ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
The financial markets finally got a bailout package for Greece – and they vigorously sold off on the news. (Yes, there are plenty of other negatives out there as well…all ignored until now). The good news is that the S&P 500 remains higher than it was back in January when the stock market last cared … Read more
EconomPic: Not Sustainable Real consumption is far outpacing real compensation – an unsustainable divergence. (tags: economy consumer_spending income) Trichet May Need to Rewrite ECB Rule Book to Tame Greek Threat – Bloomberg.com European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet, who capitulated on a January pledge not to relax lending rules for the sake of one … Read more
"Buy" Means "Sell" in Goldman's World – MoneyShow.com The whole exercise proved how removed Goldman and Wall Street are from the most basic standards by which the rest of us to do business, and how unaware they seemed to be of it. Except occasionally for Blankfein and Viniar, Goldman’s witnesses couldn’t say whether what they … Read more
Australia to Impose 40% Tax on Profits of Resource Companies – Bloomberg.com Australia will impose a 40 percent tax on the profits of resource companies like BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group to pay for infrastructure, retirement and company levy reforms as part of the nation’s broadest overhaul of its tax system since the … Read more
MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) manufactures silicon wafer solutions for the semiconductor and solar industries. WFR fell 19% on Friday in response to earnings despite the company’s reassurances that it is on track to meet full-year guidance targets (click here for the transcript from Seeking Alpha): “In the first quarter, revenue was ahead of our internal … Read more
Papandreou Says Greek ‘Survival’ at Stake in Talks (Update1) – Bloomberg.com Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said the country’s survival was at stake in talks to win a potential $159 billion European Union-led bailout in exchange for budget cuts denounced by unions as “savage. (tags: Greece debt default)
Earlier this week, I suggested setting up a pairs trade between Goldman Sachs (GS) and Deutsche Bank Ag (DB) to take advantage of an apparent growing divergence in performance between the two financial giants. My main recommendation rested on a put spread for GS and a call spread for DB. After thinking about the structure … Read more
Spanish Unemployment Rate Tops 20%, Undermining Deficit Fight – Bloomberg.com Spain’s unemployment rate rose above 20 percent for the first time in more than a decade, undermining Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s fight to cut the euro region’s third-largest budget deficit. (tags: Spain unemployment debt) Federal Prosecutors Open Inquiry into Goldman Trading – CNBC … Read more
My earnings play on First Solar (FSLR) unfolded much better than expected today. The post-earnings pop took FSLR directly to my standing $149/150 price target that represents a fill of the earnings gap from October. See chart below: *Chart created using TeleChart: I believe the biggest catalyst for today’s 18% move was FSLR’s tremendous boost … Read more
Commentary: Europe's Debt Crisis Is About to End – CNBC With the likes Nouriel Roubini, Jim Rogers and George Soros predicting a disastrous default by Greece and others in the euro zone, the contrarian in me has to ask if they could be very wrong. (tags: Greece default debt)