• Surprising Results for Gilead’s AIDS Drugs
    Posted by on July 13th, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    This sounds pretty impressive:

    Two studies released Wednesday show AIDS drugs can sharply reduce the risk of heterosexuals acquiring HIV, adding to a growing number of new methods to slow the spread of the virus world-wide.

    Many researchers now believe science has developed sufficient tools to contain the pandemic, which is thought to infect about 2.6 million people annually. But tight budgets may limit deployment of these methods.

    The results are the latest to demonstrate that existing medications are an important tool for prevention as well as treatment of HIV/AIDS, and show their effectiveness in the population hit hardest by HIV globally—heterosexuals in Africa. The findings also are likely to help alleviate concerns that emerged in April after another study was unable to determine whether the drugs protected women at high risk.

    Both of the new studies, conducted in different African countries, found that giving antiretroviral drugs to heterosexuals reduced the risk of HIV infection by at least 62%—”which is huge,” said Jared Baeten, co-chairman of one of the studies, led by researchers at the University of Washington International Clinical Research Center.

    That study examined 4,758 heterosexual couples in Kenya and Uganda in which one partner had HIV and the other didn’t. Researchers found that those who received a daily dose of a drug called tenofovir had an average of 62% fewer infections than those taking a placebo, while those who received a drug combining tenofovir and another medication, emtricitabine, had an average of 73% fewer infections. The drugs, marketed by Gilead Sciences Inc. under the brand names Viread and Truvada, respectively, are thought to work by preventing the virus from replicating and establishing an infection.

    The study, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, wasn’t supposed to end until late 2012. But after reviewing partial results, an independent data and safety monitoring board decided Sunday to halt the trial early because the findings were so strong, Dr. Baeten said.

  • The Onion: Banks Introduce 75-Cent Surcharge For Using Word ‘Bank’
    Posted by on July 13th, 2011 at 2:35 pm

  • Gold Soars
    Posted by on July 13th, 2011 at 12:25 pm

    While Bernanke speaks. (Click on graph for ultra-massive version.)

  • Is Gold Money?
    Posted by on July 13th, 2011 at 12:11 pm

  • Bernanke’s Testimony
    Posted by on July 13th, 2011 at 11:04 am

    Twice each year, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve is required to testify before Congress. I’ve actually hauled over to Capitol Hill a few times to see this. It’s a very odd experience since the hearing room is mostly empty.

    The two testimony dates usually come on the hottest day of the year and the coldest day of the year. Today is one of the hottest and Bernanke spoke before the House Financial Services Committee.

    Before Bernanke starts speaking, the Fed releases the transcript of what he’s going to say. Here’s today’s testimony.

    I’ve said before that there’s been a surprising gap between what Ben Bernanke says and what other people say he says. If you want to get a handle on what the Fed thinks, I encourage you to give it a read. It’s pretty clear.

    He said that the economy has been hurt by some temporary issues. Bernanke also noted that inflation has picked up some but that should also be temporary.

  • Morning News: July 13, 2011
    Posted by on July 13th, 2011 at 8:17 am

    Draghi Says EU Debt Crisis Is in New Phase

    E.U. Vows to Back Banks That Fail Stress Tests

    Moody’s Downgrades Ireland Debt to Junk Status

    China’s Economy Slowed a Bit in the 2nd Quarter

    Italian Borrowing Costs Rise on Debt Crisis Fears

    French Banks Face Greatest Italian Risk

    IEA: Saudi Domestic Crude Demand May Cap Exports

    Bernanke to Face Grilling on Jobs, Debt, Europe

    Stock Index Futures Gain on Signs of China’s Growth

    Netflix Rates Rise Up to 60% for DVD, Streaming

    Amazon Backs End to Online Sales Tax in California

    Capital One’s Earnings Rise 50%

    Electronic Arts to Buy PopCap Games

    Jeff Miller: How the Individual Investor Can Trade Like a Pro

    Joshua Brown: UBS: Apple TV Could Be Worth $100 Billion

    Be sure to follow me on Twitter.

