The FOMC this afternoon cut the Federal Funds Rate and the Discount Rate by 25 basis points to 2.00% The following is the text of the FOMC announcement.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
FOMC Meeting; Announcement in 60 Minutes
The FOMC met yesterday and this morning regarding the state of the economy. The markets are currently pricing in an 80% chance of a 25 basis point cut. So far, the markets are up about 100 points prior to the announcement in approximately 60 minutes. Personally, I hope the Fed decides to hold firm and leave that bullet in its chamber. The markets need time to work through the 300 basis points the FOMC has cut over the past 6-7 months. It takes the economy approximately 6 months to feel the full effects of a rate cut (at least, that’s what I remember from basic macroeconomics). With GDP holding steady at +0.6%, I think the fears of recession are on their way out the door. Stay tuned for the announcement!
Monday, April 28, 2008
April 28, 2008 Edition of the Festival of Stocks
It’s that time again! I’m happy to present the next edition of the Festival of Stocks! As always, if you’re interested in submitting, please follow the green dollar bills floating around Visa will (hopefully) leave us.
- Charles H. Green presents 30 Minutes, 30 Cents, 30 Billion: Fragmenting Business posted at Trust Matters, saying, “Be careful of investing in industries which whose business model is such that no one is taking care of the big picture, they have a tendency to fall apart.”
- James Cullen presents Cal-Maine (CALM) Longs Walking on Eggshells posted at College Analysts.
- Debt Freedom Fighter presents Don’t Worry About Your Credit Score (It Doesn’t -really- Matter) posted at Discover Debt Freedom!.
- Matthew Paulson presents How to Get the Most Money Out of Your Paycheck posted at American Consumer News.
- Investing Angel presents Studying The Stock Market Trends During Recession » Free Stock Market Investing Tips posted at Stock Tips.
- Dr. Barry Burns presents Using Fibonacci Levels to Find Support/Resistance posted at Top Dog Trading, saying, “New video on my blog shows how to use Fibonacci levels to find reliable support and resistance on charts for day trading, swing trading and investing for stocks, futures and forex.”
- KCLau presents Insurance Planning Guide for Malaysians [Review] posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “A review of Insurance planning guide for Malaysians. This book was written to make you more aware of life insurance protection. Hopefully it will prevent you from suffering and regretting over buying insurance for the wrong reasons”
- Steve Alexander presents Business Sector Breakdown of the Magic Formula posted at MagicDiligence – Optimizing Joel Greenblatts Value Stock Strategy, saying, “Does the Magic Formula screen favor certain types of businesses? And if so, why? These are the questions we’ll examine in this new series examining which business sectors most frequently appear in the Magic Formula screen.”
- Dorian Wales presents Do you understand investment risk? posted at Personal Financier, saying, “Talk of investment risk is abundant but what is investment risk really?”
- Barb A. Ryan presents Asset Allocation, Investment Asset Tax Location, and Emergency Cash Management posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.
- Dividends4Life presents Measure What’s Important posted at Dividends 4 Life, saying, “If you really want to know what is important to a person, you don’t ask the person. Instead, you watch what they do. Peek into my investments and see what I consider important.”
- Dobromir presents GWW Dividend Analysis posted at Create Rising Passive Income From Dividend Paying Stocks, saying, “I think that GWW is attractively valued with its low price/earnings multiple of 17 and low DPR. The current yield is a little low for me at 1.70% though. Thus I would be a buyer only on dips below $70.”
- MrMike presents Do You Track Your Trades? posted at Online Stock Trading | Stock Trading Online.
- Raymond presents How To Open A Roth IRA Account And Which Broker To Use posted at Money Blue Book.
- Brice Hogan presents Equities (The Basics of Stocks) posted at Financialzip.com, saying, “Get the low down and the basics of how stocks work.”
- Middle Class Millionaire presents Thinking about Investing? Start Now posted at Middle Class Millionaire, saying, “Thinking about Investing? Start Now”
- FIRE Getters presents TIPS for Inflation and Deflation! posted at FIRE Finance.
- Jed Norwood presents Forex Money Management | Forex Trends posted at Forex Strategy, saying, “This post is related to the Forex market but can be applied to stock trading as well. Following money management principles is essential to long term success in any market.”
- Enoch Ko presents Principles of Value Investing posted at The Wealth Accumulator, saying, “Value investing for beginners – a review of the basic principles of value investing.”
- Leon Gettler presents Missing analysts posted at Sox First, saying, “Investors beware!! The credit crunch and weakening economy are showing up how bad analysts are. In the fourth quarter, almost 1800 equity analysts overestimated final results by 33.5 percentage points, the biggest miss ever!”
- Matthew Paulson presents A Month of Groceries for a Family of Four – Under $150 posted at American Consumer News.
- Debt Freedom Fighter presents Identity Theft: A Double Tragedy posted at Discover Debt Freedom!.
- Silicon Valley Blogger presents Recessions and the State of Our Economy: A Visual Primer posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “This post discusses the link between recessions and the stock market.”
- Andy presents How to buy shares – Two simple steps posted at Saving to Invest, saying, “Two simple steps that describe how to make a stock purchase”
That concludes this edition. May your longs stay long and may your shorts not be squeezed.
Friday, April 25, 2008
“Transparency is the key to prosperity…”
That’s what Kudlow would say, sort of. Anyways, a quick update since I’ve been gone practically a week. If you’re currently in the college circuit, you’ll know that it’s that time again for finals. Even as a PhD student, finals week always seems to suck time and energy out of my life. Couple that with issues at work and I’m sure you can figure out how things have been somewhat rough as of late. But anyways, a couple of points to note.
First, in an effort to be more transparent, and in doing so having a virtual trading journal, I’ll be posting my daily trades here. Mind you, I’m more of a swing trader than a day trader so while daily updates may not have actual trades, at the very least it’ll have my thought processes as to why no trades were made. Weekly recaps will be just that. I’ll have weekly totals as well as the best and worst trade (or non-trade) for that week. I think by being more transparent, in the long run it should help out my trading career if for the simple fact that I’ll be able to share more of my ideas and (hopefully) get instant feedback. Won’t be easy, but if folks can do it (see Virtual Office for example), I should be able to as well.
I have one final exam on Thursday so my time around here may be sparse, especially with the improvements I’ve made in my trading the past couple of weeks. While no earth shattering profits are being made (come on, I run with less than $1,000!), the main goal was to stop the bleeding. If you can stop the bleeding in a bear market, I can only imagine how things may work in a bull market. But the last thing anyone should be is cocky when trading. The market will humble you, be sure about that.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
In Honor of Apple’s Earnings
Here’s a clip from their latest keynote speech. A quick reminder that Apple reports Wednesday after the bell.