I Thought We Were Friends?

What's going on with Russia lately? Cold War part deux?

...

Higher and Higher

Things certainly are picking up (and up, and up). Above average volume across the boards today, with the major indexes posting narrow ranging candles in their upper price ranges. The S&P500 had a momentus closing yesterday at an all-time (closing) high, while today's trading range stayed above the previous closing high pivot point.
So it's agreed; U.S. growth was pathetic for the first quarter, rising at only a 0.6% annualized pace, the slowest growth in 4 years. "Housing continued to collapse, business investment was anemic, and the trade gap widened. Businesses, finding they'd stocked too many goods, pruned their inventories back sharply. Consumers, on the other hand, spent freely."
However...the numbers speak for themselves...for the month of May:
DJIA +4.3%
S&P500 +3.3%
Nasdaq +3.1%
Not too shabby for a month whose mantra is Sell in May and Go Away.

Hanging Men

The gallows were full-up today, with the Nasdaq100, Russell2000, DJIA, and the S&P500 all forming hanging man-esque candlesticks, as you can see:
Russell2000

Nasdaq Comp.100S&P500
DJIA

I like doom and gloom just as much as the next guy. But rather than look at the year-over-year decline in home prices as a harbinger of bubble-bursting inflation and economic decay, couldn't we just as easily see it as a correction that we should have been expecting for the past two (perhaps even 5) years now? It seems like ever since Rich Dad, Poor Dad spent five years on the NY Times best seller list and sold over 11 million copies, everyone and their mother has become an "investor" in real estate, leveraging themselves to the hilt to buy that second, third house to "flip." Granted it worked for a lot of people, even to the extent that the lenders, with the help of extra low interest rates, became more and more lenient in who they were giving mortgages out to; "bad credit? no problem!"
So, now it seems time for prices to come back to the (moving) average and correct its parabolic expansion. But with a mere 1.4% decline who's concerned? We should applaud the Federal Reserve for their masterful response with interest rate controls and sound fiscal tightening to prevent the housing bubble from splattering all over their faces.
Cool runnin' from now on, right? I mean so what if foreign lenders are funding our endless $600 billion annual trade deficits. So what that China has $1.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves. So what that we consume 4% more than we produce? We can just sell off some of our assets to cover it, right (Dubai Ports, Unocal...Blackstone)?
It will all be OK....just keep buying, keep consuming, and keep taking your SOMA, it will all be OK.

Let the Bidding Begin

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the owner of the Dubai stock exchange, is mulling a rival bid to Nasdaq's (NDAQ.O: Quote, Profile) agreed $3.7 billion takeover of Nordic markets owner OMX (OMX.ST: Quote, Profile) the Sunday Times reported.

Nasdaq got a piece of Europe with a $3.6 billion deal to acquire OMX, the Stockholm, Sweden-based home of the Nordic and Baltic exchanges, giving it a significant leg up in cash equities and options trading in Europe.The deal comes three months after London Stock Exchange jilted Nasdaq (nasdaq: NDAQ - news ) in its attempt to acquire a controlling stake of the LSE. Nasdaq continues to own 29% of the London market and may still be positioning itself for a run at the exchange, but because of U.K. rules, it won't be allowed to make another takeover attempt until February.

Prudential increased their share price forecast for Apple Inc. (AAPL). An increase of 8.7% saying rising sales of Macintosh computers and iPods as well as the introduction of the iPhone will boost earnings. They have also increased profit estimates by $0.04 to $3.67/share for this year and $0.15 for 2008 to $4.25. Share price forecast is up $10 to $125.

WOW

Another cool post found on BoingBoing....Sony demonstrates what is " billed as the world's first flexible, full-color OLED display built on organic thin-film transistor (TFT) technology. The 2.5-inch prototype display supports 16.8 million colors at a 120 x 160 pixel resolution, is 0.3 mm thick and weighs 1.5 grams."

