• Citigroup Is About to Break the Buck
    Posted by on March 5th, 2009 at 10:27 am

    The stock got down to as low as $1.02 today. Not too long ago, the company used to earn about that amount each quarter.

  • Cowboys Cut Terrell Owens
    Posted by on March 5th, 2009 at 7:57 am

    terrell_owens_pink_tuxedo.jpg
    The Dallas Cowboys have cut wide receiver Terrell Owens. I mention this because I believe I’m the first person to document TO-related events to the stock market:

    December 7, 1973: Owens born in Alabama. Dow rises 3% to 838.05.
    October 14, 2002: Sharpie Incident. Dow rises 27 points to 7,877.40.
    November 15, 2004: Desperate Housewives Incident. Dow rises 11 to 10,550.24.
    September 27, 2006: Owens denies suicide attempt. Dow rises 20 points to 34 points shy of an all-time high.

    I’m guessing being cut is a bullish event but I’m honestly not sure.

  • The True Measure of Inflation
    Posted by on March 4th, 2009 at 11:37 pm

    Mark J. Perry, a professor at Michigan, has a fascinating chart I’ve added below. It shows the truest measure of inflation—how much time it takes to buy certain items. By this measurement, most consumer goods are dramatically cheaper than they were 60 years ago.
    time030409.jpg
    I would add that this as dramatic as this chart is, it probably understates the case of deflation because it doesn’t adjust for the dramatic rise in quality.

  • Jimmy Cayne on Geithner
    Posted by on March 4th, 2009 at 11:16 pm

    The former CEO of Bear Stearns opines on Tim Geithner:

    The audacity of that p—k in front of the American people announcing he was deciding whether or not a firm of this stature and this whatever was good enough to get a loan,” he said. “Like he was the determining factor, and it’s like a flea on his back, floating down underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, getting a h–d-on, saying, ‘Raise the bridge.’ This guy thinks he’s got a big d–k. He’s got nothing, except maybe a boyfriend. I’m not a good enemy. I’m a very bad enemy. But certain things really—that bothered me plenty. It’s just that for some clerk to make a decision based on what, your own personal feeling about whether or not they’re a good credit? Who the f–k asked you? You’re not an elected officer. You’re a clerk. Believe me, you’re a clerk. I want to open up on this f—-r, that’s all I can tell you.

    This vaguely reminds me something but I can’t quite place it.

    Willard: They told me that you had gone totally insane, and that your methods were unsound.
    Kurtz: Are my methods unsound?
    Willard: I don’t see any method at all, sir.
    Kurtz: I expected someone like you. What did you expect? Are you an assassin?
    Willard: I’m a soldier.
    Kurtz: You’re neither. You’re an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill.

  • Dennis Kneale as Dexter?
    Posted by on March 4th, 2009 at 7:34 pm

    The Reformed Broker gives us CNBC Separated at Birth?
    BTW, Ron Insana is the best.

  • Obama Says Buy!
    Posted by on March 3rd, 2009 at 7:47 pm

    Sorta:

    “What you’re now seeing is profit and earning ratios are starting to get to the point where buying stocks is a potentially good deal if you’ve got a long-term perspective on it.”

    The president later failed to mention what business school he didn’t attend.

  • Investor Quiz: Guess What’s Down for 11 of the Past 12 Sessions?
    Posted by on March 3rd, 2009 at 7:00 pm

    I’ll give you a hint: It begins with S&P and ends with 500.
    Give up?
    The last time this happened was May 8 to 24, 1984.
    The mega-bear market that ended in 1982 finished with 14 down days in 15 sessions.

  • The P/E Sits Just Above November’s Low
    Posted by on March 3rd, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    Despite yesterday’s unpleasantness, the market’s P/E Ratio remains a hair above the low from November. What this means is that stock prices have fallen a tiny bit less than earnings. Of course, there won’t be much of any earnings soon.
    image780.png

  • Ugh!
    Posted by on March 2nd, 2009 at 6:11 pm

    Today was a wipeout. The S&P 500 dropped below 700 for the first time since October 28, 1996, just days before the 1996 Presidential Election. To add some perspective, Barack Obama was just 35 years old at the time. Neither of his children was even born.
    The Dow dropped to 6763.29. Obviously, traders were glued to this site since the Dow closed within inches of the Fibonacci number 6765.

  • Since September the Dow Utilities are Up 118%!
    Posted by on March 2nd, 2009 at 2:40 pm

    By September, I meant the one in 1929.