ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
I had forgotten all about bond insurer Ambac Financial Group (ABK) – one of the many hobbled poster children of the recent financial panic. I sure did not realize the company is still limping along and even trading on the NYSE. So, imagine my surprise when I learned that ABK doubled on Monday to add … Read more
MasterCard Set to Open An Online Shopping Mall – NYTimes.com Through a new partnership with an Internet company that specializes in personalized shopping, MasterCard is set to introduce a Web shopping mall on Monday that it says can pinpoint with considerable accuracy what its cardholders are likely to purchase. The site, called MasterCard Marketplace, relies … Read more
Greece Wins EU45 Billion Aid Pledge to Blunt Crisis (Update3) – Bloomberg.com European governments offered debt- burdened Greece a rescue package worth as much as 45 billion euros ($61 billion) at below-market interest rates as they try to end its fiscal crisis and restore confidence in the euro. (tags: Greece debt euro IMF)
I was very skeptical of Bernie Schaeffer’s choice of XRT, the SPDR S&P Retail ETF, as one of his top three recommendations in late November. He chose XRT as a contrarian play in the face of heavy skepticism about the health of the consumer. XRT slogged and churned for over two months before breaking out … Read more
China reports rare trade deficit Officials blame the $7.2bn deficit on rising volumes and prices of the raw materials the country needs to import to power its economy. The officials, who announced the figures at an economic conference in Hainan, say the deficit is likely to be a short-term phenomenon. (tags: China economy) LA faces … Read more