Search Results for: housing review

Searching for A Corral for the Silver Stampede

What has changed in the two months it took for silver to stampede its way up $15 (a 43% gain) and back? Did the Federal Reserve raise rates? Did the Federal Reserve threaten the market with rate hikes? Did the housing market rebound sharply, generating an expectation for higher rates? Did inflation expectations adjust sharply? … Read more

The Fed-Inspired S&P 500 Likely to Remain Overbought As Index Reaches for Previous Uptrend

With the S&P 500 hitting fresh 3-year highs this week, the index is poised to recapture the previous uptrend that was interrupted by March’s double calamities of the Japan earthquake and hostilities in Libya. The stock market is overbought with T2108, the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs), at a … Read more

Acting Comptroller Testifies; the CFO of Lender Processing Services Buys

On Thursday, the stock market was rallying but Lender Processing Services (LPS) was selling off on high volume. At its lowest point, within an hour of trading, LPS was down 7.5% on heavy volume. The stock recovered the rest of the day to close down 3.5%. It turns out that LPS was mentioned during testimony … Read more

LPS Earnings Provide Relief from Headlines of the Foreclosure Mess, Put Holders Remain Unfazed

The stock market responded favorably to Thursday evening’s earnings report from Lender Processing Services, Inc (LPS) by sending the stock up 5%. Buying volume was also strong at 3.3 million shares, almost doubling the 1.7M 3-month average. *Chart created using TeleChart: I suspect a material portion of this buying came from disappointed shorts who were … Read more

All This Uncertainty is Making Me More Certain

I am far from bullish on the financial markets, but it is getting harder and harder to stay bearish given the accelerating negative buzz about deflation, double-dips, and, most importantly, all the talk about the uncertainty that is supposedly paralyzing the entire country, preventing business owners from operating the engines of American commerce and preventing … Read more

“Collateral Damaged” Tackles America’s Addiction to Debt and Credit

“Collateral Damaged: The Marketing of Consumer Debt to America” by Charles R. Geisst is a detailed and captivating examination of the history and growth of consumer debt in America. The book scrutinizes the political, cultural, social, and financial forces that converged to inflate America’s tremendous bubble in consumer credit. Geisst reaches all the way back … Read more

SEC Makes Up for Lost Time By Going for Maximum Impact on Goldman Sachs Fraud Charge

The news has rippled across the globe that the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) finally got around to charging Goldman Sachs with fraud: “The SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs structured and marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) that hinged on the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). Goldman Sachs failed to disclose to … Read more

As Unemployment Finally Appears to Crest, Monetary Policy Reaches A Critical Juncture

Good (or not as bad as expected) economic news has typically garnered selling in the U.S. dollar and buying in the stock market. On Friday, the good news that November’s monthly change in U.S. non-farm payrolls came in essentially flat sent the S&P 500 soaring as high as 1.7%. However, the dollar index also soared, … Read more

Toll Brothers Earnings Disappoint As Expected

For Toll Brothers (TOL), history has a nasty habit of repeating itself. Over the last two quarters, TOL released preliminary earnings reports that propelled the stock to one-day double-digit gains on record trading volumes. For the second time in a row, the actual earnings report generated the exact opposite response. After the last earnings report, … Read more