First Look: Volatility Bounce-Traders’ Market Continues

Click charts to ENLARGE.Pivot Points for some asset allocation choices for Wednesday__________________________________________________________Most divergent stocks/ETFs from the 100 MUST CHARTS from the 50 period average________________________________________Terex (TEX)...trying to change character? Long TEX call spreads (March).________________________________________________________BIDU feel...

Conflicts of Interest in TARP: Ya Think?

TPM Muckraker reports about possible conflicts of inflict in TARP administration. Imagine!Highlights:The department has hired outside private contractors to administer parts of the bailout program, notes GAO. In their responses to Treasury's requirements, six of the eight service providers selected as of November 25, 2008, identified potential or actual sources of conflict. According to our rev...

Views You Can’t Use

It's always all good.Good trading and great risk management.Educational use only. Never intended as investment advice.

"I Got Nothing"

I really have no insight today. I can watch the tells, but this relentless discussion of bottoming in a process that will probably take years to unwind is pretty nauseating. At least I'll admit I've got nothing, as opposed to the pundits or 'deciders' like Paulson and Bernanke who FUBAR'd the economy and now have all the answers?Illegitimi non carborundum.I sold my December VIX calls yesterday....

NBER: Keen Sense of the Obvious

Click charts to ENLARGE.The National Bureau of Economic Research acknowledged that we have been in a recession for about a year. Who knew? What with the Larry Kudlows, Don Luskins, and their ilk telling us that everything was fine, and Jeremy Siegel reminding us to assume growth like beggars assume wishes, can you believe it? I mean, wouldn't you announce something like that in real time, or do...

First Look: "The Last Starfighter"

Click chart to ENLARGE.Whom can you trust? Mr. Market.The SP500 retraced over half of last week's gains today, as the ephemeral belief in magical thinking evaporated.The next great plan of "The Last $tarfighter" Bernanke is using our printed dollars to buy up our long-term debt. It's called MONETIZING THE DEBT. Start studying the Weimar Republic...and how they ultimately solved the problem, cre...

Monday, Monday...

At least so far, the "bull" has been flying...onto skewers that is.What is...SPX is down 46 pointsBreadth is horrible and showing no signs of reliefThus far, the TICK is showing heavy downside actionVIX has moved up smartly, almost to the 20 period moving average (Dec VIX futures lagging somewhat relative to VIX)Winners? FXY (yen as carry trades unwind), Fairfax Holdings (FFH), Dow Chemical, an...

Dominant Themes: Watch the NR7 Space and Volatility

Click charts to ENLARGE.It's all about "Happy Talk" as Wall Street will sing these lyrics:Last week's action showed the market's resilienceMassive stimulus will overcome temporary economic weaknessAvoid discussion of (Shhh) creditContinuing rate cuts favor stock asset allocationStocks greater than 80 dollars a share and 400K shares daily_____________________________________________________The t...

Links Updated and a Tout TV Update

Click charts to ENLARGE.Taglines: Investing, Stocks, Cramerica, James Cramer, Investment Blogs, Make moneyI have reorganized the LINKS (to an extent) to reflect my perception on the ability of the blogs presented (I've focused on the top 15 or so for now) to help us make money. Similarly, CNBC is amusing, but for the most part they serve as carnival barkers more than educators, and seldom do th...

Boy Scouts

Click charts to ENLARGETags: stock market, investment, time preference of money, technical analysis, volatilityLast week wasn't an aberration; it was simply the market at work, doing the market's work...causing the most pain to the most people.As we head into a new week, our responsibilities are not so hard...carrying them out can be. The Boy Scouts' motto: Be prepared.Preserve capital.See the ...