• 18May

    America’s Underclass: Growing Gap Between the Rich and Poor
    Macro economic data suggest the great recession is over. But the gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing, thanks, in large part, to a jobless recovery. Wall Street Cheat Sheet’s Damien Hoffman says the growing underclass now accounts for about 10% of the U.S. population.

    In this clip, he and his brother Derek, who jointly run the Wall Street Cheat Sheet website, point to several signs America is turning into a two-class society:  

    -The foreclosure problem. 2.8 million homes were foreclosed in 2009.  RealyTrac expects that number to increase to 3-3.5 million in 2010.  Damien Hoffman thinks it could be even higher if “strategic foreclosures” become a more accepted practice.
    - Unemployment.  The official rate is 9.9% but the wider measure of under employed and those who have given up on their job search is more like 17%.   That’s more than 24 million Americans out of work.
    - Record numbers using food stamps. The Agriculture Department said a record 40 million Americans, or 1 in 8 Americans, may not be able to eat without government assistance.  “This is the ultimate sign of an under class,”  the Hoffman Brothers say.
    - Take a look at Dollar Tree Stores. The discounter’s stock is near an all-time high while revenues are up 12.5% this year.  In other words, more Americans are chasing cheaper goods.

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  • 05May

    The Race to the 50 DMA!

    It was simply a nasty day in the stock market. The worst percentage slide since February has put the S&P 500 at a one month low
    and just above its 50-day moving average. Volatility spiked to more than a two-month high as a result. (Don’t be surprised if we
    get a bounce off the 50 DMA, many will use this an exit point, so selling may return and we could see distributions for a while.)
    The stock market plunged today as fears spread that Europe’s attempt to contain Greece’s debt crisis would fail. The Dow fell
    225.06, or 2%, to 10,926.77. The Nasdaq lost 74.49, or 3%, to 2,424.25, while the S&P 500 dropped 28.66, or 2.4%, to 1,173.60.
    Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 6-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, where volume was heavier than it was yesterday.
    Near-term technical support completely came undone this session. The slide only steadied when the S&P 500 approached its 50-day
    moving average, which was last touched two months ago. The stock market closed just above that key line. Volatility surged with
    weakness so widespread. In fact, the Volatility Index, sometimes euphemistically labeled the “Fear Gauge,” was up more than 20% at
    its session high. This session’s action attracted plenty of participants, such that some 1.5 billion shares exchanged hands on the
    NYSE. That’s well above the 200-day average of 1.2 billion shares.

    ————————————————————————————
    Here are Our notes from Yesterday–

    Is that a Head and shoulders patterns forming on the major indexes? This could be the sign of a sell-off waiting in the wings.
    Monday May 3rd 2010 market rebounded today on the first trading day of the month. The volume was anemic relative to Fridays volume
    and this is Not a good sign.  The small head-and-shoulders reversal patterns on the major indices continue to develop. 
    A little ominous after the degree of heavy volume selling we have seen over the past 3 weeks.
    Still a time to be cautious and wait for stocks to reach target entry levels.
    Strong sectors today: specialty consumer services; leisure products; consumer finance; casinos and gaming; independent power
    producers; residential REITs; retail REITs; industrial REITs; office REITs
    Weak sectors today: health care tech; diversified metals and miners; aluminum; gold; food distributors

