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SeekingAlpha

How Apache Can Soar: ByAlexander Pottmeyer:Apache (APA) is one of the largest independent oil and gas names in the United States. With approximately 3 BBOE in proven reserves and a market cap of $30 billion, Apache is a dominant player in the industry. Historically,

Why Foot Locker Could Keep Running: ByRichard Tarjeft:Foot Locker, Inc. (FL), the New York-based specialty athletic retailer, has announced at the beginning of the month that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Runners Point Warenhandelsges mbH (RPG), a specialty athletic store and online retailer

Sirius XM: It Isn't That Confusing: By Stephen Faulkner:Im a bit perplexed when reading some articles surrounding my investments. While I tend to hold a basket of stocks which some may consider lacking in variety, I do read every bit of information I can on each

Yahoo's Transformation Into A Growth Stock Accelerates: ByDoctoRx:A Yahoo! (YHOO) turnaround may really be happening, as I suggested in my first of several bullish articles on the company on Feb. 28 of this year, titled Yahoo Stock Is Too Cheap: Could Marissa Mayer be to Yahoo! what

Chemed's CEO Presents at 2013 UBS Global Healthcare Conference (Transcript): Chemed Corporation (CHE)2013 UBS Global Healthcare Conference CallMay 21, 12:30 PM ET ExecutivesKevin McNamara – President and CEODavid Williams – EVP and CFO AnalystsA.J. Rice – UBS Presentation A.J. Rice – UBSRight. I think we’re going to go ahead and

S&P 500 Snapshot: Fractional Gain To A New High: By Doug Short: Another day of no economic data left the markets looking for cues. The Nikkei closed with a fractional gain of 0.13%, and the EURO STOXX 50 slipped a fractional 0.10%. So Tuesdays focus was on couple of

Universal's CEO Discusses F4Q 2013 Results - Earnings Call Transcript: Universal Corporation (UVV)F4Q 2013 Earnings CallMay 21, 2013 05:30 pm ET ExecutivesGeorge Freeman – Chairman, President & Chief Executive OfficerDavid Moore – Senior Vice President & Chief Financial OfficerCandace Formacek – Vice President & Treasurer AnalystsAnn Gurkin – Davenport &

Ryland Group's CEO Presents at JP Morgan Homebuilding and Building Products Conference - Call T(...): Ryland Group, Inc. (RYL)JP Morgan Homebuilding and Building Products CallMay 21, 2013 8:00 am ET ExecutivesLarry T. Nicholson – President, Chief Executive Officer & Director Unidentified Host – JP Morgan Analyst Unidentified Analyst Participant Presentation Larry T. NicholsonIt’s great to

6 Reasons Why The iPhone Will Soon Have Processors Built By Intel: By Jim Brody:Six reasons why the iPhone will soon have processors built by Intel. Apple (AAPL) needs to have the best technology to continue to provide cutting edge products and to be able to charge the premium they have charged

Gentex Corp. - Special Call: Gentex Corporation (GNTX)May 21, 2013 6:00 pm ET ExecutivesMark Newton - Senior Vice President and DirectorFred T. Bauer - Founder, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerConnie Hamblin - Vice President of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications and Secretary AnalystsJohn Murphy

AbbVie: Sliding Safely Instead Of Falling Off The Patent Cliff: ByEmerging Equities:AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) surprised the market this quarter, the first after it began trading in January this year and posted a net income of nearly $1 billion - $968 million to be exact -3% more than what analysts had

GigaMedia's CEO Discusses Q1 2013 Results - Earnings Call Transcript: GigaMedia Limited (GIGM)Q1 2013 Earnings CallMay 22, 2013 8:00 PM ET ExecutivesBrad Miller – Director, IRCollin Hwang – CEODirk Chen – CFO Presentation OperatorLadies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to the First Quarter 2013 GigaMedia Limited

2 Measures Of Inflation: New Update: By Doug Short: Note from dshort: Ive updated the accompanying charts with the latest Consumer Price Index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The annualized rate of change is calculated to two decimal places for more precision in the

LeapFrog: Help Needed: ByB&T Capital:I wrote an article recently outlining why I have continued to buy LeapFrog (LF) in 2013. Since I wrote the article, LeapFrog posted another impressive quarter, launched a new product, and has posed itself nicely as a cash machine.

Whisper Number Impact: Earnings Preview For Lowe's: By WhisperNumber: Lowes (LOW) is expected to report earnings on Wednesday, May 22nd. The whisper number is $0.56, five cents ahead of the analysts estimate. LOW has a 66% positive surprise history (having topped the whisper in 27 of the

CVR Partners: The Recent Secondary May Be A Buying Opportunity: ByAlbert Alfonso:CVR Partners (UAN) is a partnership formed by CVR Energy (CVI). Since its 2011 IPO, CVR Partners has provided its unitholders with over a 50% capital gain plus large amounts of income. CVR Partners does not have a fixed

Whisper Number Impact: Earnings Preview For Staples: By WhisperNumber: Staples (SPLS) is expected to report earnings on Wednesday, May 22nd. The whisper number is $0.29, two cents ahead of the analysts estimate. SPLS has a 45% positive surprise history (having topped the whisper in 20 of the

Whisper Number Impact: Earnings Preview For Toll Brothers: By WhisperNumber: Toll Brothers (TOL) is expected to report earnings on Wednesday, May 22nd. The whisper number is $0.10, three cents ahead of the analysts estimate. TOL has a 62% positive surprise history (having topped the whisper in 16 of

Ashford's CEO Hosts Investor & Analyst Day Conference (Transcript): Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc. (AHT)Investor & Analyst Day Conference TranscriptMay 21, 2013 9:00 AM ET ExecutivesDeric Eubanks - Senior Vice President, FinanceMonty Bennett - Chairman and CEODouglas Kessler - PresidentDavid Brooks - Chief Operating Officer and General CounselDavid Kimichik -

Dollar General: Spending Habits Will Keep Driving This Stock: By Jeff Williams:I remember watching BNN around the time of the recession and listening to the analysts say buy Discount stores. At the time, he talked about how people are now looking to save money and are seeking to find

DailyFinance

Technip, in Consortium with Samsung and Huanqiu, Awarded Contract for LNG Project in Canada: Filed under: Investing Technip, in Consortium with Samsung and Huanqiu, Awarded Contract for LNG Project in Canada PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News: Technip (Paris:TEC) (ISIN:FR0000131708) (ADR:TKPPY), leader of a consortium with Samsung Engineering Co Ltd and China Huanqiu Contracting & Engineering

Some Numbers at Vanguard Health Systems that Make Your Stock Look Good: Filed under: Investing Theres no foolproof way to know the future for Vanguard Health Systems (NYS: VHS) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as

