Daily Investment Interpretations

April 6, 2009

2009-4-6:  After four up days in a row, the markets took a breather today on renewed concerns about the banking industry: Stress takes its toll on the banks. Mayo's bank bunk, and Analyst fills void left by Uncle Sam. The NASDAQ slipped 15.16 points (0.93%) to close at 1,607, the Dow backtracked 41.74 (-0.52%) to 7,976, and the S&P 500 peeled off 7.02 points (-0.83%) to close at 8435. Oil fell a little to $51.16, and gold lost $24.50 to $872.80 on possible IMF sales and a rising dollar. The VIX closed up a bit at 40.93.
    In Panic abating?, the Federal Reserve's Kevin Marsh draws the distinction between "the Panic of 2008" and traditional recessions, saying,
    "'The depth and severity of this downturn are due, I believe, to a more profound panic phenomenon.'" 
    "The good news from Marsh: 'This panic is showing meaningful signs of abating.'"
    In Ruff rubbishes rally, Peter Brimelow quotes veteran financial advisor Howard Ruff, who assesses the current rally as a "dead cat bounce" "even though the returns are spectacular for short-term investors, which I am not." Mr. Ruff, who is up 20.4% so far this year, continues, "The long-term problem with the stock market is two-fold: 1) its earnings will decline as business sags deeper and deeper into this recession which will depress stock-market prices; and 2) the price/earnings ratio (PE) is still way above the typical PE at the bottom of bear markets. The stock market will have its ups and downs and literally suck Wall Street investors into short-term rallies as they try to pick 'the bottom.'"
    This article, The G20 moves the world a step closer to a global currency, suggests that something very important happened under the radar at the G20 Conference: the assembled governments agreed to issue a kind of global currency that countries like China and Venezuela might use to sidestep the dollar.
    This article, Liar's Loans, that appeared in Bill Moyer's Journal on the Public Broadcasting System alleges widespread, criminal, financial fraud that produced the current debacle. Articles like this by experts in the field that cite names, dates, and places could possibly stir vehement reactions on the part of knowledgeable readers.