Trading

Invest Like the Beatles

The Beatles have just released a box set, containing each of their albums digitally remastered.  That their music stands up so magnificently some four decades later is remarkable and I believe that there are lessons in this legacy for investors that we’ll explore below. What made The Beatles so enduring was not just the talent…

Newspaper Stocks Ruled the 3rd Quarter

Guess what the top-performing industry group was in the 3rd quarter? What if I told you it was the left-for-dead Newspaper Publishers?  No, seriously, it was. According to data from Morningstar, the newspaper industry stocks posted a gain of 89.14% over the last 3 months and were the top performing group by a long shot…

The Sugar Trade

While everyone is reading that New York Post article about how many times a day Hank Paulson and Lloyd Blankfein call each other, the story the Post picked up on sugar trading from Bloomberg this morning was way more interesting to me. From the NYP: Sugar is the new crude oil for investment-hungry hedge funds,…

Unlucky Sevens: Bespoke on the 1 Year Anniversary

One year ago today, the world looked and felt like it was coming to an end on Wall Street.  The Dow dropped 777 points which was actually a larger point drop than the day the market reopened after the 9/11 attacks. Bespoke Investment Group does a great job reminding us of what was going on…

Gut Check Time For The Nasdaq Bulls

Just some quick thoughts as we head into the end of September… Last week was fairly interesting in that many began noticing signs of a change in character for the stock market, if not a change in trend.  The Nazz has been the leader for this rally, so the action there is worth noting. Some…

More Hot Links: World's Longest Bridge

More Hot Links for Weekend Reading… Legendary Las Vegas impresario Bob Stupak has passed.  (WSJ) Is NBC really a core business for GE or is it, in fact, up for sale, along with CNBC?  (ZeroHedge) Cool: The legendary trading culture of Susquehanna International.  (InfectiousGreed) A behind the scenes look at Andrew Cuomo, the New York…

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…

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…