Something Worth Watching at Microsemi: Filed under: Investing Theres no foolproof way to know the future for Microsemi (NAS: MSCC) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

1 Thing to Watch at Alpha & Omega Semiconductor: Filed under: Investing Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a companys economic output. Thats because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more

Why Plains All American Pipeline's Earnings May Not Be So Hot: Filed under: Investing Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a companys economic output. Thats because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more

Don't Get Too Worked Up Over Southwest Gas's Earnings: Filed under: Investing Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a companys economic output. Thats because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more

Here's How Mettler-Toledo International Is Making You So Much Cash: Filed under: Investing Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a companys economic output. Thats because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more

Are the Earnings at LivePerson Hiding Something?: Filed under: Investing Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a companys economic output. Thats because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more

Show Me the Money, Roundy's: Filed under: Investing Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a companys economic output. Thats because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more

Acxiom Passes This Key Test: Filed under: Investing Theres no foolproof way to know the future for Acxiom (NAS: ACXM) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

Is Headwaters Going to Burn You?: Filed under: Investing Theres no foolproof way to know the future for Headwaters (NYS: HW) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

Don't Get Too Worked Up Over Finish Line's Earnings: Filed under: Investing Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a companys economic output. Thats because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more

Has Jarden Made You Any Real Money?: Filed under: Investing Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a companys economic output. Thats because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more

Is Dun & Bradstreet Earning Its Keep?: Filed under: Investing Margins matter. The more Dun & Bradstreet (NYS: DNB) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins

Will Brink's Blow It Next Quarter?: Filed under: Investing Theres no foolproof way to know the future for Brinks (NYS: BCO) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

This Metric Says You're Smart to Own Bottomline Technologies (de): Filed under: Investing Theres no foolproof way to know the future for Bottomline Technologies (de) (NAS: EPAY) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as

Some Numbers at Teleflex that Make Your Stock Look Good: Filed under: Investing Theres no foolproof way to know the future for Teleflex (NYS: TFX) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

Will Healthstream Fall Short Next Quarter?: Filed under: Investing Theres no foolproof way to know the future for Healthstream (NAS: HSTM) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

LogMeIn Turns More Into Less: Filed under: Investing Margins matter. The more LogMeIn (NAS: LOGM) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins often separate

Here's 1 Reason AAR Looks Weak: Filed under: Investing Margins matter. The more AAR (NYS: AIR) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins often separate

The Kirk Report

Improve Your Consistency: My friend Joe Fahmy wrote this past week that all traders should focus on one goal – consistency. This is, of course, much easier said than done as I am certain he would also agree. Even among the elite performers

Golf & Trading: This is one of best weeks of the year as the Masters officially marks the start of another golf season. This year I will be starting my 26th year of playing golf and I am as excited as ever to

What Is The Secret Of Success?: If you watch one thing this year, watch this video and watch it often. Every day I try my very best to follow these six rules and it has made all the difference!

A Winning Trader’s Edge: Recently I spent a little time looking through my old trading diary and found a very old news clipping by George Fontanills written more some time ago. According to George, these 10 steps will help you attain a winning trader’s

Trade Like A Pawn Shop: Have you ever watched the tv show Pawn Stars? If not, I recommend you watch a few episodes especially if you trade. This reality show is based on negotiations that take place at the Las Vegas Gold And Silver Pawn

12 Questions For Kirk: Last year I provided the following non-English interview for Trading Journal. While I turn down most interview invitations due to time restraints and lack of desire, this interview interested me primarily because it would introduce The Kirk Report to overseas

5 Steps To Becoming A Trader: Recently one of my newest additions to my mentorship group forwarded me the following article about the “5 Steps To Becoming A Trader.” I had seen this many, many years ago and from time to time I have also seen

My Favorite Books (2012): Many of you have requested my top recommendations for books to read and to give as gifts this Christmas. Below you’ll find my favorites of 2012: What’s Behind The Numbers? Market Sense And Nonsense The Art &

What’s Your Code?: Through the years, I’ve met lots of traders and the most successful I have encoutered all seem to live by a certain code (often taught to them by their parents) that not only shapes everything they do in their careers

Remove This Word From Your Vocabulary: This market has been tough on many of us, including some of the smartest and best of the bunch. But, in the end, it is never the market that is our own worst enemy, instead it is always ourselves. Recently

Trading To Win: One of the challenges that many experienced and successful traders constantly face is that we all have a great deal more to lose. It is one thing to be a beginner who knows very little and winds up losing $5,000

How To Start Keeping A Journal: At some point you have probably already read somewhere about the importance of keeping a trading journal. In other words, taking time each and every day to write down and store your thoughts, observations and actions concerning the market and

Study & Practice: Here is a question recently received from a member… Q: I am a new trader with roughly nine months of experience. I work full-time and trading for me is very much a part-time hobby. For the past few months and since

Be A Market Survivalist: Have you ever seen the show Man vs. Wild? If you haven’t and you love as I do being outdoors and taking risky adventures, you are missing a real treat. A friend of mine turned me onto the show last

Move On: “The market doesn’t know your emotions or care about your portfolio. The market is moving on. And so should you.” – Terry Savage One of the most challenging aspects of trading is learning to understand and appreciate that our constant

Wisdom From Jason Zweig: Members often tell me about the books they find most helpful. As you know, there’s a lot out there to read if you so desire about just about every topic you can think about regarding investing, trading and the markets.

Think Less & Keep It Simple: Every once in awhile I read something from another trader who I respect that I really wish I wrote myself. Here’s one such example: “One of the most difficult things to get investors and traders to understand is that no

An Hour With Arnold Palmer: “It is deceptively simple, endlessly complicated, a child can play it well, and a grown man can never master it. Any single round of it is full of unexpected triumphs and perfect shots that end in disaster. It is almost

What Do You Really Want?: I frequently share inspirational quotes with my membership and one of my favorites has to be this: “First, you decide what you want specifically; and second, you decide if you’re willing to pay the price to make it happen, and

How To Maintain An Optimal State: No matter what the market conditions may be, especially in weeks like this, it is very good idea to do everything you can to stick to the normal trading routine. While none of us can control what the markets do,

Footnoted.org

Google joins the DIY group…: Late Friday, less than 20 minutes before the SEC closed for the week, Google (GOOG) filed this 8-K, which quickly had the interwebs a-buzzing. Within minutes of the filing, CNBC tweeted this alert. Two heavyweight tech sites, TechCrunch and AllThingsD

And then there were six: Copano gets acquired…: Everywhere you turn these days, people seem to be talking about the “long tail” — in entertainment, in search, in insurance (where it’s been used for years). Colloquially, it tends to mean that there’s a pattern or tendency for a