    Some Gainers of interest today:
    ALK - Noted on CNBC as a possible takeover candidate.
    More distribution hit the market last week as the sovereign debt crisis took center stage.  Institutions are cashing in their
    chips as the S&P 500 has now had 5 distribution days in the last 3 weeks.  Often times, you see a lot of heavy volume selling
    early in a multi-year bull market.  So we are a little reluctant to call a bearish confirmation signal.  And the Nasdaq has seen
    only 3 distribution days over the past 3 weeks.  Its still the leading index.
    Financials, normally a leading sector, were hit hard last week.  If you look closely, you can see the small head-and-shoulders
    reversal pattern developing on the Nasdaq, S&P 500, banking index and the XLF.  Although they are all small patterns at this
    point.  Perhaps we will see a break below 2450 on the Nasdaq followed by a quick fall back to 2400 where some support exists.  And
    then a rebound into an intermediate-term top followed by a downtrend lasting several weeks afterwards.
     The 5 distribution days on the S&P 500 is a major concern in the short-term as this normally spells a correction in the market. 
    The last correction in late January lasted only a few weeks followed by the sharp rebound since then.  The bearish reversal signal
    occurred just before the swift pull back began in earnest.  The strength of the distribution is similar to what we saw in late
    January.  With financial reform likely to be settled soon by Congress, the Greece debt crisis coming to a head soon  and the sell
    -off that normally comes after a runup into earnings season, we may see this next downtrend start next week and probably last just a few weeks afterwards.
     The market needs a correction at this point.  Many of the top stocks were very overextended from a technical standpoint.  That is
    why we are seeing many companies that had great earnings reports pull back over the last several days.  Companies like Deckers,
    Intel, JP Morgan and others.  A lot of good chart formations were coming up on our radar but few with the overbought/oversold
    indicators near a buy signal.  That is starting to change but the market needs more time to consolidate to setup some really good
    swing trading opportunities.

    Priceline (ticker PCLN) is reporting earnings next week.  With consumer strength in Europe being reported by other companies and
    good reports from other travel companies, we expect strong numbers.  Those who are still bullish may want to buy ahead of the
    report and sell right after its released.
    ————————————————————————————
    Traders on the floor of the NYSE said that while an agreement was put in place over the weekend, investors worried that Europe
    would have a very tough time assembling an aid package if a larger country such as Spain or Portugal were to get in trouble.
    However, the market’s plunge was not a surprise to most traders, who have warned for weeks that stocks were due for a retreat.
    The sudden drop was a reminder that it does not take much to rattle investors, who are on alert for anything that could disrupt
    the economic recovery. While the selling could continue until investors get answers about Greece, traders say that the drop is
    likely to be mild because buyers have been using pullbacks as opportunities to buy for months. One trader explained it like this:
    “The sudden turns in the market are to be expected, as traders wrestle with concerns that stocks are overheated. The market has
    kind of gotten itself into a volatile trading range. Everybody is worried about who is going to be next. Stocks are still likely
    to resume their climb after a drop of a day or two. The trend of the market is still up.”
    There was a grease fire in the market’s kitchen today, and there were concerns that the European and IMF fire trucks were not
    going to be enough to keep the fire contained. Sovereign debt problems in Greece and the other PIIGS once again took center stage
    in the financial markets, and the general buzz was that the weekend bailout program would not be enough to solve the problem.
    Greece will not likely succeed in the budget cuts that it needs to accomplish, and that has most Greek watchers predicting strikes
    and possible social unrest, like riots coming soon to Greek cities.
    The broader concern is that the debt crisis will spread, and CDOs, swaps and spreads on neighboring countries’ debt is already
    signaling that we may be in for a bumpy ride ahead. Looming even larger as possible debt crisis are Britain and, as many
    economists feel, the good old U.S. of A. Simply put, the Western democracies have been living far beyond their means, and the
    bartender has finally come to collect on what has been a massive amount of spending. The financial bailouts of the past two years
    have only made matters worse.
    That oil-drilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is strikingly similar to the European debt crisis in that no one seems to know
    exactly how bad the damage from this type of event will ultimately be. Some environments are warning that the gulf spill could
    destroy thousands of miles of ecosystems in the Gulf and Atlantic regions, and it could even have global ramifications. Actions
    toward capping the well or lighting existing oil on fire are moving at a snail’s pace, and it just seems like another example of
    the “too little, too late” scenarios we have seen so much of in the past few years.
    It was interesting to see the flight to quality, (TLT) as the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield dipped nearly a point, to around the
    3.6% level. Rates had been edging upward, and many economists are predicting a big rise in U.S. interest rates, but for today,
    that was not the case. The debt problem in Greece is just one of those issues that will not go away, and when issues do not go
    away, they can easily grow into a much bigger storm. Stay tuned to this one, and remain nimble and quick!

