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Sunday, November 20, 2011

Kramer is a complete moron

Jim Kramer of CNBC is a complete moron.  This guy tried to run money and completely failed.  To reward him, CNBC puts him on air, not only giving him his own show, but also puts him on in the morning after the death of Mark Haynes.  He takes credit for being right when he says to buy a stock the day before the company reports positive earnings, or sell a stock before negative earnings, when, in either case, the stock moves a few percentage points.  No wonder he never made anyone any money.  The guy is a joke.  I can't believe anyone ever listens to this bonehead.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Asia and Europe moving higher on Italian hopes

Both Asian and European markets are looking higher after Berlusconi stepped down and the lower house in Italy passed austerity measures designed to bring their $2.6 trillion debt under control.  Mario Monti has been selected as the new Italian president, heading up a technocratic government tasked with attempting to turn around Italy's failing economy and out of control government spending.  The Technocratic movement first appeared in 1919 after World War I when scientists and engineers were thought to be better-able to run governments.  This movement gained strength as a result of the Great Depression, but lost favor when FDR's New Deal, seen as a more democratic solution, was implemented.  With the apparent failure of socialist governments across Europe to rein in spending and deficit, this movement appears to be once again gaining a following.  Monti will be the first to test the validity of this resurgent movement.  In the short-term at least, it appears that financial markets welcome this change.  We should see US markets also open higher reflecting global optimism that Europe may finally be getting their financial house in order.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Italian bond yields spike, pummeling world financial markets

The yield on the 10-year Italian bond has spiked well above 7%, which was seen as the tipping point for Greece and Portugal forcing the EU to bail them out.  The key difference is that Italy, Europe's third largest economy, is simply too large to bail-out.  The ECB (European Central Bank) has been furiously buying Italian bonds, but this has not stopped prices from plummeting.

Financial markets across the globe have been hit hard, with most major exchanges down well over 2%.  We are going to open down well over 200 points on the Dow.  This will be a key test of the support levels on the market.  If we can hold today at or above support, it should give technical traders some confidence to buy the market higher, hopefully pushing us closer to the 200-day moving average.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Major indexes show improving technicals

All three of the major indexes are showing strong technical improvement, with the Dow forming a nice "W" pattern with a break-out above the top of that "W."  The S&P 500 i forming a "W" pattern right now, and looks to possibly break-out shortly.  The chart below shows that "W" for the S&P 500 (far right side of the chart), with tops right around the 1,260 level.  The 200-day moving average is at about 1,273.  If we break-out of this "W" we could certainly see a test of that 200-day and if we can get back above that level, it would be a huge positive for the markets.


Typically markets will stay above or below a 200-day moving average for long periods of time.  We broke down through the 200-day for the S&P 500 around the beginning of August and except for a recent, brief penetration, about a week ago, we have been stuck below it.  It can take a few tries before successfully surpassing the 200-day on the upside, but it appears that we are close to trading up into a higher range.  This would be welcome progress on the technical front, especially in light of all of the negativity in the markets we have endured of late.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Slower traffic keep right

If you believe that the slower traffic keep right laws should be enforced and expanded, please follow this link and sign the petition:

http://wh.gov/bI6