: iStockAnalyst.com Symbols Feed

Daily Highlights: 10/7/09

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:11:54 GMT

Asian stocks gain on commodity prices; Newcrest advances on record gold prices.ECB little reason to raise rates over next 12 months because of a muted inflation outlook: IMF.Fed should increase interest rates 'sooner rather than later,' Hoenig says.[More...]

Notable Bankruptcies Of 2009: Q3

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:01:00 GMT

In January I predicted (see Notable Bankruptcies of 2009: Q1) that “major” bankruptcies in 2009 would challenge the 383 mark set in 2001 (the high-water mark after the dotcom bubble). I even suggested that it was possible that we could exceed 400 “major” bankruptcies in 2009.[More...]

U.S. Profits from Bailed-Out Banks

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:39:35 GMT

The U.S. government has already retrieved about $4 billion in profits from 8 of the biggest banks that have fully repaid their obligations from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).[More...]

The Darker Light

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:58:09 GMT

Once again, we have that same old disconnect: Wall Street and Washington say that things are looking up, while most Americans continue to believe otherwise, as CNNMoney.com's Paul La Monica reveals in "The Economy Feels Better. Why Don't You?": Wall Street's celebrating "strong" earnings and the Fed thinks the recession may soon end. But consumers won't be confident until the housing woes are over. The economy seems to be getting better. That's what Wall Street is telling us. Stocks soared Wednesday thanks to a slew of decent earnings reports. That's also what C Street -- home of the Federal Reserve -- is telling us. In the minutes from the Fed's last meeting, [More...]

Stimulus: Success Or Failure?

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:00:58 GMT

Republicans on Capitol Hill have become increasingly vocal in calling the stimulus package a failure. Is there any validity to their opinion? While it's difficult to talk about any government program without invoking political biases, it is a good question to ask. When the stimulus package was passed, one of the primary criticisms -- outside of the dollar amount -- was that too much of it was geared towards 2010 rather than having an immediate impact. Still, parts of it did have a short-term impact such as the reduction in taxes and lengthened unemployment benefits. Perhaps the best measure of judgment is the economy, which is both worse and better than it was when the stimulus package was passed. ? The pace of contraction has slowed dramatically. The overwhelming majority of economic indicators are headed in the right direction. But the economy is still headed[More...]

Dow Jones Industrial Average More Relevant Now

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:58:10 GMT

It was only a matter of time, and it has finally happened, General Motors has filed for bankruptcy and has been taken out of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. On the same day it was announced that Citigroup would be removed from the Dow because of the government’s massive ongoing stake in the company. Who are the two replacements for General Motors and Citigroup? The two companies that will be moving into the Dow Jones are Cisco Systems and Travelers. Travelers will essentially be replacing Citigroup, which it was a part of just a few years ago, so that replacement is certainly quite ironic. Cisco’s replacement of General Motors signals a fairly major change in the overall weighting of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, moving it more towards technology and less toward old industrials and cyclical.[More...]

Banks Blocking Regulation

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:55:18 GMT

While most of the news today is focused on the General Motors (GM) bankruptcy, there was an article in the New York Times that is worth reading about the efforts of the banks to get back to business as usual, with no significant changes to the regulatory structure (other that pure cosmetics). This, after the combination of de-regulation and lack of enforcement of financial regulations brought the world to the edge of the financial abyss and caused incredible pain and suffering in the real economy -- not only here in the U.S. but around the globe. Now, lobbying is a constitutional right enjoyed by all citizens, and[More...]

GM & Citi Replaced On The Dow

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:19:48 GMT

New Dow Components: Cisco & Travelers The Dow Jones editorial board, which runs the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DJI), selected Cisco Systems (CSCO) and Travelers (TRV) as replacements for General Motors (GM) and Citigroup ([More...]

Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) In Dow: A Look At Possible Replacements

Fri, 29 May 2009 13:53:00 GMT

It’s almost a foregone conclusion that General Motors (GM) is going to be replaced from the Dow. People have started speculating on possible replacements: From Yahoo Finance: In a research note last month, Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist for BNY ConvergEx Group, laid out seven possible replacements for GM: bankers Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co.; high-tech firms Cisco Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Google Inc. and Oracle Corp.; and agricultural products maker Monsanto Co. Based on the market moving impact of high price stocks on the Dow index, I would safely rule out Google, and even Goldman Sachs and Apple would be pushing the envelope. Why? If[More...]

Buy And Hold Work Wonders For Warren Buffett For Years

Wed, 27 May 2009 11:32:04 GMT

Every time the United States goes through a recession, the pundits all race to be the first to proclaim that “Buy and Hold” is dead. I can’t watch a financial news channel or read a financial website without some mention of this proclamation. Well I’m growing tired of it, and if it were up to me, I’d prohibit anyone else from making this point for the rest of 2009. Buy and Hold is not dead, and I’m on a mission to prove it. Buy and Hold has worked brilliantly for decades, and it will continue to do so in the future. The stock you bought in 2007 is worth less now than[More...]