Healthy Holiday Close

Russell2000Nasdaq Comp.100
S&P500
DJIA

All the indices closed up today on mostly lower volume (particularly the DJIA). The S&p500 was up a mere 0.55% on strong volume. A mostly down week, with lots of M/A news, weeker than expected existing home sales, and an increased likelihood of interest rates remaining where they are. The indices are all above some solid Moving Averages and it seems things were set up for a stress-free 3-day weekend.

the bees are dying! the bees are dying!

So, I'm sure many of you have heard the buzz of Colony Collapse Disorder in domestic honey bees. The ramifications of which I'm sure you've also heard about; no bees = no food. At face value it can seem like an easy thing to dismiss as alarmist, or an overreaction, or "left-wing jibber-jabber." But did you know?...
There was actually a Congressional Hearing on the matter on March 29, 2007 to discuss the magnitude and potential impacts of this problem. "Between 1947 and 2005, colony numbers nationwide declined by over 40%. These losses have occurred as a demand for pollination services has soared for a number of fruit, nut, and vegetable crops, most notably almonds." The honey bee has been partially domesticated for thousands of years to serve purposes for man. "Honey bees are in effect six-legged livestock that both manufacture agricultural commodities - honey and wax - and, more importantly, contribute agricultural services - pollination." Roughly 1/3 of the U.S. diet is comprised of plant-based foods that are pollinated by honey bees. "Although economists differ in calculating the exact dollar value of honey bee pollination to American agriculture, virtually all estimates are in the range of billions (emphasis added) of dollars...Among the most conspicuous demonstrable consequences of honey bee declines in agriculture are the rising costs of producing bees and hence rising costs of honey bee rentals, contributing in turn to rising prices for crops and reductions in consumer welfare. Honey bee declines can reduce crop quality as well as yield...Even before the advent of Colony Collapse Disorder, financial impacts of honey bee shortages have materialized; varroa mites are estimated to have increased honey bee colony rental fees by $30 million annually. Because bee pollination contributes to so many different sectors of the agricultural economy, including the beef and dairy industries (via pollination of clover and other hay and forage crops), disruption of the honey bee supply will likely reverberate across the entire country."
So, why are all the bees dying?
"Diseases carried by foreign bees are just one of the possible causes of colony collapse... Researchers and beekeepers have theorized that the disorder may stem from bee-eating varroa mites or from the pesticide used to kill the mites. Stress on the insects from field-to-field travel has been suggested, too, as have various pesticides and suppression of the bees' immune systems." Non-native farmed honey bees are more susceptible to stress from environmental sources than are organic, or feral honey bees. "Most people think beekeeping is all natural but in commercial operations the bees are treated much like livestock on factory farms." Essentially, left to their own devices, feral honey bees grow smaller and more aggressive compared to commercially bred bees. This agressiveness in turn could help the hive protect itself from the varroa mites thought to be contributing to the death of the colony. It appears that the stresses put on imported hives can be linked to the overall health of the colony. One of the operative hypotheses is that there are multiple and variable causes. If that's the case, that's a problem because we will need multiple and variable solutions."

B$

This website was referred to me by the sexy artist Calyxann. Blog$hares is a fantasy stock market for weblogs. Players get to invest a fictional $500, and blogs are valued by incoming links. It seems like a fun site to play around with. I'll blog more about it once I'm signed up and ready to "trade."

The Ten-Year Treasury note is at a level of resistance that was last touched (and went unbroken) back in January. The last two months growth for the yield (currently 4.86%) has been parabolic. However, not everyone sees any of this as any bullish significance.

Apple News

Apple Inc. (AAPL) reported retail sales of mac products grew 62% year-over-year through April, with a spectacular 94% spike in notebook sales. Meanwhile, U.S. PC unit growth for the month of April grew 14% overall, with a 19% rise in retail sales and a 30% surge in notebook sales.