    Technical Corner:
    Just when we get a thundering Monday rally that suggested the bulls were back in charge, we get a shellacking to the downside that
    shines the spotlight right back on the 50-day moving averages that we thought were no longer in play for the near-term. Well, they
    are back in the spotlight, and they include 10,853 for the Dow, 2410 for the Nasdaq, and 1171 for the S&P 500. Bulls will be
    rooting for a bounce from these key levels should there be more weakness ahead, so once again, we find ourselves in a volatile
    week of trading action.
    The 1200 level for the S&P 500 has turned out to be a tough level of resistance over the past week. Over the last half of April,
    the 1200 level provided a bit of support, and many bulls had thought it might have even turned into lasting support. Volatility
    came roaring back today, and that was evident in the spike of the VIX up to around the 25 level before pulling back a bit. Could
    this be a sign that we are in for a roller coaster summer? Who knows, but it really has been so calm for so long, that a little
    cage rattling could possibly be in the cards.
    Commodities Crushed — The CRB Commodities index fell in-line with the broader stock market this session. The 2.3% loss was led by
    precious metals (-2.9%) and energy commodities (-3.0%). Strength in the dollar and a global sell-off were culprits.
    Crude oil futures recorded their largest single session loss in ~3 months. June Crude oil futures fell 4.0% to close at $82.74 per
    barrel, very near its 50-day simple moving average.
    Natural gas futures were actually up this session, but did not stray far from the $4.00 level. June natural gas closed up 0.5% at
    $4.02 per MMBtu.
    Meanwhile, June gold fell 1.2% to $1169.20 per ounce and July silver fell roughly 5% to $17.84 per ounce.
    Index  Support  Resistance
    Dow    9050 +/- 11300 +/-
    Nasdaq 1875 +/- 2560+/-
    S&P    975 +/-  1230 +/-

    Moving the Market
        * U.S. dollar comes close to one-year high against basket of foreign currencies
        * Technical support breaks down
        * Most earnings and data come up positive, but reports disregarded by broader market
    Strong sectors today:
    (none with a gain of at least 1%)

    Weak sectors today: 
    Construction materials; building products; coal and consumable fuels; agricultural products; diversified metals; electronic
    communication and equipment; semiconductor equipment; health care facilities

    Advancing Sectors:
    (None)

    Declining Sectors:
    Materials (-3.5%), Industrials (-3.3%), Consumer Discretionary (-2.9%), Tech (-2.9%), Financials (-2.7%), Energy (-2.6%),
    Utilities (-1.8%), Telecom (-1.7%), Consumer Staples (-1.0%), Health Care (-0.8%)

    Of interest today:
    After-Hours ITMN Down Following Complete Response Letter on Esbriet
    TVL could retouch the 50DMA at 6.50 — Taking profits on the remaining positions.

    Sold ASIA Today

    Many long positions sold on stops.
    China tightening is crushing commodities and left Indonesia in the dust, Index positions closed.

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  • 20Mar

     

    Friday 03/19/2010 the market sold off, what was the cause?
    Was it “Quadruple Witching Day?” “tightening money in India and China?” “whispered threats of another surprise raise in our discount rate?” “the imminent passing of a healthcare bill?”
    There was profit taking, plus volume and volatility spiked this Quadruple Witching Friday.
    It’s unlikely that the U.S. economy will slip back into recession, as some fear.  Even the most pessimistic forecasts see annual growth running about 2% this year and next.  The bad news: The unemployment rate will likely remain high

    Health plans sub group mostly up today CNC + 5.7% AET + 3.6% CI + 3.4% AGP + 3% UNH + 2.3%
    Blockbusters gained 20% on the day to 24cents per share.
    NCS +4.12%
    FAZ +2.16%
    SDS +0.99%

     

    First signs of a potential sell off started showing up a few days ago, yesterday on the hourly chart SDS and FAZ signalled bullish indicators. Which as inverse ETF’s was a sign that we could see some profit taking in Fridays session.

    PALM options volume is running 17 times the usual, with 135,000 contracts traded and call activity representing about 99% of the activity.

     

     

    Friday’s Markets
     
     
    DJIA *10741.98-37.19-0.35 
     
    Nasdaq *2374.41-16.87-0.71 
     
    S&P 500 *1159.90-5.93-0.51 

    CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) +0.53 to 17.15. +2.11%

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  • 17Sep

    Early data from third quarter hint at “possible improvements” for some media. But for medis the rate of decline is narrowing, but it’s a “statistical illusion” and actual recovery remains illusive. Data shows local advertisers have been cutting deeper than national marketers.

