Archive
Oct 07, 2008
5 Market Myths Destroying Your Portfolio
By Andrew Mickey, Q1 Publishing
It has been a wild couple of weeks. To say the markets are going haywire is a tragic understatement. The market has started a vicious cycle and there’s no sign of it turning around.
All the recent volatility is causing massive sell-offs forcing share prices into a dangerous downward spiral.
Half of the stocks on the NYSE set a new 52-week low yesterday. The NASDAQ is almost in as bad a shape. And anything with a market cap of less than a $1 billion…you don’t even want to look at it.
As we watched a few weeks ago, all of the uncertainty is causing investors to pull out of mutual funds as fast as they can. Last week more than $7 billion was pulled out from equity mutual funds according to AMG Data services. And an additional $2.6 billion was redeemed from bond funds.
The sell-off was on top of an absolutely horrible July when investors yanked out more than $23 billion. August wasn’t much better when about $6 billion was pulled out.
It’s getting ugly. Mutual fund flows are a key indicator of sentiment. And right now, investor sentiment is at a precariously low point.
The worst part of it all, I’m afraid, is too many investors are succumbing to...
It has been a wild couple of weeks. To say the markets are going haywire is a tragic understatement. The market has started a vicious cycle and there’s no sign of it turning around.
All the recent volatility is causing massive sell-offs forcing share prices into a dangerous downward spiral.
Half of the stocks on the NYSE set a new 52-week low yesterday. The NASDAQ is almost in as bad a shape. And anything with a market cap of less than a $1 billion…you don’t even want to look at it.
As we watched a few weeks ago, all of the uncertainty is causing investors to pull out of mutual funds as fast as they can. Last week more than $7 billion was pulled out from equity mutual funds according to AMG Data services. And an additional $2.6 billion was redeemed from bond funds.
The sell-off was on top of an absolutely horrible July when investors yanked out more than $23 billion. August wasn’t much better when about $6 billion was pulled out.
It’s getting ugly. Mutual fund flows are a key indicator of sentiment. And right now, investor sentiment is at a precariously low point.
The worst part of it all, I’m afraid, is too many investors are succumbing to...
Oct 04, 2008
How Argentina Survived It's Banking Collapse
By Guy Bennett, Q1 Publishing
“We are witnessing the First World popping like a bubble.”
- Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President of Argentina
Last night I had dinner with an Argentine businessman at a small restaurant in downtown Buenos Aires. He’s involved in the development of shopping centers here in Buenos Aires.
I mentioned to him that I’d purchased a local newspaper earlier in the day at the Plaza de Mayo. An image of a jumbo jet made of U.S. dollar bills took up almost the entire cover.
I’d assumed it was about the U.S banking crisis. But after laboriously translating the headline and the first few paragraphs I discovered...
“We are witnessing the First World popping like a bubble.”
- Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President of Argentina
Last night I had dinner with an Argentine businessman at a small restaurant in downtown Buenos Aires. He’s involved in the development of shopping centers here in Buenos Aires.
I mentioned to him that I’d purchased a local newspaper earlier in the day at the Plaza de Mayo. An image of a jumbo jet made of U.S. dollar bills took up almost the entire cover.
I’d assumed it was about the U.S banking crisis. But after laboriously translating the headline and the first few paragraphs I discovered...
Oct 02, 2008
Escape to South America Uncovers Opportunities
By Guy Bennett, Q1 Publishing
The Dow is up 200. Down 700. Up 400. Have we hit bottom? Or is it 1929 all over again? Some say, “Grab a parachute.” The markets are as volatile as ever and uncertainty lies in the United States.
It can be hard to think straight in the midst of so much hysteria.
The Dow has had a rough year, but emerging markets have been hit far harder. Once-hot South American markets have taken an even worse beating.
The markets are certainly following the old adage, “When the U.S. sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold.”
The world has changed a lot though and we have to ask ourselves, “Is the adage still true?”
There’s only one way to find out...
The Dow is up 200. Down 700. Up 400. Have we hit bottom? Or is it 1929 all over again? Some say, “Grab a parachute.” The markets are as volatile as ever and uncertainty lies in the United States.
It can be hard to think straight in the midst of so much hysteria.
The Dow has had a rough year, but emerging markets have been hit far harder. Once-hot South American markets have taken an even worse beating.
The markets are certainly following the old adage, “When the U.S. sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold.”
The world has changed a lot though and we have to ask ourselves, “Is the adage still true?”
There’s only one way to find out...
Sep 30, 2008
The Bull Market No One is Talking About
By Andrew Mickey, Q1 Publishing
The financial world didn’t get its relief yesterday. The bailout plan and any accompanying reprieve just weren’t in the cards. The Dow tumbled and investors rushed to the exits.
I’m not going to harp on the bad news again, I’m sure you’ve heard it all by now. That’s because opportunity is knocking right now.
I will say the bailout plan, or some form of it, will be formalized and approved. Too many politicians have too much riding on it. And then all will go back to normal…for a few days.
We could even get a nice bounce in the markets following the new (and therefore better?) bailout plan that eventually gets approved. If by some miracle the door is slammed shut on banking problems by a swipe of the pen, the next door will open. I’m afraid, what is behind the next door is a lot uglier: the economy.
That’s what really matters here. The economy…it’s always the economy.
When bailout euphoria hit the markets a few weeks ago, we focused on what matters most. Although the U.S. is technically not in a recession yet, we’re headed for one. The looming recession is reducing demand for everything, profits are getting squeezed, and some very smart money is quietly buying some highly undervalued stocks. And we can buy right along with them...
The financial world didn’t get its relief yesterday. The bailout plan and any accompanying reprieve just weren’t in the cards. The Dow tumbled and investors rushed to the exits.
I’m not going to harp on the bad news again, I’m sure you’ve heard it all by now. That’s because opportunity is knocking right now.
I will say the bailout plan, or some form of it, will be formalized and approved. Too many politicians have too much riding on it. And then all will go back to normal…for a few days.
We could even get a nice bounce in the markets following the new (and therefore better?) bailout plan that eventually gets approved. If by some miracle the door is slammed shut on banking problems by a swipe of the pen, the next door will open. I’m afraid, what is behind the next door is a lot uglier: the economy.
That’s what really matters here. The economy…it’s always the economy.
When bailout euphoria hit the markets a few weeks ago, we focused on what matters most. Although the U.S. is technically not in a recession yet, we’re headed for one. The looming recession is reducing demand for everything, profits are getting squeezed, and some very smart money is quietly buying some highly undervalued stocks. And we can buy right along with them...
Sep 27, 2008
Why Warren Buffett is Betting on Banks Now
By Andrew Mickey, Q1 Publishing
Bank stocks could be the buy of a lifetime right now. The bailout is moving forward, the markets have stabilized, and Warren Buffett has put up a $5 billion bet on Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) this week.
Is it time to follow Buffett’s lead and go “all in” on banks now?
The answer is a simple no.
Buffett got a very sweet deal from Goldman that has reduced his risk, gave him a high degree of income, and didn’t eliminate a single cent of the potential profits from the deal. And there’s a little known way we get all that in our investments too. Here's how...
Bank stocks could be the buy of a lifetime right now. The bailout is moving forward, the markets have stabilized, and Warren Buffett has put up a $5 billion bet on Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) this week.
Is it time to follow Buffett’s lead and go “all in” on banks now?
The answer is a simple no.
Buffett got a very sweet deal from Goldman that has reduced his risk, gave him a high degree of income, and didn’t eliminate a single cent of the potential profits from the deal. And there’s a little known way we get all that in our investments too. Here's how...