Sell-Off Thursday

A later day sell-off brought all the indices into the moving averages they were extended from. Most momentus being the Nasdaq which came down to the 2513 support level established last month and closing below its 20-day MA. The Russell2000 deflated from its all-time highs and dropped back into the channel it was trading in over the previous 6 weeks and through its 20-day MA. The S&P500 came down to its 20-day MA (above average volume) after being over-extended and trying to reach into all-time high territory. Likewise the DJIA coming back into 10-day MA range with above average volume. Correction mode;

Oil's at $65.61/barrel, Gold; $663.50/ounce, even the U.S.$ has gained some ground versus its currency pairs. Meanwhile, the DJIA keeps making all-time highs, same with the Russell2000. The S&P500 is doing its best to join the all-time-high club, and the Nasdaq hasn't seen peeks like this in over 6 years. All this with very bullish technical indicators across the boards. So, where's all this money coming from? Dr. Brett Steenbarger touches on the money flow subject in his mid-week posting. He sees unquestionable money flow into large caps, and 5 of the 8 S&P sectors he tracks as having positive net dollar inflow. Long is still the trend.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) recently signed a new deal with NASA worth $5.6 billion to provide them with a wide range of hardware. "HP will provide NASA and other federal agencies with desktops, workstations and blade PCs with Linux and Unix capabilities. In addition, the Palo Alto, Calif., company also will provide servers, printers and other equipment."

Stronger, Faster, Cheaper

Cisco Systems (CSCO) announced it is making a 10Gigabit Ethernet more affordable. Coming in June, they will be releasing the optical fiber transceiver adapter for $1,495, compared with about $4,000 for existing 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces.

Chips A-Hoy

Two power-houses in the chip-making industry are announcing more progress in their exploits. Intel (INTC) will spin-off their flash memory unit to focus on their microprocessor line. "By merging the two units, the companies will realize cost savings that should boost profit margins. Intel should see its profit margins immediately expand. Gross margin, which was 51.4% last year, should improve by two percentage points."
Meanwhile, IBM has released its POWER6 microprocessor, which they claim is the world's fastest chip with twice the clock speed of their previous generation while consuming roughly the same amount of power. "The POWER6 chip, which operates at 4.7 gigahertz, will allow businesses to consolidate servers and handle substantially larger workloads, doubling the speed of the previous generation POWER5 chip while using the same amount of electricity for running and cooling. This means customers can use the new processor either to increase their performance by 100% or cut their power consumption in half. POWER6 also claims to be nearly three times faster than the latest HP Itanium processor that runs HP's server line." The Singularity is Near!

Up and Running

Well, it appears as though I'm back up an running. After a thorough attempt at trying to remedy my situation with TradeStation it looks as though the problems have been resolved. It only took a complete uninstall/re-install to get back on track. All-in-all it wasn't that big of a deal, and the TradeStation forum I got my help on is actually very responsive and helpful.
Other than that, I've been considering changing my blog name/address, but can't come up with a proper title. Any suggestions? If so, keep 'em rated PG.

Noteworthy

"While the S&P 500 is flirting with the possibility of closing at a new all-time high, the Nasdaq is still about 50% below its record close of 5048 (March 10, 2000). Back then, the Tech sector accounted for about 30% of the total weighting on the S&P 500. Today, it is very influential, ranking second behind Financials, but it now accounts for just 15% of the broader market's weighting."

Technical Problems Monday

Don't you just love it when you're all gung ho to start trading on a Monday morning and you sit around trying to get your computer working with no success? At least I caught a little nap as a result. So, here are a couple of headlines of interest in the meantime:

China Takeover and Corresponding with that, Blackstone Group

More M/A News, GS and TPG make an offer on AT

If MSFT pulls a "Jennifer Willbanks?"

New to ETF's?

If you're not too savy on the ETF world (join the club) then checking out this 20 minute video from ishares ETF's may help you get started. Once you're done watching that, take some time to wander through Yahoo!'s Exchange-Traded Funds Center.

A Muon??

