lower lows?

the markets are trading within defined trend channels, those channels are trending down, and the market indices for the most part, have hit the top of those trend channels and are now looking to move to the lower range of the channel. That means more pain & suffering for the bulls and more good times for the bears.

Speaking of bears, looks like Bear Stearns shareholders might get $10/share instead of $2/share. Considering the stock was at $60 two weeks ago still has to hurt despite the raised buy-out price.

Happy weekend.

DJIA 12,216.40

NASDAQ 2,261.18

SP500 1,315.22

Good Friday

markets are closed today in observance of Good Friday. Another roller coaster week in the markets. Bear Stearns goes from trading in the $60's last week to getting a $2 bid from JP Morgan this week, and it looks like Bear just might hit the bid unless the largest shareholder has anything to say about it. Also the Dow had its biggest day in 5 years - followed by a 300+ point sell-off. The sub-prime mess continues to hammer the portfolios of various financial institutions and the end is not in sight. In other news, commodities have hit a "slow-down" with oil leading the way and falling back under the $100 a barrel threshold. After months and months of saying that commodity prices were going up due to increased global demand especially from places such as China and India, now the experts are saying that we're entering a slow-down? One may wonder how they could change their outlook so quickly. Could just be their explanation for the effect of traders taking profits from an extremely profitable run-up in various sectors of the commodity markets.

But despite it all, there are many things to be thankful for on this Good Friday. Family, health, a bright future, enjoy the day.

Happy Good Friday.

DJIA 12,361.32

NASDAQ 2,258.11

SP500 1,329.51

margin calls for the big boys

another week, another HF blow-up, this time the biggest name of the week (but not the only name of the week) was Carlyle Capital. They invest in the sub-prime sector, the value of those securities dropped off the face of the earth, the equity in their portfolio went down, the custodian/prime broker comes calling for more cash to bring up the equity in the account since these funds are leveraged 10:1 or even 20 or 30:1, the fund doesn't have the cash and the prime broker is forced to liquidate positions to meet the margin call. It has happened time & time again. These are all $500M up to multi-billion dollar funds. And they all invest in the the credit markets which are getting rocked (still).

How does this affect the little guy? Directly, in really no way whatsoever. Indirectly, the manager has to overcome and assuage the fears of the investor as they read and hear about the latest fund implosion. Selling the long/short equity portion of the story and re-inforcing the non-debt strategy of the fund's investment strategy are two of the most effective ways.

In other news, the dollar continues to weaken against all other major currencies, oil has hit $110 a barrel, and Spitzer got booted as NY governor for inappropriate behavior...busy week.

Happy Friday.

DJIA 11,951.09

NASDAQ 2,212.49

SP500 1,288.14

keep it coming

The drubbing that the markets took last week continued this week with no real good news on the horizon. The dollar continues to fall, sub-prime casualties are still floating to the surface, the housing market and the so-called bubble has officially burst, and rates look like they are going to continue dropping. Oh yeah, and oil hit $106 a barrel this week. That spells nothing but bad news for the equity markets. Bad news if you're long, and great news if you're short.

Happy Friday.

DJIA 11,893.69

NASDAQ 2,212.49

SP500 1,293.37

pummeled

the markets got rocked on Friday, although still within their recent trading ranges, the markets sold off hard and fast. Is this the beginning of a new leg down or just a vicious shake-up to scare away some fast money?

In local news, Boeing lost out on a large contract that would have added $40B to their top line number over the next several years.

Also in local new (part II), Microsoft looks to approach Yahoo's shareholders to see if the shareholders want the proposed buy-out to go through.

In more really local news, the calendar continues to turn over, another month starts and the vendors are asking "so when is it starting?", time to get going - asap.

Happy weekend.

DJIA 12,266.39

NASDAQ 2,271.48

SP500 1,330.63