And then there were six: Copano gets acquired…: Everywhere you turn these days, people seem to be talking about the “long tail” — in entertainment, in search, in insurance (where it’s been used for years). Colloquially, it tends to mean that there’s a pattern or tendency for a

Too early for worst footnote of 2013?: Given that it’s only 18 days after the year began, it may be a wee bit premature to declare a winner of the worst footnote for 2013. Still this 8-K filed by Apollo Group (APOL) last night, is already in

2012: The year in numbers in SEC-land: For the past week, we’ve been reading various wrap-ups of 2012. Among our favorites was this Wired piece, which in addition to other interesting stats, found that Americans spent 520 billion minutes on their mobile devices just in the month

2012: The year in numbers in SEC-land: For the past week, we’ve been reading various wrap-ups of 2012. Among our favorites was this Wired piece, which in addition to other interesting stats, found that Americans spent 520 billion minutes on their mobile devices just in the month

And the worst footnote of 2012 was…: Here at footnoted we do things a bit differently than the Oscars or any of those other silly awards shows. Rather than make you sit through endless recaps and teary-eyed speeches, we’re just going to announce the winner: General Electric

Vote for the worst footnote of 2012!: As we count down to the end of the year, we always like to reflect on the year that was in footnotes. As with past years, there really was no shortage of crazy disclosures that we found buried in the

Wal-Mart’s hints in the filings…: Two weeks ago, Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) filed its 10-Q. While much of the filing was pretty similar to their prior 10-Q, there were a few seemingly minor new disclosures that we picked up on and included in our weekly Red

United Continental’s trip to the Friday night dump…: Here at footnoted, we’re always fascinated by the things that companies take to the Friday night dump — that magical window on a Friday night after the market closes, but the SEC remains open. It’s no coincidence that the number

Was Yahoo blindsighted (or worse) by Mexico?: By now, you’ve probably heard about the $2.7 billion judgement that a Mexico court has levied on Yahoo (YHOO). Late Friday afternoon — just 5 minutes before the SEC closed for the weekend — Yahoo filed this 8-K, which included

Schiff CEO has 5 million reasons to hurry…: The bidding war over Schiff Nutrition (SHF) ended with Reckitt Benckiser Group’s successful offer last week over Bayer for $42 a share. Yesterday, the deal was approved by regulators, which has to be one of the quickest approvals in history.

Some interesting giblets in Whole Foods 10-K…: A day before Thanksgiving, when shoppers were busy stuffing their carts with heritage free-range turkeys, Whole Foods filed its 10-K. While we didn’t see anything major, we did come across a few interesting (and new) giblets that we thought were

Lots of activity at the Friday night dump…: There were a few things going on last week, most notably a Presidential Election and the continued recovery from SuperStorm Sandy. Throw in the fact that yesterday was a federal holiday and it made for a particularly busy night at

On equal pay and election day…: Today being election day, there’s been endless talk over the past few weeks about the women’s vote — waitress moms, Walmart moms, single women, you name it. Being a suburban mom who took my son to vote in his first

Hurricane Sandy in the filings…: Hurricane Sandy may have come and gone, leaving a path of destruction and millions (including me) without power. While the markets reopened this morning, EDGAR never closed for business, and since we’re still in the midst of earnings and 10-Q

Facebook analysts say to hell with GAAP…: On Tuesday afternoon, Facebook (FB) released its third quarter earnings right on schedule, unlike some other companies that have managed to blow the timing of their 3rd quarter releases over the past week as I documented over on DealBook. Starting

Google and the send button…: Right around 12:30 today, Google’s (GOOG) earnings showed up in the SEC’s EDGAR system. Though I write showed up, the process of how an earnings release makes its way to EDGAR is a bit more complicated than that. When I

Will Pandit really collect nothing?: The big news this morning is that Citibank (C) CEO Vikram Pandit is stepping down, effective immediately. Here’s the official news release from Citi, which also includes the resignation of COO John Havens and the appointment of Michael Corbat as

Will Pandit really collect nothing?: The big news this morning is that Citibank (C) CEO Vikram Pandit is stepping down, effective immediately. Here’s the official news release from Citi, which also includes the resignation of COO John Havens and the appointment of Michael Corbat as

TraderFeed

Decision Point and the Value of Market Overview

What New Traders Need to Learn: Kudos to John Forman, who has assembled an edited volume specific to the questions most asked by developing traders. A variety of experienced traders and market bloggers have participated in the volume, offering a mix of viewpoints. It is often

Minding Our Selves: How Body Becomes Soul: In the past, Ive written about how life experiences serve as mirrors: they reflect to us something of who we are, which we then internalize as part of our identities. This is particularly true of relationships: we continually experience ourselves

Readings to Kick Off the New Week: * The thought process behind trading success;* Im proud to have had some small impact upon the excellent Market Rewind site; many thanks to Jeff for his post;* Much thanks to MarketSci for quant insights and this kind post;* A

The Four-Leaf Clover Principle: This morning, I went for a jog in the forest preserve park down the street from our home. Winding down the run, I cut through a section of the park and noticed to my surprise that, after the recent rain,

The TraderFeed Home Page: Trading and Market Psychology Resources: Welcome to the TraderFeed blog. TraderFeed began in December, 2005 as a project to help me think aloud about trading

Best of TraderFeed 2010 - Volume Two: Trading and Market Psychology: Here is the second and final installment of TraderFeeds Best of 2010 posts. You can find the first group of best posts here. The links below cover March - May, 2010. * Suggestions for Your Trading Journal* Why I Am

Best of TraderFeed 2010 - Volume One: Trading and Market Psychology: In anticipation of winding down the blog, I assembled highlight posts from January and February, 2010, covering trading psychology and market topics:* Building Motivation Through Optimism* Changing How We Think* The Trading Process and Generating Trade Ideas* Finding Your Solutions*

Core Ideas in Trading Psychology: Trading and Self Development: This is the final post in the series summarizing core themes running through the TraderFeed blog. The other posts in the series are:Introduction to Trading PsychologyTrading as a Performance ActivityChanging Problem PatternsSolution-Focused ChangeMirrors and Corrective Emotional ExperiencesImplicit Learning and Somatic

Core Ideas in Trading Psychology: Reading Market Psychology Through Intermarket Themes: Previous Posts in This Series:Reading Market Psychology Through Volume and PriceIdentifying Historical Patterns in MarketsMarket Structure and Adapting to ChangeImplicit Learning and Somatic PatternsMirrors and Corrective Emotional ExperiencesSolution-Focused ChangeChanging Problem PatternsTrading as a Performance ActivityIntroduction to Trading PsychologyOne of the

Core Ideas in Trading Psychology: Reading Market Psychology With Volume and Price: Previous Posts in This Series:Identifying Historical Patterns in MarketsMarket Structure and Adapting to ChangeImplicit Learning and Somatic MarkersMirrors and Corrective Emotional ExperiencesSolution-Focused ChangeChanging Problem PatternsTrading as a Performance ActivityIntroduction to Trading PsychologyAn important theme throughout the TraderFeed blog is that