300 feet below Switzerland (and France) lies a 16.8 mile long "particle accelerator that will smash protons together in an attempt to create forces and particles that existed shortly after the Big Bang." I saw the Nova special "Elegant Universe" a number of years ago and they featured this particle accelerator at the Cern laboratory while it was in the early stages of construction. It's looking like it will be ready for tests come this time next year. This New York Times feature article on the project is really well done and worth checking out. Be sure to click on the Multimedia Slideshow, Video, and Interactive Graphic featured in the sidebar. Pretty amazing stuff.

Think Different ??

Avast ye Matey

A shipwreck off the coast of England yielded more than just a jump in share price (up 57%) for Oddysey Marine Exploration (OMR). Oddysey retrieved "half a million silver coins and hundreds of gold coins...from an Atlantic colonial-era shipwreck in the largest such find of its kind." The excavation produced around 17 tons of colonial-era silver and gold coins estimated to be worth $500 million. Now that's some booty.

Bubble Pressures

Asia's richest man yesterday warned of a bubble in China's stock market, a sentiment also echoed by the People's Bank of China Governor. "China's government increased the amount its currency can appreciate, raised interest rates and curbed bank loans in an effort to tame a runaway economy and ease trade tensions with the U.S. and Europe." Though seen as some by merely a move to please tough-guy Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson before his visit/meeting next week. Starting Monday it will allow the yuan to rise or fall by a whopping 0.5% against the dollar each day, compared to a 0.3 percent margin previously. Not enough for Congress though, which has been threatening trade restrictions on China forever, trying to get the yuan to trade with less restraint. Many believe that China's artificially low currency value makes American manufacturers unable to compete with a rising flood of cheap imported Chinese consumer goods. While others (such as Zhou Xiao-chuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China) see their pace on Yuan valuation as acceptable. In a Wall Street Journal article he has said: “We don’t accept the concept of currency manipulation. It’s not a clearly defined economic concept.”
The CSI 300 Index of stocks has soared 85% this year.
"The government can't just sit there and do nothing as deposits leave the banking system,'' said Dong Tao, chief Asia economist at Credit Suisse Group in Hong Kong. "If the hike can slow money flows into the stock market, that could provide less ammunition for speculators.''
"This is the single biggest move yet on the part of the Chinese government to calm the stock market and address fundamental problems in its economy,'' said Tomo Kinoshita, chief economist for Asia ex-Japan at Nomura International Hong Kong Ltd. "The signal is unmistakable: the government wants to stop the stock market exuberance and stem excess liquidity.''
"The nation's trade surplus, which ballooned 74 percent last year to a record $177.5 billion, drove the country's foreign- exchange reserves to an all-time-high of $1.2 trillion, making it difficult for the government to slow growth."
"China's economy expanded 11.1 percent in the three months ended March 31, exceeding 10 percent for a fifth quarter."

What's in the Gullet Tonight

Tonight's feature wine is The Prisoner out of Orin Swift Cellars. This delicious wine use to be a cult favorite within the Napa Valley (a little gem that not many people knew about outside of the valley, and we were glad for it). That is until Wine Spectator got a hold of it, gave it 90-something points and then forced a higher production and price for the wine. To be fair though, it's still an unpretentious and super juicy wine. Owner/Winemaker Dave Phinney blends Zinfandel, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Syrah and Charbono for a super-fruity, rich, and delicious wine. The best part, it's under $30!! A relatively high alcohol content and the ripe Zin, Cab., Syrah, combo make this a Napa Valley fruit bomb with loads of cherry, licorice, blackberry flavors. It should no doubt make you a return customer. Get on their mailing list and you might even be privileged enough to get your hands on their Mercury Head "label" as well. shhh!! Let's keep that from Wine Spectator shall we?

What Time is it, again?

If anyone has ever actually read my blog they might have seen this post about some cool time pieces put out by Tokyoflash.com. Recently they added some new watches to their product line. Check 'em out, they're gettin' crazier and more creative. Pretty sweet. For a little help pricing them out - currency?

Water, Water Everywhere...

