressed at all,” Wilkinson, a London-based partner at… Continue reading Another Banking Crisis Coming?
The Financial Times – Lex: US economy In the aftermath of the Great Depression, it took the US 10 years to restore total compensation for employees to its pre-downturn level. In the aftermath of the great recession caused by the most recent global financial crisis, it has taken just over two years for compensation to… Continue reading The Economy
The Economist – Petro prices: A jump at the pump Bad news for more than motorists FEW trends cast shadows on economies and politicians like a rise in the cost of petrol. Barack Obama’s presidency, so far a minefield of crises, can add one more in the form of higher prices at the pump. Entering… Continue reading Gas Prices
The Wall Street Journal – Chinese Take a Cotton to Hoarding farmers, a Chinese cotton agency estimates it could amount to about 9% of the world’s cotton supply. And the situation is occurring throughout the supply chain. Many ginners and merchants in China are keeping warehouses full, according to the agency, in an attempt to… Continue reading Cotton
None Today
<Click on chart for larger image> The New York Times – S.&P. Downgrades Japan as Debt Concerns Spread Standard & Poor’s, the credit ratings agency, downgraded Japan’s long-term sovereign debt on Thursday, a sharp reminder of the heavy burden plaguing the world’s third-largest economy at levels that stand out even in an increasingly debt-ridden world.… Continue reading S&P Downgrades Japan
The Financial Times – Tech groups outrun bulls in equity rally When it comes to bull markets, technology stocks are renowned for running the fastest. This has been true since August with the sector roaring ahead of the broad equity rally. Stellar earnings from IBM, Google, Apple and Intel this month have vindicated the near-30… Continue reading Tech’s Effect On Stocks
Barron’s Online – Deutsche Bank: ETF Assets To Grow By 30% To $1.8 Trillion This Year As jittery stock investors start returning to the market, Deutsche Bank (DB) analysts are expecting worldwide ETF assets to grow by nearly 30% to $1.8 trillion by the end of 2011. Last year, Europe led the way with 35%… Continue reading ETFS