Core Ideas in Trading Psychology: Identifying Historical Patterns in Markets: Previous Posts in This Series:Market Structure and Adapting to Market ChangeImplicit Learning and Somatic MarkersMirrors and Corrective Emotional ExperiencesSolution Focused ChangeChanging Problem PatternsTrading as a Performance ActivityIntroduction to Trading PsychologyOne of the core themes that runs through the TraderFeed blog

Oil Price in Euros: Yet Another Economic Challenge for Europe: Here I used a pair of ETFs: the oil ETF USO and the euro ETF FXE to estimate the movement

Trading and Poker: Reaching the Next Level of Success: Well, thats another way poker might be like trading: Its easy to participate, difficult to sustain success. Many just play

Core Ideas in Trading Psychology: Market Structure and Adapting to Market Change: Previous Posts in This Series:Implicit Learning and Somatic MarkersMirrors and Corrective Emotional ExperiencesSolution Focused ChangeChanging Problem PatternsTrading as a Performance ActivityIntroduction to Trading PsychologyA key idea running through the TraderFeed blog as well as my books on trading psychology is

Core Ideas in Trading Psychology: Implicit Learning and Somatic Markers: Previous Posts in This Series:Mirrors and Corrective Emotional ExperiencesSolution-Focused ChangeChanging Problem Patterns BrieflyTrading as a Performance ActivityIntroduction to Trading PsychologyPerhaps the most common psychological change that traders need to make is the ability to quiet their minds and focus their

Using Twitter for Reader Updates: As noted a little while ago, I am in the process of winding down the TraderFeed blog. My continued thanks to supportive readers; I do intend to keep the blog up as an archive for future reference. In addition, before

Core Ideas in Trading Psychology: Creating Change Through Mirrors and Corrective Emotional Exp(...): Previous Posts in This Series:Solution-Focused ChangeChanging Problem PatternsTrading as a Performance ActivityIntroduction to Trading PsychologyWhen people find themselves locked into repetitive patterns of thought, feeling, and/or behavior that interfere with their lives, how do they escape? As all too many

Core Ideas in Trading Psychology: Solution-Focused Change: Previous Posts in This Series:Changing Problem PatternsTrading as a Performance ActivityIntroduction to Trading PsychologyOne of the key themes running through the TraderFeed blog, as well as the books that Ive written on trading psychology, is that effective change comes from

End of the Week Readings: * What distinguishes successful traders;* Investors not pricing in risks in muni market;* ECB may face dilemma re: raising rates;* Strategies for hedging inflation risk;* Making the case for transparency in financial reform;* More Americans counting on Social Security for

Random Roger's Big Picture

Marc Faber Quote: Faber:In the 40 years Ive been working as an economist and investor, I have never seen such a disconnect between the asset market and the economic reality ... Asset markets are in the sky and the economy of the ordinary

Alan Abelson: Alan Abelson has died. He was 87 years old. He started writing his column for Barrons in 1966 and kept writing up until a couple of months ago when he went on leave. I have nothing profound here other than

Hoot Owl Fire: On Sunday May 5th, Walker Fire was dispatched to a wildfire on HootOwl Rd which could be described as being between Potato Patch andMountain Pine Acres. The fire was only about 1/2 an acre

Luskin Take Down: A very funny post where Barry Ritholtz chronicles the vast history of big calls by Donald Luskin. Here is just one, click through to read the whole thing.This is not the first time The Donald has been so completely and

Trade Executed: We bought Blackrock (BLK) for most large accounts last Thursday. We have obviously been underweight US financials for years and while we are in no hurry to make a meaningful commitment to US banks there are other companies in the

Taleb Go Boom: A very fun read about the most recent Nassim Taleb Twitter-War that all started with the following;Click here for the rest, it really is a hoot.

And That's All I Have To Say About That: A big reason for maintaining this blog has been to try to help anyone interested to become a little more knowledgeable in terms for market cycles, portfolio construction, product evolution, retirement planning and a bunch

The Latest In Firefighting Apparatus: My buddy Mike called this the Black Scholes fire fighting formula.

Paul Farrell Writes Something Upbeat & Positive?: The first thing I did was to make sure it was the same Paul Farrell (humor attempt).The catalyst for the article was something he found from the Consumer Reports OnHealth Newsletter about the positive attributes of aging. This was a

Trades Executed: On Tuesday we executed a swap in the energy sector by selling Suncor (SU) and rolling those dollars plus a little more into Chevron (CVX). From the top down it seems as though the market has not rewarded volatility in

Boston Disaster: Yesterday was obviously a terrible day. From a market perspective it was an external shock but the selloff in gold appeared to be bigger than the explosions. Just the other day I mentioned that

Fun Pictures on Tax Day: Just a couple of fun pictures today. The first picture is some sort of ATV with Trax on it and serves as a small but versatile water source. And yes wildfires in the snow

Sunday Morning Coffee: Gold has been a lousy hold over the last few months. According to Google Finance the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) which is a client holding is down 15% for the last six months. It has been below its 50 DMA

The Big Picture for the Week of April 14, 2013: As a followup to Wednesday post about all-ETF portfolios from CNBC.com I found this article at Seeking Alpha titled Blending Alpha & Beta: Building A Mini Endowment. The image below was the model put forth for illustrative purposes only. While

Dividend Stocks Are Not Bond Proxies: A reader left a lengthy question about how I determine how much of a clients portfolio goes into fixed income and what I thought about buying stocks with dividends and substitutes for low yielding bonds.As the portfolio manager it actually

"Beating the Market" Makes for an Incomplete Discussion: The WSJ posted an Other Voices column written by financial planner Chuck Levin who said he gave up on active management when he hung his own shingle. Based on the article it seems as though the big reason for him

CNBC.com ETF Portfolios: CNBC posted ETF portfolios devised by its ETF Advisory Counsel targeting different ages. For 50 year olds with less than 20 years until retirement. The asset allocation was 5% into cash, 50% in equities, 20% in fixed income and 25%

Counterfeit?: The other day Rick Santelli used the word counterfeit to describe the gains in the stock market and any signs of growth/recovery in the economy (in the stats that have shown growth/recovery). Stuart Freeman from Wells Fargo who sees things

Sunday Morning Coffee: For the last few weeks the Abelson column in Barrons has been written by Randy Forsyth noting at the end that Alan Abelson is out this week. The comments on the column are now starting to wonder where Abelson is.