     

    The S&P 500 has never been up 9 days in a row.

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  • 31Aug

     

    Markets are flashing a sell signal and this is only the third one since the market bottom in March for the market indexes.

    This could be a dip or the correction we have been seeing in the technicals.
    September  can be a historically challenging month. There have been corrections 2000 there was a strong correction.

    The Weekly picture points to the daily lows getting taken out by price to verify the technical indication.
    Commodities should retreat as the US Dollar rises if this is a correction that would have any lasting power.

    Banking has already seen some market selling last week.
     
    First targets is the 50 SMA watch the financials in Mondays session as an indicator of confirmation.

    Oil will see resistance at Monday’s high of $75. A breech of $71.45 could send it into the upper $60 range fairly quickly.
    Shanghai Composite ends morning down 5.4%, weighed by concerns of slowing bank lending

    Many felt the US Fed administration kept the market propped up during the bulk of 2009 since march, now we may see the next card in the deck played.

    Insider Trading and Investor Sentiment Signaling U.S. Stock Market Top

    Insider Selling in August Soars to 30.6 Times Insider Buying, Highest Level Since TrimTabs Began Tracking in 2004. NYSE Short Interest Plunges 10.3%, While Margin Debt Spikes 5.9% 

     TrimTabs Investment Research reported that selling by corporate insiders in August has surged to $6.1 billion, the highest amount since May 2008. The ratio of insider selling to insider buying hit 30.6, the highest level since TrimTabs began tracking the data in 2004.
    “The best-informed market participants are sending a clear signal that the party on Wall Street is going to end soon,” said Charles Biderman, CEO of TrimTabs.
    TrimTabs’ data on insider transactions is based on daily filings of Form 4, which corporate officers, directors, and major holders are required to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
    In a research note, TrimTabs explained that insider activity is not the only sign the rally is about to end. The TrimTabs Demand Index, which tracks 18 fund flow and sentiment indicators, has turned very bearish for the first time since March.
    For example, short interest on NYSE stocks plummeted by 10.3% in the second half of July and margin debt on all US listed stocks spiked 5.9% in July, while 51.6% of advisors surveyed by Investors Intelligence are bullish, the highest level since December 2007.
    “When corporate insiders are bailing, the shorts are covering and investors are borrowing to buy, it generally pays to be a seller rather than a buyer of stock,” said Biderman.
    TrimTabs also reports that the actions of U.S. public companies have been bearish. In the past four months, companies have been net sellers of a record $105.2 billion in shares.
    “Investors who think the U.S. economy is recovering are going to get a big shock this fall,” said Biderman. “Companies and corporate insiders are signaling that the economy is in much worse shape than conventional wisdom believes.”
    TrimTabs Investment Research is the only independent research service that publishes detailed daily coverage of U.S. stock market liquidity–including mutual fund flows and exchange-traded fund flows–as well as weekly withheld income and employment tax collections.

    Founded by Charles Biderman, TrimTabs has provided institutional investors with trading strategies since 1990.
          

     

    U.S. Unemployment – Epic Fail

     
    The figure of 16% quoted here is nothing more than the Bureau of Labor Statistics “U-6″ measure of unemployment.
    U-6 Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.
    Here is a chart showing the ‘official’ U3 measure of unemployment and the U6 alternate measure. The chart also includes the unofficial unemployment rate projection done by John Williams of Shadowstats.com.

    It appears that Dennis wanted to take this occasion to say that things were SO bad that there is little use in applying any sort of stimulus to the public, although there is plenty of stimulus required for the banks.

     
    Real US unemployment rate at 16 pct: Fed official
    The real US unemployment rate is 16 percent if persons who have dropped out of the labor pool and those working less than they would like are counted, a Federal Reserve official said Wednesday.

    “If one considers the people who would like a job but have stopped looking — so-called discouraged workers — and those who are working

    fewer hours than they want, the unemployment rate would move from the official 9.4 percent to 16 percent, said Atlanta Fed chief Dennis Lockhart.

    He underscored that he was expressing his own views, which did “do not necessarily reflect those of my colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee,” the policy-setting body of the central bank.

