My latest No Load Fund/ETF Tracker has been posted at:http://www.successful-investment.com/newsletter-archive.phpThe bears feasted big time this week as all major indexes headed further into bear territory. Our Trend Tracking Index (TTI) for domestic funds/ETFs remains now -1.68% below its long-term trend line (red), which means we are in bear market territory. The international index dropped to -9.53% below its own trend …
Rally Pretense
Bill Fleckenstein wrote an interesting article called “A great pretender of a rally.” Here are some excerpts: Over the last couple of weeks, the stock-market action has been remarkable. The bulls have enjoyed a nice rally. It was precipitated by the anticipation that the monoline insurers would be bailed out. Then anticipation turned into reality: The bailout was nothing more …
Dodging A Bullet
The market dodged a bullet yesterday doing what it does best when pushed sharply to the downside: Look for a life savor in the rumor mill. It eventually found one in the form of news of a possible bailout for bond insurer Ambac Financial Group. At this point it’s only a rumor, but it helped the market, with the Dow …
FDIC Is Beefing Up Staff
MarketWatch reports that the FDIC is hiring more bank examiners: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is planning to beef up its division of resolutions and receiverships, which handles failed banks, by 40% this year. The division currently has 233 employees. Considering that only three banks failed last year, why do they need more examiners? For now, the FDIC is looking …
Muni Trouble
Bloomberg reports that Munis have their worst month since 2003 on Auction-Rate woes. Here are some highlights: U.S. municipal bonds are headed for their worst month in more than four years after collapsing demand for securities with rates set at periodic auctions sent debt costs for state taxpayers and hospitals as high as 20 percent. State and local government bonds …
Sunday Musings: Swallowing Money Market Losses
I have repeatedly warned that some of the biggest investors in toxic Subprime mortgages are money market funds, especially those boasting above average returns. Let’s be clear about this. Any investment, even a money market fund, which offers an above average return, has to also take an above average risk.Some firms will avoid passing on the losses to the investors …