Who is the real contrarian these days? The Bears, who are dead right about how bad the economy is or the Bulls who are dead right for being long virtually every asset class, the riskier the better? Perhaps the true contrarian is neutral right now, refusing to play either the economic weakness or the markets’…
stocks
Trader Mark Spots the Mark-Up Monday Trend
Some of my most profitable and interesting discoveries in the market have occured when I’ve taken a hunch or gut feeling and then backed that up with some actual fact-finding. My boy Trader Mark (Fund My Mutual Fund) just followed up on one of his suspicions concerning why it felt as though the market’s been…
Investing Fads and Themes by Year, 1996 to Present
Take a trip down memory lane with me, if you would, and maybe even have a chuckle at your own expense. After all, at one point or another, we’ve all been caught up in a few of these over the years. Here is Investing Fads and Themes by Year, 1996 to Present It’s right around…
Of Oil and Equities
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…
For Those Keeping Score: Bespoke's Top Performing Stocks of '09 By Sector
The Bespoke Investment Group just posted a phenomenal resource for those keeping score, the Top Performing Stocks By Sector since the beginning of 2009. I was pretty surprised by some of the best in each group. I put up the energy stock top ten above, but I recommend you go and check out the whole…
Eight Trading Superstitions
Every profession has its own idiosyncratic superstitions. In honor of tomorrow being Friday the 13th, I thought this would be a good time to discuss this topic.
Insider Trading Cards – Collect 'Em All!
Love Smoking Crack? AND Investing? Allow Me to Introduce…AIG!
Love smoking crack? Love investing, also? Well now you can combine two of your favorite activities, enjoying both at the same time! How, you ask? Simple! Allow me to introduce you to…AIG, the former insurance company stock that now exists purely for trading purposes: Here’s a “stock” that for any reason (or no reason at all) on…
Quick Question re: the Stock Market
Quick question for those following the stock market today… Does any of this activity even remotely resemble rational buyers and sellers pursuing their own interests in a logical fashion? Or am I simply looking at computers trading against other computers ad infinitum? Nice way to start the week: Ford surprise profit vs CIT not-surprise bankruptcy…
The Periodic Table of Finance Bloggers
Click Image to Embiggen! I’ve been asked several times to update my finance blogger list, so I figured on the week of The Reformed Broker’s first anniversary, I’d oblige. Everyone listed on The Periodic Table of Finance Bloggers has either inspired, educated or entertained me in some way, so I figured I’d return the favor. …