    Lockhart pointed out in a speech to a chamber of commerce in Chattanooga, Tennessee that those two categories of people are not taken into account in the Labor Department’s monthly report on the unemployment rate. The official July jobless rate was 9.4 percent.

    Lockhart, who heads the Atlanta, Georgia, division of the Fed, is the first central bank official to acknowledge the depth of unemployment amid the worst US recession since the Great Depression.

    Lockhart said the US economy was improving but “still fragile,” and the beginning stages of a sluggish recovery were underway.

    “My forecast for a slow recovery implies a protracted period of high unemployment,” he said, adding that it would be difficult to stimulate jobs through additional public spending.

    “Further fiscal stimulus has been mentioned, but the full effects of the first stimulus package are not yet clear, and the concern over adding to the federal deficit and the resulting national debt is warranted,” he said.

    President Barack Obama’s administration has resisted calls for more public spending, arguing that the 787-billion-dollar stimulus passed in February needs time to work its way through the economy.

    Lockhart noted that construction and manufacturing had been particularly hard hit in the recession that began in December 2007 and predicted some jobs were gone for good.

    Prior to the recession, he said, construction and manufacturing combined accounted for slightly more than 15 percent of employment. But

    during the recession, their job losses made up more than 40 percent of all US job losses.

    “In my view, it is unlikely that we will see a return of jobs lost in certain sectors, such as manufacturing,” he said.

    “In a similar vein, the recession has been so deep in construction that a reallocation of workers is likely to happen — even if not permanent.”

    Payroll employment has fallen by 6.7 million since the recession began.

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  • 23Aug

    Stockshakers are trading long and short at any given time.

    We have 3 very obvious investing goals.

    1 - Near term - This can be a swing trade of a few days or a trade on the open with a close s mins later. Yes we do daytrade and we are not the deadly mesothelioma cancer of the investing world as many would have you believe. We are fast nimble technically minded traders when it is the right thing to do to achieve our trading goals.

    2 - Intermediate term - These are typically a longer developing swing trade (A few days or weeks) into a trend trade with a target that may take a few weeks or even up to a year to reach.

    3 - Long term investors - You can’t possibly trade all of these styles at one time can you? Yup you sure can. We do.

    So this brings us to long term thoughts.
    Hyper inflation is a strong possibility on a global level with so much currancy being printed globaly by every country. Stockshakers should be prepared for the global structured settlement with the credit hits the wall and the currency values have to make a stand. Buying value of the dollar while it is approaching collapse sounds crazy but there is a high likely hood that the Treasury’s yield of 1979 - 1981 near 15% could be replicated. Rapidly rising prices are inevitable and if the stimulus continues past the point that unemployment turns south we will have to deal with inflation.
    This could happen in 3 years or possibly less. Stockshakers are accumulated Treasurys long term and each attractive dip.

    Homes? Real estate they also will benefit from an inflationary period in the U.S. Economy.

    WFC - Wells Fargo is another long term holding.

    Intermediate and possibly long term - F Ford has been and continues to reap returns for Stockshakers.

    Stockshakers strive to utilize best judgement and avoid replicating the errors of others in making trade choices. In our ongoing effort to position our portfolios for success we will update not just the Near term and intermediate term investment goals but also share long term ideas. Stockshakers suggested the long reversal in earl;y March 2009 and look where we are today.

     

    Year to Date 2009 Largest Biggest Percentage Gainers or Winners.
    stocks over $2.00 with above 50,000 volume.
    8/24/09

    #1      VNDA   $13.44       +2588%

    #2       DTG     $23.27       +2035%

    #3      ATSG     $3.10        +1622%

    #4       CAR     $11.57       +1553%

    #5       UTA     $12.37       +1306%

    #6        VCI      $14.98       +1035%

    #7      SCSS     $2.77        +1008%

    #8      SMRT   $12.13        +973.45%

    #9      ABIO       $3.31        +967.74%

    #10   LNET      $7.47        +967.14%

    #11     BZ          $4.53        +953.49%

    #12    OXGI     $30.20       +907%

    #13    BGP        $3.69        +822.50%

    #14   VVTV       $2.96        +796.97%

    #15   STEC     $34.97       +720.89%

     

