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Posts Tagged ‘Wall Street’

Dead Cat Bounce

Posted by Larry Doyle on March 4th, 2009 3:00 PM |

The equity markets are up almost 3% today. Did we just put in a bottom? Can we at long last expect better price performance? Are we seeing a turnaround in the economy? Well, in Wall Street parlance today’s price action is known as a “dead cat bounce.”  I had mentioned a day or two ago that a short term RSI (relative strength index) had fallen below 30%. Anytime that index gets that low, the market is susceptible to a bounce to force some short covering

The Federal Reserve released a report, known as the Beige Book, and highlighted that they expect No Turnaround Soon  in the economy.  

Additionally, even though the major market averages are up 3%, why is it that the major capital providers are down significantly on the day? Look at the price changes for the following: (more…)

How Wall Street and Washington Betrayed America!!

Posted by Larry Doyle on March 4th, 2009 11:03 AM |

fitz_03_06_banks4
While politicians, bankers, regulators, and commentators can and will point fingers as to where and how our system of financial oversight broke down, make no mistake it was due to too many people making and taking too much money!! I have highlighted the grotesque system of lobbying that has developed and corrupted our society in More Legalized Bribery.  

We watch daily hearings on Capitol Hill in the spirit of doing what is right for our country. Please!! Spare me the nonsense and pandering. While collectively we deal with markets that are now down over 50%, the pols and the bankers have effectively robbed the bank and left the taxpayers with the bill to clean up the mess.  Barron’s wrote a brief piece on this topic: how the Financial Sector Spent $5 Billion Lobbying Washington Over the Last Decade!! 

It is high time we attach names and faces to those politicians and lobbyists who fed at this trough!!

LD

Caveat Emptor

Posted by Larry Doyle on February 25th, 2009 8:49 AM |

buyer-beware2The equity markets across all sectors have gotten off to a very rocky start for 2009 (down 15% on average). In the midst of that, a lot of institutions and individuals have fled to the safety of short term government funds, money market funds that now benefit from a government backstop, and other cash alternatives. On average, these investments pay Wall Street and fund managers perhaps anywhere from .1% to .3% of the assets being managed. Those fees will not make the managers rich anytime soon. How do they respond? Welcome to the world of “principal protected notes.” 

These structured notes are marketed to track an underlying index (say the S&P 500) while guaranteeing no loss of principal. Wow. Sounds like a great product. Where do I sign? Well, hold on just a second. I am not stating that structured notes do not have some degree of merit, but one needs to be very cautious in fully understanding how these notes work before purchasing. (more…)

The Wall St. Model is Broken . . . and Won’t Soon be Fixed!!

Posted by Larry Doyle on November 12th, 2008 12:15 PM |

Despite billions and now trillions of dollars in capital injections and equity investments made by our government, private equity, and sovereign wealth funds, our economic turmoil is a long way from being over. I do find it interesting that despite numerous Wall Street titans having indicated to us at different points over the last year that we were in the 7th inning of this fiasco, now a recurring theme is that we should not expect any real economic recovery until 2010. Actually, maybe we were in the 7th inning but it was the 7th inning of the first game of a 4 game series.

Well, if we want to figure out where and when we are moving forward, I think it would be beneficial to know from where and when we came.

For those over 50 years of age, perhaps you remember when mortgage money dried up. Perhaps you also recall the days of putting down 20% before you even thought of buying a home. In any event, the growth of the secondary mortgage market in the mid 1980s was a result of some very sharp financial minds on Wall St. who engineered a product called a Collateralized Mortgage Obligation (CMO). (more…)






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