  • Couldn’t Hold the 50-DMA
    Posted by on July 12th, 2011 at 4:19 pm

    So close but the S&P 500 just slipped below its 50-day moving average.

  • Minutes from the Fed’s June Meeting
    Posted by on July 12th, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    The Federal Reserve just released the minutes from its June meeting. By the way, the Fed’s Board has seven members but there are currently two vacancies. That means that even inside the Fed, unemployment is running at 28%.

    Here’s a part of the minutes:

    Most participants expected that much of the rise in headline inflation this year would prove transitory and that inflation over the medium term would be subdued as long as commodity prices did not continue to rise rapidly and longer-term inflation expectations remained stable. Nevertheless, a number of participants judged the risks to the outlook for inflation as tilted to the upside. Moreover, a few participants saw a continuation of the current stance of monetary policy as posing some upside risk to inflation expectations and actual inflation over time. However, other participants observed that measures of longer-term inflation compensation derived from financial instruments had remained stable of late, and that survey-based measures of longer-term inflation expectations also had not changed appreciably, on net, in recent months. These participants noted that labor costs were rising only slowly, and that persistent slack in labor and product markets would likely limit upward pressures on prices in coming quarters. Participants agreed that it would be important to pay close attention to the evolution of both inflation and inflation expectations. A few participants noted that the adoption by the Committee of an explicit numerical inflation objective could help keep longer-term inflation expectations well anchored. Another participant, however, expressed concern that the adoption of such an objective could, in effect, alter the relative importance of the two components of the Committee’s dual mandate.

    At the same time, the Fed released its revised economic forecast which you can see here.

    In response to today’s Fed minutes, gold for August delivery closed at $1,562.30 after getting as high as $1,574.30.

  • Public Storage +2,350% in 20 Years
    Posted by on July 12th, 2011 at 12:25 pm

    Here’s a look at Public Storage ($PSA) which is one of those quiet stocks that have been amazing performers over the last few decades. Here’s a company description from Hoovers:

    If the attic or garage runneth over, Public Storage can help. The real estate investment trust (REIT), is one of the largest self-storage companies in the US. It operates more than 2,100 storage facilities comprising some 135 million sq. ft. of storage space both at home and in Europe (through its Shurgard Europe affiliate). The firm’s self-storage properties, located in densely populated areas, generate some 90% of the company’s sales. Public Storage, which was founded in 1980, also rents trucks, and sells moving supplies such as locks, boxes, and packing supplies. It owns 41% of publicly traded PS Business Parks, an office building REIT.

    Over the last 20 years, the stock is up 2,350% and that doesn’t include dividends. The stock currently yields 3.2%.

  • Alcoa’s Earnings Fall Short
    Posted by on July 12th, 2011 at 10:56 am

    Alcoa ($AA) kicked off earnings season after the close yesterday when it reported Q2 earnings of 32 cents per share. Although that more than doubled last year’s result, it was a penny shy of Wall Street’s forecast. What’s most troubling is that Wall Street’s forecasts had been drifting lower over the past several weeks, and Alcoa still fell short.

    This may be a harbinger of a weaker-than-expected earnings season. So far, Alcoa’s stock is holding up in today’s market (it’s basically unchanged). The problem in looking at the earnings trend of a company like Alcoa is that so much of the business is tied to the direction of aluminum prices.

    Alcoa isn’t representative of the broader economy. Companies like UPS ($UPS) are much better for that kind of analysis. But Alcoa’s weakness could point to weakness in other cyclical stocks.

    Here’s a look at the trend in the S&P 500’s earnings. In the second quarter of 2007, the S&P 500 earned $24.06 which was its all-time peak. For Q2 of 2011, Wall Street expects $24.12 which will be a new record. (Note: The S&P 500 lost $0.09 in Q4 of 2008.)