    2008 Top performers

    Year to Date 2008 Largest Biggest Percentage Gainers or Winners. 
    12/31/08

    #1     EBS      $26.07    +415%

    #2     STSI      $3.83      +379%

    #3     MXC     $13.42     +237%

    #4    TSYS      $8.59      +141%

    #5     FINL      $5.60      +131%

    #6    AFAM    $44.98     +131%

    #7    FSYS     $32.76     +129%

    #8     IDIX       $5.79       +114%

    #9     MITI       $4.36       +111%

    #10  SQNM   $19.84     +108%

    #11   VRX      $22.90     +91%

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  • 20Aug

    Markets rallied enough on Thursday for Stockshakers to reverse positions and go long.
    Open call or equity positions on:

     

    ADI
    MICC
    WFC
    HNBC
    ZION
    FAS
    GMCR
    LNC
    DEI
    CREE
    URI
    TEN
    RIMM
    AAPL
    GOOG
    CMG
    ANF
    RHI
    SIRI
    BAC
    F
    ACTU
    AIG
    XIDE
    ACP
    CLI
    CAB
    OWW
    STI
    WRI
    VTR
    EXPE
    PDCO
    CX
    CSCO
    RRC
    HIG
    DIA

    Sellers cleared out of the way during the regular session. The after hours session saw sellers and the overnight futures showed an intensified selling pace on the mini Dow futures. The key for Friday’s session will be the U.S. Dollar and the relationship to commodities and equities. If the U.S. Dollar continues to slide the rally will stall. Stay prepared to cover and keep the stops tight.

    Have a great weekend.

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  • 03Aug

    Clunkanomics

    Well so this may be the way we remember Obama?

    The moto for this summer should be nothing takes this market down and we will buy you a new car to replace your clunka.

    The US House of Representatives, as it labors in the creation of clunkanomics.
    The first billion voted by the Congress for the $4500 clunker rebate program was exhausted in 6 days. Practicing for deity status, the House beheld and determined “it was very good.” They immediately passed a $2 billion addition. That bill now goes to the Senate, which will pass something similar, and then to a conference committee to resolve some differences about rules. We expect additional funding will be forthcoming quickly. Congress loves to spend and Americans love to receive.
    American,  John and Jane Doe, recognize a good deal when they see one. They had an old clunka worth a few hundred. Suddenly they can exchange it for $4500 if they buy the new one now. The rest they can finance at very low interest rates, thanks to the Federal Reserve and the Treasury for extending TARP and other funds so that lenders can offer them liberal terms. They seized the moment – who can blame them?

    This will boost short-term activity in the US. Neil Soss of Credit Suisse estimates, “Our math suggests that vehicle sales could spike in July, perhaps to a run rate near 12.5 million units (at a seasonally adjusted annual rate) from the 9.6mn average of Q2.” He adds that “in response to cash-for-clunkers … the personal savings rate will drop sharply in the next months, even as the longer run trend is still headed higher.” That will ramp up auto production in the 3rd quarter. Neil concludes, “As a consequence, we are revising up our Q3 real GDP forecast to 2.0% (from 1.3%) and our Q4 forecast to 2.5% (from 2.0%).

    Okay. We know that older and fuel-inefficient cars are supposed to be scrapped. That is supposed to be an environmental improvement. And we know that the United Auto Workers like this stimulus, for obvious reasons. So do the government-owned or government-sponsored auto manufacturers. The last private firm, Ford, will benefit, too.

    Does the clunka stimulus result in enough gain to offset the net present value of the perpetual cost to finance it? Fair question? We think so. Is there an answer? Maybe, but the proof is very difficult to establish. It you are interested in this discussion, invite a few friends over for a beer and talk about it. But make sure the beer is brewed in America by the United Beer Brewer Workers. And when you toast, toast Ford and be a patriot.

    Did anyone ask how many of these car sales are being “borrowed from the future?” We didn’t see it in the Congressional commentary. If it was there, it did not influence the political decision.
    Has anyone looked at what we have done in a macro sense? We will try.

    The United States borrowed 1 billion dollars. It is unlikely to ever pay it back. The annual interest will add $50 million to the federal budget each and every year, forever. We are assuming it is financed today with 30-year Treasury bonds. The additional $2 billion of borrowed clunker money will add another $100 million in interest. So clunker-nomics has committed the nation to make this interest payment forever.