The Big Picture for the Week of April 7, 2013: Howard Gold from Market Watch had an interesting article titled Dont be a Doomsday Prepper Investor which was about the extent to which investors have very large weightings in alternative investments (mostly precious metals) compared to equities. Some of the

Ticker Sense

DJIA Up 19 Tuesdays in a Row: The DJIA has been up 19 Tuesdays in a row. Need some trivia? Records for consecutive positive days of the week (since 1930). Monday 13 (2/1/10) Tuesday 19 (5/21/13) Wednesday 13 (9/3/86, 4/26/06) Thursday 12 (2/4/82, 6/19/08) Friday 13 (7/22/55)

Wall Street Analysts See the Most Upside In...: Out of all the names in the S&P 500, analysts are the most bullish (in terms of price target) on BTU (+38.4%), NFX (+37.7%) and CTSH (+30.2%) over the next twelve months.

Memorial Day Discount: $200 For One Year of Reminiscences Newsletter: We are currently offering a one year subscription to our Reminiscences newsletter for $200 or $25 off!!!* Get access to our monthly commentary along with our three recommended portfolios: Conservative, Growth and Trading. For more information or to subscribe to...

May 20th Blogger Sentiment Poll: Blogger Sentiment Poll Participants: 24/7 Wall St (N) The Aleph Blog (-) Biiwii (-) BullBear Trading (+) Carl Futia (+) Dash of Insight (+) Dividend Growth Investor (N) Elliot Wave Lives On (+) Expected Returns Fallond Stock Picks (+) Global...

May 13th Blogger Sentiment Poll: Blogger Sentiment Poll Participants: 24/7 Wall St (-) The Aleph Blog (-) Biiwii (-) BullBear Trading Carl Futia (-) Dash of Insight (+) Dividend Growth Investor (N) Elliot Wave Lives On (+) Expected Returns Fallond Stock Picks (-) Global Economic...

ETF Inflows Continue in April and Total Assets Rise to $1.5T: ETFs (including ETNs, ETPs, etc) experienced a net inflow of $9.5B in April while total assets rose 1.7% to $1.49T.

Are Stocks Cheap? A Review of the Evidence: Fernando Duarte and Carlo Rosa We surveyed banks, we combed the academic literature, we asked economists at central banks. It turns out that most of their models predict that we will enjoy historically high excess returns for the S&P 500...

May 6th Blogger Sentiment Poll: Blogger Sentiment Poll Participants: 24/7 Wall St (-) The Aleph Blog (-) Biiwii BullBear Trading (+) Carl Futia (-) Dash of Insight (+) Dividend Growth Investor (+) Elliot Wave Lives On (+) Expected Returns Fallond Stock Picks (+) Global Economic...

Defensive Sectors Leading... So What!!!: More than a few have grumbled (including us) over the fact that the much thought of defensive sectors (health care, consumer staples and utilities) have been the leaders this year. And last week’s WSJ story, Investors Should Beware the Dark...

April 29th Blogger Sentiment Poll: Blogger Sentiment Poll Participants: 24/7 Wall St (-) The Aleph Blog (-) Biiwii (N) BullBear Trading (+) Carl Futia (-) Dash of InsightDividend Growth Investor (+) Elliot Wave Lives On (+) Expected ReturnsFallond Stock PicksGlobal Economic Intersection (-) GEI –...

April 22nd Blogger Sentiment Poll: Blogger Sentiment Poll Participants: 24/7 Wall St (-) The Aleph Blog (-) Biiwii BullBear Trading (-) Carl Futia (-) Dash of Insight (N) Dividend Growth Investor (+) Elliot Wave Lives On (+) Expected Returns Fallond Stock Picks (-) Global Economic...

April 15th Blogger Sentiment Poll: Blogger Sentiment Poll Participants: 24/7 Wall St (-) The Aleph Blog (-) Biiwii (-) BullBear Trading Carl Futia (+) Dash of Insight Dividend Growth Investor (+) Elliot Wave Lives On (+) Expected Returns Fallond Stock Picks Global Economic Intersection (-)...

Spring Discount on Reminiscences Newsletter!!!: Until the end of April we are offering a discount on a one year subscription to our Reminiscences newsletter. Get twelve issues of Reminiscenes for $168.75 or 25% off!!!* Log on to Birinyi.com of more information or to take advantage...

Up, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down...: We have noticed a curious pattern over the past few weeks: the S&P 500 has had 13 consecutive trading days of alternating closes (“down” day followed by a “up” day or vice versa). The only other period that the S&P...

April 8th Blogger Sentiment Poll: Blogger Sentiment Poll Participants: 24/7 Wall St (-) The Aleph Blog (-) Biiwii (-) BullBear Trading (-) Carl Futia (+) Dash of Insight (+) Dividend Growth Investor (+) Elliot Wave Lives On (+) Expected Returns Fallond Stock Picks (+) Global...

What Worked in 1Q13?

Average Analyst Price Target for DJIA Members: Using major analysts price targets, Wall Street now expects the DJIA to rise 5.6% to 15, 485 over the next twelve months. This compares to a previous target of 14,570 as of December 31st. Since the beginning of the year,...

ETFs Add $18B in March: ETFs experienced a net inflow of $17.8B in March while total assets rose 3% to $1.47T. US equity focused funds accounted for 71% of the total inflow with $12.7B, followed by bond funds at 24% with $4.2B. Commodity and EM...

April 1st Blogger Sentiment Poll: Blogger Sentiment Poll Participants: 24/7 Wall St (-) The Aleph Blog (-) Biiwii (N) BullBear Trading Carl Futia (+) Dash of Insight (+) Dividend Growth Investor (+) Elliot Wave Lives On (+) Expected Returns Fallond Stock Picks (+) Global Economic...

Watch Laszlo Birinyi on CNBC's Fast Money Halftime

Gannon On Investing

Looking for Questions: Geoff here.I am writing articles over at GuruFocus once again. Yesterday’s article was on “When to Sell a Stock.” I am looking for questions to answer in these articles. If you have an investing question you’d like me to answer,

Advice for New Investors: Quan here.Someone who reads the blog sent me this email:Hello Quan, I am Dario. In the past couple of months I have been doing research with stocks and the stock market, I stumbled upon your website and found it extremely

I’m Low on Ideas and High on Cash: Geoff here.A lot of people have asked what stocks I’m buying. The answer is none.I’m 75% in cash. That is the most cash I’ve had in over five years.This isn’t a market call. It’s a lack of ideas. Interest rates

How I Find Stocks – Then and Now: Quan here.The way I find new stocks to research has changed over time. My approach changed from greedy to aggressive to curious and finally to practical.For the story of another investor and blogger’s change from mechanical screening to human screening

Why We Can’t Use Owner Earnings to Talk about Stocks: Geoff here.Someone sent me an email asking about a post I did a while back called One Ratio to Rule Them All: EV/EBITDA.If I had to use an off the shelf ratio – EV/EBITDA is the one I’d use. Owner

