ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Word went out Friday that BP is considering offering $5 billion in bonds paying 8-10% with 5-10 year maturities. These bonds will likely also be unsecured. Given the real risk this company may not be around to see another birthday, I have to assume only the most yield-hungry investors will paw at this offering. I … Read more
In December, 2009, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke insisted that gold’s surge was not signaling increased inflation expectations because it was simply following along with the general rise in commodities. Now that gold stands head and shoulders above the commodity pack, Bernanke is expressing his bewilderment at gold’s strength. Gold is still not a signal … Read more
For many commodity-related stocks the bounce from the March, 2009 lows to the first peak in June encompasses the bulk of their respective gains in the past 15 months. The current, on-going correction has delivered such heavy losses to some of these stocks that they are now trading at those June, 2009 prices. About 1/3 … Read more
The on-going steep drop in steel stocks started in early April and preceded the S&P 500’s late April peak. With worries increasing about a global slowdown, I finally decided to look up worldsteel’s last update of its forecasts for 2010 (and 2011). I was quite surprised to find that in April, worldsteel expected “…demand in … Read more
The Australian dollar has been my single source of greatest pain during this market correction. I have long favored the Australian dollar as a play against the U.S. dollar. Even as the U.S. dollar index has rallied over 10% since hitting 16-month lows in November/December, the Australian dollar remained flat during most of that time … Read more