sbenard

http://globalcapital.blogspot.com

197 Comments

    • Dividend Aristocrats Handily Outperforming Main Indexes in 2008 [view article]
      I always get a kick in the pants from people who say that index XYZ performed BETTER than the market, when in reality, they just lost LESS! Sep 01 08:18 PM
    • Consumer Discretionary Sector is Going Down [view article]
      In addition, the better-than-expected GDP number was somewhat worse than the headline implied. It was all based upon exports. Now that the Dollar has risen and global spending, especially in Europe and Japan, have tanked, the exports won't give support for future GDP growth. Even worse, the stimulus package is all spent too, so that contribution to GDP will be history also. Sep 01 07:53 PM
    • Financial Crisis: Our Founding Fathers' America [view article]
      Wasn't Hamilton responsible for both the First and Second National Banks, both of which were economic catastrophes? The second one was the reason Andrew Jackson refused to renew its charter, considering it to be the single most important accomplishment of his presidency. In his will, Jackson wrote that on his gravestone were to be inscribed the words, "I killed the bank". I wish we had learned the lessons that he and Jefferson tried to teach us! We might not be headed for another economic catastrophe if we had! Sep 01 07:31 PM
    • Do 'Experts' Really Know What Is Going On? [view article]
      codswallop -- Brit, Austr., and NZ -- nonsense

      For those of us who don't speak the king's English.       Sep 01 07:19 PM
    • Questioning Obamanomics [view article]
      "Here comes the orator, with his flood of words, and his drop of reason." Benjamin Franklin

      How did Ben Franklin know about Obama?

      Only Obama has an ego so expansive that it couldn't be contained in a convention center. He had to have a stadium instead!       Aug 31 10:25 PM
    • The Obama Plan: We Can't Entitle Our Way Out of Paying Taxes [view article]
      I always get such a kick out of analysis ad nauseum. What they really are trying to do is to figure out how the government can vampirically suck as much of the life out of us without killing us. That's what all this back and forth about how high the can tax us without destroying the goose that lays the golden eggs. Until we can change the mentality of these policy wonks to one of figuring out how to provide the best environment for long-term prosperity, we'll be dieing a slow economic death. True, lasting prosperity can only come from savings, productivity, low taxes, and limited government. Everything else is just a dog and pony show intended to obfuscate and mislead. Aug 25 11:11 AM
    • Natural Gas Fund Is Flaming Out [view article]
      I have been waiting a long time to buy this fund. It looked like it had bottomed and would start to climb after yesterday. However, the price of Nat Gas cratered today. Last year nat gas bottomed at about $7.50, just about 50 cents lower than where we are now. Nat gas tends to rise in the fall/winter months. Liquidity for this fund is excellent. What's not to love? The technical charts for the futures and the ETF are virtually identical, too! Aug 22 09:02 PM
    • On the Dollar and Commodities: Currencies Move Because We Let Them [view article]
      One more thought. In a day when there are stock index ETFs that short the market, why would ANYONE just sit and wait through an economic downturn! We can be either long or short the market at all times, benefiting from both bull and bear markets! Learn to read the charts! Aug 18 05:54 PM
    • On the Dollar and Commodities: Currencies Move Because We Let Them [view article]
      Good article, Chris! I have been making the case for some time on my own blog that the "buy and hold" strategy of sitting tight through deep dips in stocks is likely to create steep losses that will take many years to dig out of. Your last chart makes that point very powerfully! Aug 18 05:50 PM
    • The Wheat Debate [view article]
      There are also seasonal aspects to grain prices. Typically, the annual low prices for grains occur sometime between Aug 15 and Sept 30. After that, prices tend to rise over the following six months. Looking at grains charts for the past two years, grains have hit their lows for the year at the peak of the harvest season both years, as it become clear that the crop has been bountiful. However, this year, the cool, wet spring caused the crop to sprout late, and the plants are less mature. This makes them more vulnerable to late-season frosts and early winter. Today, the price of wheat was UP sharply. Soybeans and corn were very close to their limit UP prices. If you are going to trade the whipsaws and sharp up and down days of late summer, then all I can say is, "Good luck!" You'll need it! Aug 18 05:19 PM
    • Responding to Bear Market Conditions [view article]
      This is a long-winded way of saying to "buy and hold" and ignore the market dips. Last I checked the NASDAQ is still less than half of its former high. NASDAQ investors who bought near the peak are still waiting to be made whole more than 10 years later. They may wait for decades longer before the NASDAQ recovers.

      In other words:

      MISERY LOVES COMPANY!

      I'm convinced a lot of these people who suggest to buy and hold forever are just hoping that other people will buy and bail out their bad decisions to keep bad investments.       Aug 07 09:42 AM
    • US Dollar Index Looking Up? [view article]
      Amazing, but true. The Dollar has bounced. However, it's not so much a phenomenon of Dollar strength, as it is a phenomenon that the rest of the world, including the Eurozone, is collapsing. The perception is that the U.S. is close to a possible bottom, while the rest of the world is just starting downhill.
      However, the U.S. government has so much debt, and it is increasing exponentially every day, that it seems unsustainable. When does the house of cards collapse?
      CNBC tabulated the entire amount for the bail-outs and rescues so far. The total was $1.43 trillion so far since Aug 07. And that doesn't even include the U.S. budget deficit for this fiscal year, which is nearly 1/2 trillion Dollars. And THAT still doesn't even include the supplemental spending for the Iraq War. If all of these are tabulated together, we're talking well over $2 trillion for just ONE year!       Aug 07 09:33 AM
    • Fitch Increasingly Downgrades Non-Subprime [Housing Tracker] [view article]
      I just learned yesterday on CNBC that American Express is cutting back credit for its customers. Then, lo and behold, I get a letter from Am Ex saying they canceled my card despite a perfect credit rating and flawless payment history because I didn't renew my Costco membership. At least I'm not the only one! Aug 07 09:26 AM
    • VIX Back Below 20 [view article]
      Bollinger Bands are my VIX. Aug 07 09:23 AM
    • Were the Tax Rebates a Bust? [view article]
      This morning, the nation's two largest retailers, Target and WalMart, released their July comps. Now that the rebate checks are gone, this is the assessment from the retail perspective.
      One word:

      DISMAL

      The rebate was a bust. We simply became more indebted to buy more foreign goods. How is THAT beneficial over any time period but the short-term? And now, we're learning that it wasn't even beneficial over the SHORT-term!

      Fire Congress! Every last stinking one of them!       Aug 07 09:22 AM
Loading...
Symbols:
Authors:
Quick Links:
Contribute an Article Become a Seeking Alpha Contributor

Transcripts

More Transcripts»