DreamWorks (DWA): Why a Movie’s Opening Weekend Isn’t Everything: Quan here.The media and the stock market pay too much attention to a movie’s opening weekend at the U.S. box office. The opening weekend is important. But it’s not everything. This post will help you put a movie’s opening weekend

22 Investing Books in One Word Each: Quan here.I had another small talk with Geoff today. The topic was about some investing books I read. Last time, I was asked to describe each investor in one word each. This time, I will describe investment books in one

My Thoughts on International Speedway (ISCA): Quan here.This post is to continue my discussion of 15 stocks I know. Today, I’ll talk about International Speedway (ISCA)The blog Neat Value has a good post about International Speedway. You should read it. #7 International Speedway (ISCA)ISCA owns racetracks and

Blind Stock Valuation #3 – Corticeira Amorim: Geoff here.About a week ago I posted a blind stock valuation. That’s where I give you some financial data from a public company without revealing the company’s name. Then you try to value it.Here are the numbers I provided:

7 Stocks I Misunderstood – How I Jumped to the Wrong Conclusion Before I Knew Anything: Quan here.I had no business background before I started studying value investing. So, I usually start my research with no idea about the business of a company. Even worse, whenever I look at a company that I think I’m familiar

Some Quick Thoughts on Masimo (MASI): Quan here.This post is to continue my discussion on 15 stocks I know. Today, I’ll talk about Masimo (MASI). #6 Masimo (MASI)Masimo makes products that continuously measure good and bad things in a patients blood. Good things include oxygen and hemoglobin.

How to Lose Money in Stocks: Look Where Everyone Else Looks – Ignore Stocks Like These 15: This isn’t an article for traders. It’s meant as advice for long-term value investors.I’ve been reading Howard Marks’s The Most Important Thing. This got me thinking about risk. And how I don’t talk about risk enough on the blog.I don’t

How Jim Collins Can Make You a Better Investor – Understanding the Hedgehog Concept: Quan here.In my last Jim Collins article, I talked about how core ideology might be useful in judging a management’s determination to find new products and processes to spur growth, and in understanding corporate DNA. The topic of this article

How to Reduce Risk: Comfort Comes from Owning the Right Business: Quan here.Someone who reads the blog sent me this email:Hi Quan,I like your interpretation of margin of safety. I normally do not care about market volatility affecting the price of a stock. I do find myself wondering now if perhaps it

Carnival (CCL): No Pricing Power – But Plenty of Value Created Over Time: Geoff here.Since Quan started writing about Carnival (CCL) here on the blog, we’ve gotten a lot of emails from people saying the cruise business is a bad business – even for the leader – and that these companies only destroy

10 Bad Years at Carnival (CCL): Oil and the Economy Changed – The Business Didn’t: Quan here.Someone who reads the blog sent me this email:Hi Quan,I’ve read your posts on Carnival (CCL) with interest and just had a quick look at the numbers. If size brought economies of scale in the cruise industry, Carnival would be earning

How My Understanding of Margin of Safety Evolved: Lessons From Phil Fisher: Quan here.In my last post on margin of safety, I talked about requiring higher margin of safety for companies that I feel uncertain about my judgment of their earnings power. Simply speaking, I would pay 10 times earnings for a

How to Value a Stock: Is It Even Necessary If You Plan to Buy and Hold Forever?: Geoff here.Someone who reads the blog sent me an email about how to value a stock. I answered that email with the idea of peer comparisons.Peer comparisons are really a short-term valuation approach. If you buy Interpublic (IPG) at 0.7

How to Value a Stock: The Power of Peer Comparisons: Geoff here.Someone who reads the blog sent me this email:Hello,Im a college student just learning that I have a desire to learn how to invest. Ive come across many blogs and found yours to be very helpful. Yet, I still

Carnival (CCL): Survival of the Fattest: Quan here. Nate from Oddball Stocks read my post on Carnival (CCL) and Chuck E. Cheese (CEC) and suggested I do scuttlebutt. Which means looking further than just reading 10-Ks to learn about intangibles. Scuttlebutt is More Important For Some Companies –

Value Discipline

The Developing Compensation Philosophy of the Treasury Department: Here is a link to Gene Sperlings opening statement: http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/tg166.htm#_ftnref3There are some very interesting quotes that help to frame Treasurys philosophy re systematic risk and executive compensation in this statement.Compensation structures that permitted key executives and other financial actors to

Executive Compensation-Government is Not Going Away: Corporate governance is a topic that many of us tend to ignore, leaving it to the institutions or corporate raiders that are looking to influence the strategic direction, the capital allocation, the corporate structures or the compensation structures of business.Yet,

Tiffany & Co-Valuation Seems Generous to Me: On Monday, Tiffany & Co reported what seemed to be somewhat disappointing earnings of $1.09 versus a street consensus of $1.13. TIF actually has had a fairly good history of positive earnings surprises in recent quarters (data courtesy of Reuters):Quarter

Traits of the Successful Investor and the Changing Nature of Brand Loyalty: The year 2010 seems to be progressing as a positive experience following the shaky start in January. The subsequent rally that has transpired since that time has caught many people flat-footed, but that is the price of erratic trading. Most

Book Review-"Even Buffett Isn't Perfect": I am a complete sucker for investment books. My wife accuses me of owning several thousand books that have essentially the same title, usually some variant of Value Investing, valuation, or intrinsic value, or securities analysis. Of course, I have

John Templeton- The Triumph of Optimism: Sir John Templeton passed away yesterday. He died, much as he spent his life, peacefully.Geoff Gannon (and it is great to have him back in the blogosphere) has an extensive list of articles outlining Templetons life as well as a

An Interesting Screen-Deteriorating Operating Margins and Increasing Capital Intensity: As one would expect, deterioration in operating margins will occur in economic slowdowns. Marginal competitors frequently will try to clear inventories at ever lower margins in order to generate cash flow. I am particularly interested concerned if a company exhibits

Recurring Revenues and Financial Services- The Competitive Moat of Fiserv: In our last post, we discussed the notion of recurring revenues as it pertains to companies in the industrial sector. The genesis of this idea was a reaction to the prevailing wisdom of many investment strategists to find recurring revenue

Recurring Revenues and Industrials: Economic uncertainty generally steers investors toward steady eddy businesses such as foods, consumer staples, healthcare and utilities. But what investors should be seeking is recurring revenues, predictable and stable revenues with a high degree of certainty.Recurring revenues are highly desirable

A Lemons Market- Information Asymmetry and Bear Stearns: Asymmetric information gets to the root of todays market problem in Bear Stearns. George Akerlof, Michael Spence, and Joseph Stiglitz won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics for their work in this area.Akerlof, who wrote the earliest paper in this

Pantry Gets a Heads-Up from the Globe: The Pantry just received a mention in a blog that is part of Torontos Globe and Mail, essentially Canadas version of the Wall Street Journal.The article, On the Hunt for the king of value factors highlights price to sale ratios.