....and not a drop to drink (eventually). While three-quarters of the Earth's surface is water, less than 1% (0.37% to be exact) of that water is drinkable. It is forecasted by the year 2025 that two thirds of the world population will be without safe drinking water and basic sanitation services.
- 95% of the fresh water in the U.S. is underground. One-Fifth of U.S. irrigated land is fed from the Ogallala aquifer, which stretches from Texas to South Dakota. "It is being depleted at a rate of 12 billion cubic meters per year, amounting to a total depletion to date of a volume equal to the annual flow of 18 Colorado Rivers. Some estimates say it will dry up in as little as 25 years."
-The Middle East has only 1% of the world's available fresh water, which is shared among 5% of the world's population. The number of water-scarce countries in the Middle East and North Africa has risen from 3 in 1955, to 11 by 1990. Another 7 are anticipated to join the list by 2025.
-China has 20% of the world’s population but only 7% of water global resources. More than half of their 660 cities suffer from water shortages. 90% of cities’ groundwater and 75% of rivers and lakes are polluted. 30 cubic kilometers more water is being pumped to the surface each year by farmers than is replaced by rainfall. Also, the lower reaches of the Yellow River, which feeds China's most important farming region, run dry for at least 200 days every year.

So, with that said; Being that (drinkable) water is such a finite resource (I can just see it now, $67/barrel of water offered on the CBOT) Water infrastructure should hold big opportunity for investors. "In just a year and a half, PowerShares Water Resources (PHO) has become the flagship of the provider's 86 offerings" with $1.7 billion in assets. Claymore Securities and First Trust Advisors this week launched the Claymore S&P Global Water Index (CGW) and First Trust ISE Water Index (FIW). Also, check out some top water stocks and "Freakonomics Clean Water Holdings."

Gold took a dip today. Coming back into the $660 range, still a bit off the $650 support. However, demand is still going strong.

Strong Finish Wednesday

A strong finish for the major indexes today. Both Nasdaq & Russell2000 rebounding off their moving averages.

End-of Day Tuesday

So, the DJIA closed near its all-time high, while the S&P500 met with some support via its 10-day EMA. However, the Nasdaq and Russell2000 both fell through their support levels. The Nasdaq fell below it's 20-day EMA (on above-average volume) and into February 26th levels. Meanwhile, the Russell2000 closed under it's 50-day EMA.

Kicking Myself...

....for missing this trade. Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (WINN) took off today after reporting 3Q profits. I was preoccupied when I missed my buy-in point, and became indecisive coming in late, thinking I would be chasing it (little did i know i would have made a buck-n-a-quarter after coming in late). Lame!

Well, it looks like we're going to have to wait a little longer for that DJIA "correction" everyone's expecting to happen any day now (the puts and shorts just can't seem to catch a break). The CPI was up 0.4% in April which was 0.2% lower than March numbers and 0.1% lower than economists expectations of 0.5%. Meanwhile, Core prices (consumer prices excluding food and energy) were up 0.2%. Also key is the 2.3% annual increase in core prices that came short of forecasts, which means
The 2.3 percent annual increase in core prices, also less than forecast, suggests that surging fuel costs aren't triggering a broader jump in the cost of living. The report may reassure Federal Reserve officials, who are counting on slower growth to ease inflation.
"It's consistent with a gradual unwinding of inflation pressures,'' said Brian Bethune, an economist at Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts. "There's nothing in here to push the Fed one way or the other.'' Policy makers have kept their benchmark rate unchanged at 5.25 percent since August."

Who Would Buy a $499 Cellphone?!?!

After watching this, I think....I WOULD!!!

Smoke Screen

I'll indulge my inherently biased attitude towards Microsoft by posting this article I found interesting. It's a response toward Microsoft's move to seek patent royalties from open-source distributors and users. You think Steve Ballmer is actually crazier than he appeared in his "Developers" premiere?

