Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Squawk Box Regular Gabelli Slams CNBC On Fox Biz

(clusterstock.com) Uh-oh. Will we ever see Mario Gabelli on CNBC again? During an interview on Fox Biz this afternoon, Liz Clayman asked him what the #1 mistake investors were making.

His answer: It's fairly simple, they listen to CNBC all day and panic.

Watch the video here

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Marry a Farmer

(Newsweek.com) Jim Rogers, the legendary American investor, financial commentator and, along with George Soros, founder of the Quantum Fund, is the ultimate commodities bull. More than 10 years ago, he started the Rogers International Commodities Index, and in 2005 he wrote "Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably in the World's Best Market." Below, he explains to NEWSWEEK's Rana Foroohar why oil is still black gold.

Foroohar: Inflation-adjusted, oil is the same price that it was in 1976, and in 1870. So why are you still a bull?
Rogers: It doesn't matter. It's also true that just about any stock you can think about is at or below where it was in the 1970s right now. So what? There are still 15- to 20-year periods when commodities, stocks and any other asset class goes up a great deal. In 1987 stocks collapsed by 40 to 80 percent. But people who were smart enough to stay in them made 1,000 percent returns in the next decade. The point is to take advantage of those periods and make some money.

Read the entire story

Investment Outlook-Spring 2009

Read the latest Investment Outlook-Spring 2009 from Jolley Asset Management

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Volcker Assumes Smaller-Than-Expected Role With Obama

I knew it was only a matter of time before we saw this headline.

(WSJ.com) As an early supporter of Barack Obama, Paul Volcker gave the young presidential candidate gravitas and advice. He frequently sat by Mr. Obama's side at key economic events, and started carrying a cellphone for the first time, just to be able to brainstorm with the candidate from the campaign trail.

In the Obama White House, the role of the 81-year-old former chairman of the Federal Reserve has been more limited.

The one-time central banker has been put in charge of a presidential advisory board that hasn't yet had a formal meeting. It has been nearly a month since he has seen Mr. Obama. Mr. Volcker hasn't been a main player in key decisions handling the global financial crisis.

Read the entire article

Return of Stock Bulls Signals Time to Sell: Technical Analysis

(Bloomberg.com) Investors turned optimistic for the third time since the credit crisis started last year, gauges of sentiment among individual investors in the U.S. show, a pattern that Helmsman Global Trading says is a signal to sell.

The difference between the American Association of Individual Investors Bull Index and Bear Index surged to 5.6 as of April 2. When the reading rose to 11.5 in November and 13.6 in January it coincided with the end of “bear-market rallies” of at least 21 percent by the MSCI World Index.

“What that’s going to show is that people always want to look at the glass as if it is half full,” said Martin Marnick, head of trading at Helmsman Global Trading Ltd. in Hong Kong. “Using common sense you know what that general trend is. We’re in a recession and this is not the start of a bull market.”

Read the entire article

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

CRAMER A 'BUFFOON'

(nypost.com) Controversial CNBC market guru Jim Cramer has another feud on his hands.

Just weeks after "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart took Cramer to task for trying to turn finance reporting into a "game," bear economist Nouriel Roubini attacked Cramer yesterday for predicting bull markets.

"Cramer is a buffoon," said Roubini, an NYU economics professor often called Dr. Doom. "He was one of those who called six times in a row for this bear-market rally to be a bull-market rally, and he got it wrong. And after all this mess and Jon Stewart, he should just shut up, because he has no shame."

Read the entire article

Saturday, April 4, 2009

No Wonder Summers Is So Eager To Save Wall Street

(Clusterstock.com) Does the fact that Larry Summers made $2.8 million in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citigroup, and others last year explain the administration's ongoing generosity to Wall Street--both in terms of defining the problem in a way that benefits Wall Street (a "lack of liquidity") and in continuing to bail out the banks at taxpayer expense?

Read the entire story

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Buffett Punished in Bond Market as Citigroup Borrows for Less

(Bloomberg.com) Billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is being penalized in the bond market, paying more to borrow than bailed-out companies including Citigroup Inc.

Buffett’s firm paid more for its latest debt offering than Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage lenders that lost a combined $108.8 billion last year. Bank of America Corp. is also paying lower interest on notes under a program in which the U.S. agrees to guarantee debt.

Read the entire story

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Munger's Year End Letter to Shareholders

(wescofinancial.com)The worldwide economy is currently suffering the effects of a deepening recession, perhaps the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression. We will not attempt to prognosticate the effects thatWesco will suffer or when the economy will recover, but we are certain that in due course, Wesco will prosper. In the mean time, Wesco’s operations will bear their share of economicwoes.We will continue to practice Ben Franklin’s advice,that “a penny saved is a penny earned,” as we trim expenses, albeit in higher denominations, to better endure the weakening economic conditions that surely lie ahead.

Read the entire letter