Is "The Pantry" Bare?-Piotroski Says No: You cant buy what is popular and do well is one of the great Warren Buffett quotes. Though over time, I have learned to be far more comfortable investing in quality businesses that throw off lots of free cash flow

A Report from Today's Citigroup Meeting re Governance: Corporate governance has always been an important part of value investing. Obviously, most of us hate waste when precious company resources are squandered to build executive dreams rather than shareholder capital. Misallocation of capital and failure to optimize returns on

NCR versus Diebold: Courtesy of Seeking Alpha, I have been privileged to have been introduced to an exciting new research product called Gridstone Research. Gridstone is a new research platform that combines financial data, operational data, and unstructured textual information about a company

Techonomics and the ATM: “By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination.”- Christopher ColumbusNeedless to say, it has been an incredibly tumultuous environment. The economic outlook, despite a few specks of light in a dark

Happy New Year!: What can be said in New Year rhymes,Thats not been said a thousand times?The new years come, the old years go,We know we dream, we dream we know.We rise up laughing with the light,We lie down weeping with the night.We

Fair Value, Mark-To-Market and Financial Reporting-Another Revision?: Less than a week to go for 2008, and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has a proposal which it has thrown into the arena to address the problem of fair value.Mark to market accounting has stirred up a very

Happy Holidays!: A simple and sincere message to all. Heres wishing you the best of holidays in this blessed season.Wishing all of you a Happy Hanukkah, a Merry Christmas, and peace!Looking forward to 2009, a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Year for all!Rick

Stocking Stuffers: It has been a remarkable year. It has been year that many of us would just as soon forget. The cascading effects of deleveraging have been rampant across all markets.The financial turmoil of 2007-08-09? has deeply affected households as well

The Commodity Investment World Conference-Some Observations on Commodities as a Diversifier: For two days last week, it was my privilege to attend the Commodity Investment World conference through the courtesy of Seeking Alpha. A broad spectrum of commodities markets, their economics and approaches to these markets were discussed.Commodities conferences historically have

NO DooDahs!

Automotive Annoyances: A few things that bothered me yesterday about the news coverage of the pending bailout for domestic auto(loan)makers.“GM makes cars nobody wants” Vs. “GM sold __ million cars in the U.S. in the last __ years”“Nobody wants” is an exaggeration,

Buy-A-Bank Bailouts: The Hartford (HIG), a.k.a. “The Neutered Stag,” has pulled a fast one! They bought a bank, just in order to get bailed out.In some bizarre way, this multi-national, multi-billion-dollar insurer can buy some tiny, eleven-branch-having, single state bank off of

Busy With Other Projects, Back Again Soon: No description.

Updates at The Rempel Report: Still no Timing signalValue Portfolio updatePersonal returns for October 2008

Piece of the Rock Randomosity: Get it, baby! Get a piece of the rock! Prudential Financial (PRU) reported yesterday. Lots of ways to put lipstick on this pig, and turn a loss per share into a “

ModernGraham.com

Updated Valuations – Week of 2/22/10: You can view more company valuations by visiting the valuations database in the navbar. There are 145 companies in the database including all 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average!Due to the increasing number of companies in the database

Updated Valuations – Week of 2/15/10: You can view more company valuations by visiting the valuations database in the navbar. There are 145 companies in the database including all 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average!Due to the increasing number of companies in the database

Updated Valuations – Week of 1/4/2010: You can view more company valuations by visiting the valuations database in the navbar. There are 145 companies in the database including all 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average!Due to the increasing number of companies in the database

A Look Back on 2009 for Modern Graham: 2009 was a record year for Modern Graham. With over 40,000 visits from over 28,000 unique visitors, more people visited the site than any year before. Now that the year is over, it is time to look back on what

Added and Updated Valuations – 12/29/09: I didn’t have time to add any new companies to the database due to the holidays, but you can view more by visiting the valuations database in the navbar. There are 145 companies in the database including all 30 components

Added and Updated Valuations – 12/21/09: This is a day late, and it includes a few companies that were scheduled to be updated last week. For those readers who don’t know, I’m currently in law school – and had exams the last couple of weeks. As

Festival of Stocks #172: This week we have the honor of hosting the 172nd edition of the Festival of Stocks. According to the festival’s original sponsor, ValueInvestingNews, “The Festival of Stocks is a blog carnival dedicated to highlighting bloggers’ best articles on stock market

Added and Updated Valuations – 12/7/09: Here are the new valuations added to our site in the past week. To view more, click on browse valuations in our navbar. We now have 145 in the database including all 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average!A

Dividend Portfolio – November 2009 Update: On the first Friday of every month, we will screen our database for the 10 companies with the highest dividend yield that are suitable for the enterprising investor. These 10 companies will be placed in a mock portfolio and rebalanced

Festival of Stocks #168: This week we have the honor of hosting the 168th edition of the Festival of Stocks. According to the festival’s original sponsor, ValueInvestingNews, “The Festival of Stocks is a blog carnival dedicated to highlighting bloggers’ best articles on stock market

Added and Updated Valuations – 11/16/09: Here are the new valuations added to our site in the past week. To view more, click on browse valuations in our navbar. We now have 130 in the database including all 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average!RF

Enterprising Value Portfolio – October 2009 Update: On the second Thursday of every month (I know, I’m a day late…), we will screen our database for the 10 companies trading at the lowest ratio to their intrinsic value, as determined by our formula, and that are suitable

10 Dividend Companies for the Enterprising Investor – December Update: The following screen is the basis of the Dividend Portfolio. The screen is of the 140 companies in the Modern Graham valuation database’s for the top dividend payouts from companies suitable for the enterprising investor. Later today I will have

Updating Ben’s Portfolio – November 2009: On the first Thursday of every month, I plan on reviewing the portfolio and making any changes that seem necessary.You can see the portfolio in this google spreadsheet.Here’s a snippet from the construction:When constructing the portfolio, I began by deciding

Low PE Portfolio – November 2009 Update: On the first Tuesday (sorry, day late this month!) of every month, we will screen our database for the 10 companies with the lowest price to earnings ratio (ModernGraham-style) that are suitable for the enterprising investor. These 10 companies will

10 Low PE Companies for the Enterprising Investor: The bears are active even though the bulls seem to be ruling this market. The following screen is the basis of the Low PE Portfolio. I complete this screen once a month. The screen is of the valuation database’s 140

Added and Updated Valuations – 11/30/09: Here are the new valuations added to our site in the past week. To view more, click on browse valuations in our navbar. We now have 140 in the database including all 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average!ATI

7 Great Amazon Deals to Give to Intelligent Investors: Today is Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Many stores have great deals available in an attempt to get a good start on the holiday shopping season. If you are looking for some gift ideas

Added and Updated Valuations – 11/23/09: Here are the new valuations added to our site in the past week. To view more, click on browse valuations in our navbar. We now have 135 in the database including all 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average!AES

Stock Market Beat

Truck Tonnage Index: Truckline.com ArticleCompared with October 2008, SA tonnage fell 5.2 percent, which was the best year-over-year showing since November 2008. In September, the index was down 7.3 percent from a year earlier.