Fascinating

A link featured on BoingBoing highlighted a body of work done by photographer Chris Jordan which depicts the consumption in this country within short time-frames. "Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on." Fascinating stuff, check it out.

Trade of the Day

TeleTech Holdings, Inc. (TTEC) was a short after the break of the opening range low. The 7th bar might have been a more delayed entry point, but it was a way of letting it pull in closer to the fast EMA. The 13th bar was also a move to close in on the Moving Average, so it was a good time to abandon ship with a $1.00 differential to cover the short.

In summary of today's mild trading day; the Nasdaq and the Russell2000 both finished above their trendlines but below their 10EMA's (the Russell2000 actually closed below it's 20-day EMA as well). The S&P500 closed down from Friday's session but above it's 5 & 10-day EMA's. Meanwhile, the DJIA closed up (above it's 10 & 5-day EMA) after peeking into unseen territory with an all-time high on the open.

Something to Aspire to...

Over at TraderFeed the uber-intellect Brett Steenbarger made this post a few days ago that I've read a couple times since he posted it. The theme of the post being "What Makes a Professional Trader." He gives 5 observations on what he sees as critical in being a professional trader and then sums up his findings with some words of wisdom. I wanted to include this post in my blog so that I will be reminded to go back to it in the future. So, what makes a professional trader? In Mr. Steenbarger's opinion the common threads among professionals include: (1) Following a variety of markets, having a framework for how they think about markets. (2) They think big and are aware of the inter-play between multiple markets, allowing them to capitalize on big moves. Small traders, on the other hand, may loose sight of the context of price action within a market and "lack a framework for thinking about proper and improper pricing." (3) A focus on risk management. (4) Reasonable profit goals. (5) Psychology for performance improvement. In summary: "The best traders, like the best athletes, are always working on themselves, always refining what they do. In an important sense, they don't just use psychology to improve their performance. They work on their performance as a means of extending their personal mastery."
A very insightful post from Dr. Steenbarger.

Swing batter, batter, batter

Advanced Magnetics, Inc. (AMAG) had a jump outside of it's flag pattern that it had formed over the last two weeks. AMAG closed the day with a $1.37 gain (2.11%), and is down $0.57 after hours. "Advanced Magnetics, Inc. is a developer of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles used in pharmaceutical products. The Company is focused on the development and commercialization of its nanoparticle technology for use in therapeutic iron compounds to treat anemia, as well as novel imaging agents to aid in the diagnosis of cancer and cardiovascular disease."

Chances are Thinning

Back in early March Alan Greenspan made some comments that shook up the markets (though when has he spoken where the markets didn't react?). He had predicted a one-in-three chance of a recession this year (2007). Today, however, he re-stated those odds up to 2-in-1. So that means, two months ago the odds of our Economy going into a recession were on par with choosing the right door on "Let's Make a Deal." Now (merely two months later) at a forum in Singapore, Mr. Greenspan has stated that the odds are now slimmer. By year-end, the odds are 2 to 1. Our recession chances are now equal to flipping a coin and getting heads.
p.s. hope you like my Let's Make a Deal Photoshop job.

Trade deficit is wider (up more than 10%) as March numbers were released today. -U.S. imports increased 4.5%.
-Record imports of consumer goods and food, feed and beverages.
-Although, exports rose 1.8%.
-U.S. exports to Canada, Germany & China set records
-Shipments to Japan were the highest since March '01.
-The U.S. also exported record amounts of advanced technology products such as computer, telecommunications, aerospace and electronic equipment.
-However, the U.S. trade deficit with China shrank 6.4% to $17.2 billion, as imports from that country were the lowest since May 2006.
-"Despite widening dramatically in March, the trade gap for the first quarter of the year totaled $180.7 billion, smaller than $191.6 billion in the same period last year when the annual deficit hit a record $765.3 billion."

