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John Dalt
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John Dalt is a retired small business owner who is now operates galtstock.com for stock investors and traders.
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Galtstock
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MarketToday
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  • 235 Years of Honor
    Yesterday was the 235th birthday of the founding of the United States Marine Corp. I talked to an old friend who left his leg in Vietnam, and thanked him for his service to our country. He was on his way to a ceremony in his home town and then into Kansas City for lunch with officers and other Marines. I thanked him for his service, and suggested he puff out his chest today. A couple of other calls to “leathernecks” to thank them for their service left me with a lump in my throat.  Lunch was with an old friend that received a Bronze Star for his heroic actions in Vietnam.
    Iwo Jima Memorial
    Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington, D.C.
    21,570 Japanese and 6,821 Marines Killed in the Battle of Iwo Jima
    Thinking about my friends and others that gave the last ounce for us makes all the daily work we do in the market seem insignificant.  Bob Parsons is the founder and President of GoDaddy.  They host our website.  Bob Parsons is a Marine.  Each year Bob sends out his tribute to the Marine Corp.  Maybe his tribute will encourage you to make a few calls to men you know that spent time fighting for your freedom.
    I encourage you to make a few calls, you will be better for it.  The Marine Corp was founded 235 years ago.  A committee of the Continental Congress met in Tun Tavern in Philadelphia.  They drafted a resolution to form two battalions of Marines to fight for independence at sea and shore.
    The resolution was approved on Nov. 10, 1775, officially forming the Continental Marines.  After organizing, the force was ready in early 1776.  According to Answers.com the present day Marine Corp consists of 203,000 active duty, and 40,000 in reserve.  The Corp motto is Semper Fidelis, Latin for “always faithful.”
    Today is Veteran’s Day.  The markets are open, but stock trades made earlier in the week will not be ‘settled’.  Take some time from your day to attend a ceremony or thank a veteran.
    With all of the above, we want to make our annual suggestion to think of using Worcester Wreath Co. for a nice gift for friend or customer.  Worcester grows the balsam wood, makes the wreaths and ships them to your address.  This Company’s president, Morrill Worcester donates wreaths every year for Arlington National Cemetery.  Maybe a little bit of the money you spend with him will help him continue this philanthropy. Morrill started by giving 5,000 wreaths to decorate the graves at Arlington National Cemetery in 1992
    Wreaths at Arlington Cemetery
    Arlington Cemetery with Worcester Wreaths
    This year Wreaths Across America will decorate over 100,000 heroes’ graves all over the world.   You can read about this company’s commitment to our fallen heroes.  Wreath laying day is the second Saturday in December, this year falling on the eleventh.  Wreaths Across America is a 501c3 organization that organizes the wreath ceremonies at 300 locations in the U.S. and 24 foreign cemeteries where our fallen heroes rest.  There are few charities more deserving of our support.  You can donate at Wreaths Across America.
    Quote:
    War does not determine who is right, only who is left. - Bertrand Russell



    Disclosure: No Positions
    Tags: Veteran's Day
    Nov 11 11:32 AM | Link | Comment!
  • Beware of China bearing Gifts
    The Greek’s gift of the Trojan horse to Troy allowed entry into the city so it could be taken by the hidden solders when the Roman’s were drunk.  In a turnabout that only Julius Ceasar could imagine, Greece hosted Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao this weekend.
    What does a country do when the debts come due, and you need to buy some friends?  The only capital you have left is political.  Chinese Premier Wen brought promises of a $5 billion dollar credit line for Greek companies to buy Chinese built ships, and a commitment for the ChiComs to buy additional Greek sovereign debt.
    China will upgrade Greece’s Piraeus port to become a distribution center for Chinese exports to Europe.  Chinese companies will be encouraged to buy Greek products and citizens to vacation in Greece.  Wen targeted trade between the two countries to grow to $8 billion in five years.
    What did the Greek government give the ChiComs in return?  Respect for the “One China Policy” (there goes Taiwan).  Greece will back China in any U.N. climate change language that is not favorable to China.
    Greece now supports China’s initiative to ‘reform’ the international financial system and supervision of developed country’s economies.  Greece joined China in support of strict adherence to WTO rules and removal of trade barriers.
    Premier Wen Jiabao & Pime Minister Papandreou
    Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou congratulated Wen for the 61st anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China.
    This all reminds me of the old joke, “Would you sleep with me for a million dollars?”  After the considered answer of “Yes” from the debutante, the cad then asked “How about for five bucks?”  “What do you think I am?” exclaimed the young lady.  The cad replied, “We have already established that, now we are negotiating the price.”
    Turbo Tim Geithner and more than a few congressmen should start to understand how the game is played.  We fear they have on their rose colored glasses.  The U.S. administration and congress may not realize until too late in the evening they are about to be used and abused.
    What does the U.S. have in political capital we will trade away when our Treasuries are not in demand?  Who will buy our debt when it finally becomes obvious we can never repay all the current accounts and honor our future entitlements?
    Premier Wen is visiting Belgium, Italy and Turkey this month.  We see more poker chips on the table, with the short stack players throwing in their hands.  The Bluff is over.
    We are long the UUP etf for a short term bounce in the dollar.  We feel the dollar is oversold at this time



    Disclosure: Positions: Long UUP
    Tags: UUP, currency, exchange rates
    Oct 07 12:53 PM | Link | Comment!
  • Is The Uptrend Over?
    We have been warning our premium subscribers of our fear the market will experience a hard sell off in August or September, retesting the low of 1010 set on July 1.  In our letter to Buy, Sell, Hold subscribers last night, we said we are not as convinced lately this must occur although we still believe it is possible.
    A chart of the S&P 500 may help explain our concern.  This is a “point and finger” chart that helps us identify the trend in the market.
    S & P 500 Point & Finger Chart 8.18.10
    The columns of X’s are uptrends, and the 0’s are when the market is going down.  The chart has the big past trends; the red line identifies the downtrend in late ’08 and early ’09.  Then the blue line shows the uptrend that began in March of ’09
    The question we are asking is, “Did the uptrend end in April ’10? Or to put it another way, “How long before a Red Line appears above last four months?”  A red line would signify the tops of any rallies in a downward trending market.  We could drew a straight line from the top at the end of April (4 & 5 signify month in top of columns) sloping downward across the tops of the columns to the present.  We could then draw a line from the bottom of the column at 7/1/10 sloping upward across the bottoms of the columns.
    These two lines form a cone that will meet in the next few days (weeks?).  The market is going to have to push through one of these two intermediate trend lines.  Which will it be, up or down?  When one of the trends is violated, we expect the movement to be aggressive because it will verify a new short term trend for traders.
    One hint; StockCharts automatically calculates a value.  In this chart it is (drum roll please), Bearish Price Objective 1010.0  Like the TV commercial says “What do I know; I’m just the 300 pound Gorilla in the room!”
    Our investing advice today, watch your stop losses.



    Disclosure: No Positions
    Tags: Stock Rally, Resistance, Support, Technicals
    Aug 18 7:11 PM | Link | Comment!
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