Author Archive

  • First They Came for the Foot Masseuses
    , July 21st, 2008 at 9:20 am

    Virginia Postrel found this article on the State of California’s bizarre campaign to crack down on…foot masseuses:

    The popularity of foot massage has risen as cutthroat competition has sent prices downward. But now, business owners are dealing with a new problem: a crackdown by county and state officials who have ruled that they need licenses from the state Board of Barbering and Cosmetology.

    Shouldn’t the “but now” be replaced with “as a result”?

  • Starbucks Closings
    , July 18th, 2008 at 3:53 am

    Starbucks released its list of 600 stores that are planned to be closed by early next year. My condolences to all the caffeine addicts out there.

  • A Little Perspective
    , July 18th, 2008 at 3:21 am

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  • Best Day Ever
    , July 17th, 2008 at 5:22 pm

    I’ll have more on this later, but today was the best day ever for our Buy List relative to the market. The Buy List gained 2.95% which is 175 basis points better than the S&P 500. The big gainer today was Amphenol (APH) which added 14.6%.
    For the year, we’re down -11.23% compared with -14.17% for the rest of the market.

  • Department of Not Getting Markets
    , July 17th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

    From a Bloomberg article titled: Pakistani Investors Stone Exchange as Stocks Plunge.

    “We demand that all stock prices be frozen at current levels.”

    Now why didn’t I think of that?
    (Via: Felix).

  • Markets in Everything
    , July 17th, 2008 at 2:05 pm

    At Intrade, Senator Obama’s contract to win the presidency is up to 66.1 and McCain’s is at 29.8.
    But here’s the noteworthy part. Hillary’s contract is still around and it’s at 4.6; Gore’s is at 2.0. Yesterday, a trade for Hillary went off at 6.9.
    Obviously, a tragic event isn’t the only scenario in mind. But still, is the unthinkable really that probable?

  • Danaher and Math
    , July 17th, 2008 at 1:03 pm

    Maybe I’m missing something, but I’m going through Danaher’s (DHR) earnings report and the numbers don’t add up. For the second quarter, the company earned $363.448 million and the number of diluted shares is 336.551. That comes to $1.08 a share while the company lists it as $1.09. I know it’s just a penny, but there shouldn’t be any mistakes here. That really undermines my faith in a company.
    Am I missing something?

  • Banking Index +22%
    , July 16th, 2008 at 5:41 pm

    The S&P Banking Index (^BIX) jumped 22% today. That’s not one stock; that’s the entire index!
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  • Is it Time to Raise Rates?
    , July 16th, 2008 at 1:19 pm

    Megan McArdle says yes. Today’s inflation report shows that consumer prices rose by 1.1% last month which is the largest jump in 26 years. For the last 12 months, the headline rate has been 5.02% while the core rate is 2.41%. With the Fed at 2%, this means that real interest rates are still negative.
    The market isn’t expecting the Fed to raise rates anytime soon. According to the Cleveland Fed, the futures market is pretty much convinced (over 80%) that the Fed will hold steady at its August meeting.
    Going by Professor Mankiw’s Fed Funds Rate equation, the Fed is way too loose. His equations is:

    Federal funds rate = 8.5 + 1.4 (Core inflation – Unemployment)

    Let’s plug in the numbers the numbers from June:

    Federal funds rate = 8.5 + 1.4 (2.41 – 5.50)

    That comes to a rate of 4.174% which is more than double where the Fed is.

  • Buy List Earnings
    , July 16th, 2008 at 10:13 am

    The next few days will be busy for a few stocks on our Buy List. Here are some upcoming earnings dates and Wall Street’s current estimate.
    Amphenol (APH)……………..….….July 17…………..$0.58
    Danaher (DHR)………………..…….July 17…………..$1.06
    Harley-Davidson (HOG).….…….July 17…………..$0.76
    Stryker (SYK)…………………….….July 17…………..$0.73
    Lincare (LNCR)………………..…….July 21…………..$0.71
    Unitedhealth Group (UNH)….….July 22…………..$0.65
    AFLAC (AFL)………………………….July 23…………..$1.01
    SEI Investments (SEIC)………….July 23…………..$0.33
    WR Berkley (WRB)…………..…….July 23…………..$0.85
    Fiserv (FISV)………………………….July 29…………..$0.80