Fun Day

Today, though taking no trades, I had a very nice day. First, I went to get some acunpuncture. Aside from last week's appointment it's been a while since I've gotten any treatments. I always leave in such a relaxed energy. These last two weeks were focused on the Liver (need to be cutting back on the wine a bit), eyes (being that I stare at a computer so much), spleen, and gallbladder (which can store toxins). So, I got a total of 11 needles today, 1 of which was in the 3rd eye (between the eyes on the forehead). I consider myself a sensitive person, so I feel a positive result from these treatments. A very nice altered state after the treatments. I also took home some cleansing herbs to help me slough the liver. I'm a big fan of Chinese medicine.
After my acupuncture my fiancee and I went to the local climbing gym (that recently opened up in town). I'm excited to be getting back into rock-climbing, my arms and fingers are needing the rehabilitation. fun fun fun

Thought I would post some charts for consideration since I've been on the sidelines lately. First, the Nasdaq100. As well as some swing trade candidates, look for confirmation over the next day or two.

post-FOMC Meeting

So, the gist of today's meeting was business as usual, with a firm grip on the reigns of inflation. As a result U.S. Treasuries took a slide into the area of April lows. Yields on the 2-year note rose 0.06% (@4.73%). Meanwhile, the ten-year note increased 3 basis points to 4.67%. You know what that means?!? You got it...Inverted Yield Curve time people! "The committee's predominant policy concern remains the risk that inflation will fail to moderate as expected,'' the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement after meeting in Washington."

Latest

2:15 pm : "As expected, the Federal Reserve left the fed funds rate unchanged at 5.25% for a seventh straight time. With respect to the accompanying policy directive, there has been little change to the wording from the last statement but the Fed has asserted that "core inflation remains somewhat elevated."" The 10-year note is down to a 4.64% yield. market update

deja vu

Today was much like yesterday. What looked like a sell-off in the opening turned around and became a day of waiting (for the FOMC meeting today at 2:15) and consolidating. Unlike yesterday, however, there has been a quicker turn-around for the leading indices, except for that pesky Nasdaq. Some of the most active issues today include Texas Instruments (TXN) up over 4% and poor, poor Dendreon (DNDN) down over 59.75%!! ouch

Stocks and indexes dropped across the board today on the open. I think most people were expecting a pullback sometime this week, especially ahead of the Fed Meeting come Wednesday. However, momentum took an about-face across the board early afternoon and the correction is looking minimal. Setting things up for a stronger correction if shaky news comes out tomorrow afternoon.

How to be an non-Creative Artist

I've been reading about this guy for some time now and it drove me nuts since day 1. Check out this video of his portfolio of works that appear strikingly similar to already existing works of art. What makes it even more intolerable is the actions taken by his lawyers; "sending take-down notices to any site that put up the before and after shots." shenanigans!

The anti-Kiyosaki

Via the consumerist.com, here's a board game for kids a-la game of Life. Unlike Robert Kiyosaki's Cash Flow 101 board game that attempts to teach asset acquisition and generating cash flow, this game, "Twists and Turns," teaches your kids to accumulate credit debt. Earn the most "Life Points" (aka Reward Points) and proclaim yourself the winner!! yikes.

A couple of trades for your consideration (why don't you tell me the why's and how's of them?):

For all the Fibonacci Fans Out There

I'm sure most of you know more than you need to about Leonardo of Pisa (a.k.a. Leonardo Fibonacci, or just plain Fibonacci). Nonetheless, here's an interesting article to check out. Even if it's nothing new, it's still fascinating no matter how many times I read about it.

