Andrew Horowitz submits: Over the past few months, personal spending, on a year-over-year basis, has been improving. Perhaps this is the stabilization that we have been hearing about. But, behind the headline numbers is the reality that we are looking at no change during the past year. Comparisons are getting easier and we need to see growth in order to waive the victory flags. Complete Story »
Market Blog submits: U.S. banks are taking it on the chin today after Dubai said it needs a six-month reprieve on paying its bills, specifically the $59-billion borrowed to build one of the most ambitious tourism destinations in history. Canadian banks, however, are enjoying a day of gains, helping to drive the S&P/TSX upwards.Complete Story »
IPO activity levels remained high this week with three companies submitting their initial filings and another three setting terms. Telegent Systems (TLG), which offers single-chip solutions enabling worldwide live, free-to-air broadcast TV on portable devices, began the week by filing to raise up to $250 million in its public offering. The Sunnyvale, CA-based company, which was founded in 2004 and booked $124 million in sales over the last 12 months, plans to list on the NASDAQ under the symbol TLG. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the lead underwriters on the deal.Complete Story »
Reggie Middleton submits:The Taubman Center (TCO) reports are now available. Here is an excerpt from the Professional level report: The following table summarizes the valuation of each property through NOI-based and CFAT-based approaches. Individual property valuations will be discussed in detail separately, and released to professional subscribers.Complete Story »
The Gold Report submits: Interviewed by Karen Roche, 11/27/2009Manipulation and money that's been on the sidelines are driving the market, according to TraderTracks editor Roger Wiegand in this exclusive interview with The Gold Report. He see the makings of some "pretty exciting" action in precious metals front, forecasting that gold could go beyond $2,960, and with the next big drop in the stock market, the gold and silver shares could really depart from the rest of the mainstream market, especially with the dollar being so weak. He likes companies that have good projects and strong partners, and cash in the bank.Complete Story »
Howard Richman submits:Last week, e-mails from prominent AGW (Anthrogenic Global Warming) scientists were hacked and posted on a Russian website. They showed attempts to misuse data and keep critics out of peer-reviewed journals. But the most clear statement in all in these e-mails was not dishonest, nor was it arrogant. It was simply pathetic:The fact is that we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can't.Complete Story »
Matthew Bradbard submits: I was not expecting to be busy today, but with the Dubai news on a day like today, the volatility had markets all over the place. Crude oil finished lower by $2 but intra-day, traded almost $6 lower. Coincidence or not, the 61.8% Fibonacci line at $72.25 should contain further losses; today’s low in January was $72.39. We would like to see the dust settle early next week before committing to either side. Clients were advised to take their January 50 and 75 cent calls spreads off today (some at a slight loss and others at a slight profit). Trail stops on mini-futures; $5.40 and then $5.60 could be achievable on this leg. On fresh entries we suggest February. Complete Story »
TechCrunch submits: By MG Siegler Undoubtedly by now you’ve heard about Tiger Woods’ car crash. Early reports had him in serious condition (which, remember, is better than critical condition) after he apparently hit a fire hydrant and a tree while leaving his home in his SUV. The latest reports say he has been released from the hospital and is “fine.” But I’m not going to speak to any of that because that’s not what we do (you can find out more here).Complete Story »
Brooks McFeely submits:1:58 PM, Nov 27, 2009 -- NYSE down 162 (2.2%) to 7,070.09.DJIA down 154.6 (1.5%) to 10,310.S&P 500 down 19.02 (1.7%) to 1,091.Nasdaq down 37 (1.7%) to 2,138.GLOBAL SENTIMENT Complete Story »
Hickey and Walters (Bespoke) submit: The Dow is currently on pace to have its second biggest decline on the day after Thanksgiving since it became an official federal holiday in 1941. As shown below, the biggest decline on the day after Thanksgiving came in 1987 when the index fell 1.87%. At that point, markets were still digesting the October '87 crash, and the Dow went on to fall 8.76% in the week after Thanksgiving. The Dow has normally been strong on the day after Thanksgiving, with an average gain of 0.30% on the day. With international markets dropping significantly while we ate turkey yesterday, however, today turned out to be anything but normal.Complete Story »
Bill Luby submits: I think the best way to look at crises (both big and small) is to think of them as learning opportunities. In the last year or so, many investors whose investing universe was narrowly bound by stocks have now become conversant in credit default swaps, the TED spread, the dollar, the carry trade, bank capital ratios and a whole host of concepts and statistics that they didn’t know existed in 2007. So should the Dubai situation also be a learning trigger. Not familiar with the political structure of the United Arab Emirates? the history of sovereign default? the principles of Islamic banking? Now is an excellent time to learn – and perhaps profit – from becoming better informed about these issues.Complete Story »
Felix Salmon submits: Paul Krugman today argues in favor of a financial-transactions tax on the grounds that it would discourage over-reliance on ultra-short-term repo markets, among other reasons. In other words, reliance on repos is a bad thing, and it’s a good idea for government policy to “nudge” financial institutions away from it. That’s something that opponents of the Miller-Moore amendment should bear in mind, when they complain that it could hit the repo market hard. Here’s Agnes Crane:Complete Story »
Good interview here with Arjuna Mahendran from HSBC (HBC). While markets appear to have panicked over the Dubai news, this default (assuming it even occurs) would actually be a very small bump in the road, in terms of the bigger picture. It is, however, a reminder of the difficulties that we are likely to encounter in the coming years. The problem of debt is still very much alive. Dubai’s debt problems are merely “a blip”, says Arjuna Mahendran, managing director and head of investment strategy Asia at HSBC Private Bank. He shares his outlook, with CNBC’s Martin Soong & Sri Jegarajah.Complete Story »