    Practicing an industrial policy by inserting government into a mixed economy is the new America. No one measures the exchange of short-term gain being substituted for longer-term taxes or inflation or debt-burdened slower growth. Those economists who are full believers in expectations analysis argue that the market will immediately adjust prices to reflect this exchange. Maybe so in the mathematical models that they use to justify that argument.

    We think this expectations analysis fails in the real world. Adam and Eve American are not economists. They make their decisions for their individual benefit and in terms they can understand and assess. They know what a $4500 free gift is. They understand it. They do not deal with trillions of dollars; they do not conduct ever-increasing auctions of Treasury notes and bonds; they do not deal in foreign exchange and reserve transfers. That is not their fault. The have daily lives to live and they are facing their own struggles.
    So they delegate some of these borrowing and spending decisions to the Congress because they have no other choice. In the House the long term is limited to the two years until the next election cycle is faced. So the House will easily exchange $1 billion in spending for $50 million in added budget interest.

    Thus we have an asymmetric exchange. We gratify now; we borrow to do it; we defer the day of reckoning; it grows bigger and bigger but seems to be perpetually deferred. Every once in a while a crisis unfolds and the system fails, as it did with Lehman Brothers last September. That triggers a new round of upward ratcheting of this asymmetric system.

    And another market “Helper”…
              
    Extended Benefits and Exhaustion Rate

    The details on exhaustees — the people have used up their total Unemployment benefits — are pretty daunting. Let’s explain what this means and update a chart on the subject.
    If you lose your job, you get Unemployment Benefits, an insurance program that you pay into so long as you are getting a salary.  After 26 weeks, you will exhaust those benefits and become an exhaustee.
    But, wait, there’s more!
    These days, via the stimulus plan, we have the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC)  which is good for 20 weeks. Then, there is the Supplemental EUC, which depending upon what your state thinks of the Federal largesse of handing out money to the recently unemployed, ranges anywhere from 13 to 20 more weeks.
    The most recent data run was for the week of July 11. As of that week, the Extendees — which consists of soon-to-be-Exhaustees gained 25k, raising the total unemployed receiving extended benefits to about 2.66 million people. One year ago, there were only 127 thousand receiving extended benefits.
    there are another 1.5 million people likely to become Exhaustees over the next few months

    Nice graphic from Calculated Risk showing how severe this is:

    Clunkernomics

    Clunkernomics

     

    Clunkernomics - Love this Line! Exhaustion Rate.

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  • 02Aug

     

    The QQQQ is setting up for some potential selling and the The DOW and the S&P500 are entering a range that may see some resistance.
    Preliminary looks show at least the potential for some selling.
    Tech is still leading the way, great news seems to be coming out everyday almost as if by design.
    BMY may see some additional buying after the latest Type 2 Diabetes drug approval.

    The Rally has been Dramatic this year and many are calling this the NEW BULL.

    Not so fast but this is a great looking global chart.

    MSCI World stocks

    MSCI World stocks

    Globally we are seeing the consumer return, If we have consumer participation and it is supported by actual wages and not credit, We will turn the corner for a real Bull run.
    Stockshakers will not miss this and plan on fully engaged participation.

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  • 23Jul

    The minor pullback during Tuesdays trading session was about it for the pullback. The markets are indicating a breakout to the upside is eminent.

    Note the Nasdaq is its six day summary of advancing volume versus declining volume, which is 3.45 to 1, making it “the highest in at least 10 years,” according to the S&P. It is this ratio that most clearly points out the power of the current run. This volume ratio this high is not easily reversed.

    Despite an overbought condition as measured by the internal indicators and the likelihood of a minor round of profit taking, the market is now working on a major breakout.

    While we have been focused on the Nasdaq, we should now turn our attention to the S&P 500. A close above its prior high of 956.23 would signal that a major market breakout is about to occur.

    Stockshakers are long the ETF’s on the idexes here.

    Looking for a bullish move accross the board in the Us equities markets in Wednesdays session.
    12 up days in a row for the QQQQ? 
    Stockshakers are ready for it.

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