A Bookmarking Must

Here's a good link to bookmark (especially for beginners like myself). Topics include:

• Raid 0 or Raid 1 System?
• Kingston Memory
• Samsung Monitors
• PCIE Video Cards
• Processor Performance for E-Signal

A sub-culture is brewing (has been brewing)

I came across this article after I was checking out some of the statistics on the usage of SecondLife. "In March, 61 per cent of active Second Life residents were from Europe, compared to 16 per cent from the US and 13 per cent from Asia Pacific, according to research by comScore." Given the above snapshot (of U.S. dollars spent in the last 24 hours), if only 16% of active users are in the U.S. and in the last 24 hours over $1.4 million dollars was spent, what does that say about the revenue being generated for this virtual world entertainment company? I think we get the picture.
A bit more info from the above BusinessWeek article: 1.3 million people have loaded the software, which shows a 46% increase between January and March. "Second Life's own figures state it has more than six million residents and that 1.7 million have logged in during the last 60 days."
A Basic Account is free, but if you really want to disappear into the Matrix it'll cost ya $9.95/month for their Premium Account. Back in the day I use to play SimCity and would get completely engrossed playing it. NoLife...I mean...SecondLife....looks like it could be pretty addictive for people into that sort of thing.

Futures in Uranium Start Today

Starting at 6:00P.M. EST the NYMEX will be offering futures in Uranium. With a trading unit of 250 pounds of U308 per contract, prices are in the $113/pound range.

I got a kick out of some of these headlines I woke up to today....
Buffettpalooza Rocks Omaha

Buffett Rocks the Masses at Berkstock

Buffet Sings, Strums, Shops at Berkshire Meeting

He's Up to Something Big

More info from the speech given by Warren Buffet at the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder's meeting held today (Saturday, Cinco de Mayo). Quite a telling speech Mr. Buffet gave today in front of 27,000 people at the Qwest center in Omaha, Ne. (that's an impressive showing, more than the NCAA Women's Volleyball Finals (one of the best sports to watch on a wide screen, high-def television) 17,209 held last year). Notable quotables include; The subprime mortgage crisis won't be "any huge anchor'' to the economy, he predicted, though lenders and borrowers will have "plenty of misery.'' "The prediction assumes unemployment doesn't increase "significantly'' and interest rates don't go up "dramatically,'' he said.
He's got something up his sleeve though, "We're as prepared as we've ever been to buy a big business outright.'' There's no deal that's too large for us to look at,'' said Whitney Tilson, a managing partner at New York-based T2 Partners LLC, which owns $30 million in Berkshire shares and options. "Let's say a $40 billion acquisition came along, he might need to raise $10 billion of additional cash.'' ...Interesting...

Warren Buffet spoke today during Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting. He made a point to mention that Subprime defaults are being made worse by securitization (The process of creating a financial instrument by combining other financial assets and then marketing them to investors). "Once you package those things and sell them through major investment banks, discipline leaves the system," Buffett said. As taken from the report at Marketwatch: "Subprime borrowers have been missing their first and second monthly payments recently, he noted. "That shouldn't happen. Securitization has made the problem worse," he added. A slowing housing market has triggered turmoil in the subprime mortgage business this year. Legislators have been discussing possible new regulations to deal with the crisis, including making investors in mortgage-backed securities more responsible for future delinquencies."

sweet!

A $903,423 (U.S. $'s), 99.999% Gold coin the size of an extra large pizza??!! ooffaa

The Machine Slowing Down?

April jobs growth is down, unemployment is up. Somewhat good news for inflation and rate increase worries.

How to Compete

Google (GOOG) seems to be forcing competition to step-up to the plate or get left behind. Today's news of Microsoft entering into talks with Yahoo (YHOO) for a possible merger-like agreement appears to be Microsoft's (MSFT) way of stepping up to the plate in order to compete against Google. $50 billion is the amount being tossed around. Though it presents itself as a means toward keeping up with Google, it "won't address Google's superior technology for determining the most relevant Web pages and search results. Both Yahoo and Microsoft's ad-serving technologies simply don't measure up, say analysts."
"Here are two companies that are having difficulties at the same thing," said Scott Kessler of Standard & Poor's. "With a merger, you get one company still having difficulties at doing that same thing."

Bring It!

I've been waiting for one of these to come out since last year. Now it seems they're not expected for a couple of years yet. I wish I knew what's taking so long, the old VW TDI's use to get somewhere around 50 mpg. These Honda's are bringing in the 62mpg range with cleaner emissions than the older diesel engines.