Archive for 2008

  • Tom Gallagher on the Global Economy
    , July 8th, 2008 at 12:49 pm

    I’ve embedded the whole video, but the key part is Tom Gallagher’s talk. I’d recommend watching 24:05 to 32:15.

  • The Chinese Bubble Bursts
    , July 8th, 2008 at 10:57 am

    In early 2007, the Shanghai Composite made news all around the world when it plunged 8.8%. Let’s just say that the pullback was a buying opportunity. Eight months later, the index was 120% higher.
    Nine months after that, which is today, we’re back where we started. Thanks for the wild ride!
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  • The Pickens Plan
    , July 8th, 2008 at 8:21 am

    T. Boone Pickens is launching an ad blitz on how to fix the energy crisis.

    Today, Pickens will take the wraps off what he’s calling the Pickens Plan for cutting the USA’s demand for foreign oil by more than a third in less than a decade. To promote it, he is bankrolling what his aides say will be the biggest public policy ad campaign ever. The website, www.pickensplan.com, goes live today.
    Jay Rosser, Pickens’ ever-present public relations man, promises that Pickens’ face will be seen on Americans’ televisions this fall almost as frequently as John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s.
    “Neither presidential candidate is talking about solving the oil problem. So we’re going to make ’em talk about it,” Pickens says.
    “Nixon said in 1970 that we were importing 20% of our oil and that by 1980 it would be 0%. That didn’t happen,” Pickens says. “It went to 42% in 1991 with the Gulf War. It’s just under 70% now. Where do you think we’re going to be in 10 years when our economy is busted and we’re importing 80% of our oil?”
    Finding solutions to other major issues, including health care, are important, he concedes. But “If you don’t solve the energy problem, it’s going to break us before we even get to solving health care and some of these other important issues.” And it has to be done with the same sense of urgency that President Eisenhower had when he pushed the rapid development of the interstate highway system during the Cold War.
    Of course, Pickens also has a particular solution in mind.
    Wind. And natural gas.

  • Top 10 Stocks Since the Last Recession
    , July 8th, 2008 at 2:10 am

    The Motley Fool lists the 10 best-performing stocks since the last recession (3/1/2001-7/6/2008):
    Company……………………………..Return
    Ultra Petroleum……………………..4,378%
    Southwestern Energy…………….3,348%
    Potash…………………………………2,070%
    Walter Industries………………….1,860%
    Apple…………………………………..1,715%
    Canadian Natural Resources…..1,658%
    Intuitive Surgical……………………1,627%
    Research In Motion………………..1,548%
    Range Resources…………………..1,515%
    Terra Industries…………………….1,236%

  • Inflation in Apparel
    , July 7th, 2008 at 4:15 pm

    There’s certainly lots of inflation in commodities, but there’s hardly any in other parts of the economy. Here’s a look at the CPI Apparel Index (not seasonally adjusted as the wiggles suggest). Prices are basically where they were 20 years ago.
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  • Southwest Airlines on WallStip
    , July 7th, 2008 at 1:31 pm


    In 1974, you could have picked up shares of LUV for just a penny. That’s just adjusted for 14 stocks splits totaling 300-for-1 (two 2-for-1s, nine 3-for-2s, and three 5-for-4s).

  • Who Killed the Economy
    , July 7th, 2008 at 1:10 pm

    Fill out your brackets today. Since “Morons Who Borrowed Way Too Much For a Ridiculously Overpriced House that They Couldn’t Afford Anyway” isn’t participating, I’m going with Greenspan.

  • So Long SPX 1250
    , July 7th, 2008 at 1:06 pm

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  • Short Interest Is Up 55%
    , July 7th, 2008 at 12:16 pm

    Could this be some sort of bubble?

    Record bets against U.S. stocks may mean the market is on the verge of a rebound fueled by purchases of shares that were sold short, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
    So-called short interest on the New York Stock Exchange has risen 55 percent this year to a record 3.6 percent of listed shares, JPMorgan Chief Equity Strategist Thomas J. Lee wrote in a report today. In a short sale, an investor sells borrowed shares in anticipation of being able to buy them back later, or “cover,” at a lower price.
    Given the “extreme levels” of short interest, positive catalysts for the market “could trigger a substantial short- covering rally,” New York-based Lee wrote.

    The article notes that 36% of companies in the S&P 500 have at least 5% of their shares sold short.

  • Ryanair’s CEO Promises In-Flight Blow Jobs
    , July 3rd, 2008 at 1:50 pm