Daily State of the Markets
Did Bernanke Put The Taper Back On The Table?
It looks like Mr. Bernanke may want to go out in style. Just about the time investors around the globe had concluded that there was simply no way the Fed could begin tapering the size of its QE programs before March or April of next year, it looks like Wednesday's FOMC statement put the t…
If You Must Buy-and-Hold, Be Like Buffett
It is always interesting to review comments of the work that is done under the "Daily State of the Markets" banner. On Friday, the long-standing question of active investing (i.e. employing a buy and sell approach) versus passive investing (buy and hold forever) was explored. And as expec…
Active vs. Passive: You're Kidding, Right?
To be sure, there is no shortage of free "research" available these days. Everywhere one turns, there is a fresh white paper from any number of experts espousing this or that. But recently there has been a raft of papers on the question of passive investing versus active investing. And cu…
Have The Worries Returned To Broad and Wall?
After finishing in the green nine of the last ten days, it wasn't exactly surprising to see the bears attempt to get back in the game on Wednesday and for the stock market to pull back a bit. After all, the S&P had stepped lively to a gain of 6 percent in just two weeks and 11.5 perce…
A Worrisome Sign or Simply Computer Folly?
There are times when "why" the market does what it does may be more important than "what" it actually does. Cutting to the chase, Tuesday's wild intraday action may be a perfect example of this phenomenon as neither the final tallies on the indices nor the intraday chart action itself tol…
The Next Driving Force Could Be: Performance Anxiety
Now that the D.C. drama has been placed on the back burner for a couple months, the intraday algos appear to have been toned down a bit and traders have turned their attention to more mundane issues such as the state of the earnings season, the state of the U.S./Global economy, and the qu…
Are Stocks Overvalued Yet?
It's tough to be a bear these days.
At the beginning of the year, those seeing the glass as at least half-empty were expecting Europe to drag the economies of the world into recession, China's economic growth to tank, the unrest in the Middle East to become a huge problem, the Fed…
The Key To Success In The Stock Market Is...
Stocks stepped lively again on Thursday and had it not been for IBM (IBM) stinking up the joint, the screens would have been green across the board. With "Itty Bitty Machines" lopping somewhere around 90 points off of the DJIA (DIA) the day may not have looked like much to the casual obse…
Back To Normal Now, Right?
Traders breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday after Harry Reid confirmed that he and his Republican counterpart had come to an agreement to raise the debt ceiling and reopen the government. While there is still a fair amount of work to be done and there could be hiccups along the way, th…
Here's The Key: The Deadline Isn't Really The Deadline
Although the action on Capitol Hill appears has certainly been frenzied, the stock market continues to yawn. Yes, it is true that the intraday volatility did pick up in earnest on Tuesday as the algos pushed and pulled the major indices in a rather violent fashion after each and every hea…