I had an interesting conversation with a colleague this morning on the counterintuitive concept of higher energy prices being “good” for equities. For most of my career, the oft-repeated maxim was that higher energy prices were, on balance, a negative for the S&P 500. Essentially, higher energy prices translate into lower margins for companies that…
Oil
Hot Links: Shangri-La Found?
Stuff I’m Reading this Morning… Templeton’s Mark Mobius sees another 40% gain for the BRIC nations. (Bloomberg) What Are The Best Hedge Funds Buying? Including John Paulson, Steve Cohen, Steve Mandel. (PragCap) The emperors drop some crumbs: Goldman and Buffett‘s plan to help small businesses. (Barron’s) 10 Most Annoying Things About This Recession. (TheDisciplinedInvestor) What’s…
Holiday Gift Idea for Traders: Chart Jewelry
Just in time for the holidays, allow me to introduce the new PLOT line of jewelry. Launched by advertising firm Wieden + Kennedy, PLOT takes charts and turns them into wearable art. Below is their gold necklace followed by the gold chart that inspired it: They’ve also done some cool stuff with the charts of…
Blaming Retail Investors for Commodity Prices
“Commodity index rolls have little futures price impact, and inflows and outflows from commodity index investment do not cause futures prices to change” I haven’t come out strongly on either side of this issue because my job presents me with a dilemma. On the one hand, I believe that individual investors have played at least…
Hot Links: Wasted!
Stuff I’m Reading this Morning… Greenbackd’s monthly list of stocks with activist positions. (Greenbackd) I’m making this one the post of the day: All about compounding. (InvestingCaffiene) Bill Ackman, David Einhorn and others share their best investing ideas. (Clusterstock) Peter Maass has a new book out about the violent world of crude oil. (USAToday) Bill…
Commodity Plays: The Search For What Hasn't Moved Yet
Crunch time for portfolio managers. I read in Barron’s this weekend that the average US stock mutual fund manager is about 5% ahead of the S&P 500 this year, according to Lipper. OK, but it’s the below-average performing PM that really needs the juice right about now, with 10 weeks or so left to make…
Droppin' Knowledge: Fadel Gheit on Oil & Gas
Now that oil prices have joined the party, I thought I’d share some of Fadel Gheit’s thoughts on the energy sector. Gheit covers oil for Oppenheimer and was ranked #3 on the list of Forbes‘ Best Brokerage Analysts for 2009. He spoke to The Energy Report last week about the energy markets: On the discrepancy between…
Hot Links: No Balloon Boy Coverage Here
Stuff I’m Reading this Morning… The dollar is not weak where it counts – in China. (FloydNorris) The big BIG stock winners of 2009. (TheFly) Morgan Stanley: according to the Debt-Equity Clock it’s time to own stocks. (PragCap) Rolfe caught George Soros and Stephen Roach at The Economist conference, here are their thoughts: (Reuters) I…
Peekaboo Crude! We See You!
Uh oh! Look who just showed up at the party! November crude breaking out into jiggy territory…hope you enjoyed those $2 and change gas prices at the pump this summer!
BREAKING: The Secret Plot to Kill the Dollar
FYI: This is the story that everyone’s talking about today, gold and metals stocks are going berzerk in the pre-market as of this writing because of it: From The Independent: In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to…
