My technician friends have been showing me breakouts and the snapping of downtrends in all manner of cyclical sectors this week – most notably Chessnwine’s work with the Chemicals sector and some of our own internal screens on the oil names we’re starting to get heavier on. Here’s Brendan Conway at Barron’s column Focus On…

Great article.

Bloomberg: J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) rose in extended trading after billionaire investor George Soros disclosed a passive stake in the retailer. Soros Fund Management’s stake is equal to 7.9 percent of J.C. Penney, according to a filing today. The investment makes him the fourth-largest holder based on equity stakes, according todata compiled by Bloomberg. J.C. Penney is trying to…

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Cartoon.

Here’s why your politics and your investing outlook should never ride the same short-bus to that special school they’re enrolled in – the conventional wisdom about George W. Bush was that his “business experience” would mean a great boon to Corporate America and US businesses. Now of course, his laissez-faire policies of delegate and deregulate…

Most of the time, this is hard. But sometimes, the Market Gods (Trend, Valuation, Volatility) and the minor deities who flank them (Art Cashin, Louis Rukeyser) see fit to lay an easy decision at our feet. Apple is one of those easy decisions right at the moment. The company has just informed us that they…