Corporate Cash Flow: St. Louis Fed: FRED Graph

Corporate Profits: No description.

Capacity Utilization: St. Louis Fed: Series: TCU, Capacity Utilization: Total Industry

Capacity Utilization: St. Louis Fed: FRED Graph

Corporate Profits: St. Louis Fed: FRED Graph

Capacity Utilization: St. Louis Fed: Series: TCU, Capacity Utilization: Total Industry

Another Record: Capacity Utilization: St. Louis Fed: Series: TCU, Capacity Utilization: Total Industry

Record Territory: St. Louis Fed: FRED GRAPH

Employment: Employment Situation Summary Nonfarm payroll employment continued to fall sharply in February (-651,000), and the unemployment rate rose from 7.6 to 8.1 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employ- ment has

Capacity Utilization: St. Louis Fed: Series: TCU, Capacity Utilization: Total Industry

Gross Domestic Product: BEA: News Release: Gross Domestic ProductReal gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — decreased at an annual rate of 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of

St. Louis Fed: Series: TCU, Capacity Utilization: Total Industry: St. Louis Fed: Series: TCU, Capacity Utilization: Total Industry

Who Madoff With My Money?: You can’t make this stuff up.On Wall Street, his name is legendary. With money he had made as a lifeguard on the beaches of Long Island, he built a trading powerhouse that had prospered for more than four decades. At

Corporate Profits: St. Louis Fed: FRED GRAPH

Capacity Utilization: Total Industry: St. Louis Fed: Series: TCU, Capacity Utilization: Total Industry

Personal Income and Outlays: Econoday Report: Personal Income and Outlays 31, 2008Personal income in September 2008 rose 0.2% from August. Real personal consumption expenditures (PCE) fell 0.4% and nominal PCE fell 0.3%. Real disposable personal income (DPI) rose 0.1% and nominal DPI increased 0.2%. The

Retail Sales: Economic Indicators.gov

Interest Rate Spreads: St. Louis Fed: Series: WBAA, Moody’s Seasoned Baa Corporate Bond Yield Series: WGS10YR, 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity RateAccording to the latest data from the Federal Reserve, Baa corporate bonds are yielding 4.56% more than 10-year Treasuries. The chart below shows

Berkshire Ruminations

Moneyball for Investing: Baseball salaries exploded in the 1990s, forcing owners and managers to completely reevaluate how their teams were run. Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland A’s believed he had found a solution. Rather than trying to buy the best players,

Empirical Finance Research Blog: If you are interested in financial research you may want to check out a new project I am starting with a friend of mine who is a PhD student at the University of Chicago. It is called Empirical Finance Research:http://empiricalfinanceresearch.blogspot.com/Our

Bullish on TMA: I captured the following screenshot from Yahoo Finance shortly after the market closed today:This was kind of surprising to me given the performance of

To Whom it May Concern:: This blog is not dead. I am just taking a break. Lots of personal stuff going on, including the recent birth of my first son. I had hoped to work out a combination of names such that his initials would

Buffett Videoconference at MU on Friday: I thought I might help publicize the University of Missouri Trulaske College of Business 2008 Forum on Emerging Issues & Trends in Real Estate. That is mouthful. What it means is that on Friday as part of a symposium on

A few thoughts on the Bear Stearns situation: The first lesson that came to my mind when I heard about this debacle was straight from Buffett: Don’t buy what you can’t understand. Was Bear a simple and understandable business? Of course not. Their investments were so complex that

Wrigley Deal and the Annual Meeting: I have been hesitant to jump to many conclusions about the Wrigley deal because I think there are still a lot of unanswered questions about Berkshires involvement in it. Hopefully many of the details will be explained this weekend at

Another Hilarious Screen Capture: Could someone tell me how this headline ended up on Google Finance?

Buffett's Politics: I am beginning to think Mr. Buffett needs to just keep his mouth shut and run the company. His opining on tax policy and government bailouts is just making him look foolish.

There Are too Many Bureaucrats and They Are Paid too Much: If youre sick of working hard and being productive, perhaps a job with the government is the solution. Hell, if the country is going bankrupt anyway, enjoy the gravy train while it lasts!!

Of Permanent Value - the Trilogy!: Just thought Id do my part to promote Andy Kilpatricks latest magnum opus, the 2010 edition of Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett: A trilogy. This three-volume, 2000 page, behemoth replaces the two-volume 2008 cosmic edition that weighed

Cash For Clunkers: Here’s an idea for wealth creation that can’t fail:Let’s encourage everybody with a particular asset that has value - namely a car worth less than $4500 - to sell it to the government so the government can then destroy it.

No title: Since there is no such entity as the public, since the public is merely a number of individuals, the idea that the public interest supersedes private interests and rights can have but one meaning: that the interests and rights of

Berkshire History in the Making!: I don’t maintain this blog much anymore, but that doesn’t mean I don’t follow Berkshire Hathaway. And I would be remiss not to comment on the news I awoke to this morning. Today is likely the most historic day in

Big Government, Small Growth: I am an empiricist and leery of any economic assertion that isnt backed by sound data. And so I was pleased to see Dan Mitchells latest video because towards the ends it gives a brief bibliography of work published in

Apparently a no-brainer. Who knew?: I thought it was interesting that yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported that economists are nearly unanimous that Ben Bernanke should be reappointed to another term and that the majority also say the recession is over. Who exactly are these

100% Insanity: To me, this is proof the mainstream media has absolutely no clue about economic reality.CNN proudly boasts today that Cash For Clunkers program is “Real Stimulus,” claiming that “The boost to auto sales caused by the government trade-in program should

GM - What a joke: Let’s face it. General Motors is in terrible shape. It sells an unpopular line of vehicles and is completely captive to its inflexible cost structure. Despite what political pundits would like to suggest, the company’s troubles are not the result

A dual-class arbitrage in Berkshire stock?: Hat tip to Ray for pointing this out to me. A few days ago BRK.B was trading at a level significantly lower than 1/30 of BRK.A. In fact the spread represented 7% of the value of BRK.B.This was a decent

No title

Original Signal - Transmitting Web 2.0