In discussions with clients and prospective clients, one question routinely comes up, regardless of market conditions: “How much emerging markets should I have?” or some variation. I thought this article by Gregory Zuckerman from the Wall Street Journal this morning did a good job of summarizing where these markets are performance-wise and how they stack…
stocks
The Incredible Shrinking Finance Sector
This is very cool. The New York Times put up a moving infographic that shows the progression of the 29 largest financial firms and how they first shrank since 2007 and then began to grow again. The graph above shows them from the starting point at the market’s peak in October 2007. The one below…
Waiting For The Pullback?
Yes, The Reformed Broker can also draw…a Triple Threat!
Of Convictions and Assumptions
With stocks, bonds and commodities on a too-good-to-be-true rampage since March, many market participants are struggling with the age old question of when to sell while their bearish counterparts are having a similar internecine conflict over when to throw in the towel and get long with the herd. I found a quote that I believe…
Can The Stock Market Save The Economy?
A friend of mine, someone completely outside of the Wall Street world, asked me this question a few days ago and in addition to being at an utter loss for the answer, I thought it was one of the more interesting questions one could ask right now. My friend, we’ll call him Dirk (if only…
We Are NOT The Champions: 25 Worst S&P Stocks of 2009
Right about now is when they start picking through the trash. As the Taxpayer Rally marches on, there is a huge temptation for managers to go “dumpster diving” for stocks that have underperformed. I think we’re approaching that point right here with the S&P 500 sporting a year-to-date gain of 16.5% (and a much bigger one…
Senator Chuck Schumer Opposes the "Trader Tax"
Whether we like it or not, the stock market is important to the average American, maybe moreso than ever in our nation’s history. All Americans are de facto participants and beneficiaries of healthy markets whether directly or indirectly, as investors or corporate employees, and Senator Charles Schumer gets it. I applaud the Senator’s opposition to the…
Coming Soon To Institutional Sales/Trading: Discount Brokerage
You knew it was coming sooner or later. I guess it’s coming sooner. From TheStreet.com: Goldman Sachs (GS) and other big securities dealers made bundles of money last quarter because they faced fewer competitors, but now BlackRock(BLK) is hoping to change that. BlackRock, soon to be the world’s largest money manager, is working on a…
Ripping Off The Wealthy Chinese
This is a shockingly absurd story. Goldman, Citi and the rest of the gentlemanly, altruistic global banks invented yet another disgraceful product at or around the peak of the stock market a couple of years back and they aimed it, not unlike a loaded gun, squarely at the foreheads of wealthy Chinese businessmen. The fact that…
Did We Fall Off The Bull Today?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5ZrTO7yRYI] Nasty bank failure/ secondary rumors all day today… Banks down 4.5%, Oil back under $70, AIG down another 8, Dow down 180 points with a little more than an hour left. Guess we’ll see.
