BlackBerry (BBRY) +3.6% after: 1) Announcing two new board members: former Verizon CTO Dick Lynch, and former Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg. 2) Receiving an upgrade from Wells Fargo, which likes BlackBerry's risk/reward and thinks its "valuation already discounts limited BB10 demand." Bernstein upgraded BlackBerry on Monday. [View news story]
Most have thrown in the towel on BBRY. The company has already lost so much mkt share, there's little remaining to lose. With its new BB10, which imo is underestimated, the company is positioned to make an impressive comeback.
"Asian-Americans are the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States," the Pew Research Center wrote in recent massive study. The WSJ discusses the rise of Asian-Americans in a weekend essay, saying that they "have become the immigrant group that most embodies the American promise of success driven by will and resolve." [View news story]
Regardless of race or gender, the "American promise of success driven by will and resolve" tends to find those who are willing to leave excuses behind and work toward the venerable goal of achievement and success.
It shouldn't come as any surprise that it works this way.
U6 remained at 14.7% (the headline number is U3). See table A-15 at: http://1.usa.gov/T7xXI1
Note: U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force"
Interest rates on Treasurys are bound to go up someday, right? Don't be so sure. The bond vigilantes have been tamed, and observers note that private holders have been largely replaced by "uneconomic" buyers who will hold bonds at any price: "The single biggest mistake that smart people have made over the past few years is assuming that interest rates have to go up." [View news story]
Rates WILL go up "Someday" - the question is when.
The London Whale was hooked by a NYC "monster." The tale of how Boaz Weinstein and other hedge fund managers took JPMorgan for billions. Now running his own money, Weinstein was once a whale himself on the wrong side of a trade, he and his team at Deutsche Bank losing $1.8B in 2008. [View news story]
Fitch downgrades 5 Greek banks, including National Bank of Greece, to CCC from B- following an earlier downgrade of the sovereign to CCC. "An exit of Greece from EMU ... could be followed by a withdrawal of international support," and widespread private sector (in addition to public sector) defaults. [View news story]
Default is inevitable imo. Get it over-with and move on.
Facebook (FB +0.6%) closes at $38.23 following an epic final hour of trading. Shares spent an enormous amount of time between $38 and $38.05, without ever breaking below the IPO price. Underwriters are widely seen as responsible for the support (I, II, III), though their apparent efforts couldn't prevent the NASDAQ from falling 1.2%, or a general bloodbath from occurring among social networking and other Facebook-related stocks. [View news story]
Thousands of demonstrators are taking advantage of the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago to stage a protest today, chanting mostly about economic issues that have little to do with the summit's topic: The war in Afghanistan and other security issues. President Barack Obama and representatives from some 60 countries are due to arrive soon for the two-day meeting over the weekend. [View news story]
Take daily showers, Get educated in skills with value, Get a job.
One of the reasons for Facebook's (FB) less-than-stellar performance today may be due to the fact that the system became so clogged that traders backed away, says CNBC's David Faber. The big mid-day drop - from $40 to $38 - apparently happened because the Nasdaq temporarily stopped taking orders at one point, which created enough uncertainty that traders on many desks stopped trading the shares altogether. The SEC has launched an investigation into the issue. (video) [View news story]
Overvalued, over hyped Garbage imo. See ya in the twenties, then we'll see....
Freddie Mac Gets Paid To Obstruct Refinancings [View article]
Long ago, I was taught that if you can't put at least 20% down on a home, you cannot afford it. The housing bubble wouldn't have been anywhere near as vicious if 20% down remained the norm. That never should have changed
"2012 will give us the tightest year of apartment vacancies in recorded history," writes Karl Smith. The ensuing higher rents are obviously a boon to single-family housing as buying becomes cheaper than renting, but Smith sees the chance of a "transformative boom" in multifamily building that will not only charge the economic recovery, but alter the look of our cities. [View news story]
Those who cannot find jobs which provide the needed funds for a down-payment on a home are forced to rent. Under a weak economy, renting becomes one of few options. Buying is not an option.
Eighteen months on, there has been no real explanation for what caused the "flash crash" and no evidence that the fundamental problems behind it have been fixed, which means 2012 could bring another, potentially more damaging freefall in the markets. [View news story]
Among my observations as one who traded during the flash crash were that the HFTs and many MMs pulled their bids. Without such support, the 'crash' occurred.
Since then, stock breakers (for better or for worse) have been implemented which now halt such crashes for a few minutes.
BlackBerry (BBRY) +3.6% after: 1) Announcing two new board members: former Verizon CTO Dick Lynch, and former Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg. 2) Receiving an upgrade from Wells Fargo, which likes BlackBerry's risk/reward and thinks its "valuation already discounts limited BB10 demand." Bernstein upgraded BlackBerry on Monday. [View news story]
BBRY higher.
Apple Needs Product Diversification [View article]
With today's news, that's proven to be a great prediction - nice job.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) says it intends to buy enterprise Wi-Fi equipment startup Meraki for $1.2B in cash and retention incentives, and to make it into its Cloud Networking Group. The deal's expected to close in Q2 of Cisco's fiscal 2013 (which ends in January). [View news story]
"Asian-Americans are the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States," the Pew Research Center wrote in recent massive study. The WSJ discusses the rise of Asian-Americans in a weekend essay, saying that they "have become the immigrant group that most embodies the American promise of success driven by will and resolve." [View news story]
It shouldn't come as any surprise that it works this way.
Jack Welch is only half right - don't trust the numbers in any jobs report, not just the latest one. Revisions on top of revisions... the vast discrepancy between two sets of employment totals... lumping part-time workers with full-timers. But the numbers aren't rigged; if they were, the BLS isn't doing a very good job of it. In 2011: 153K jobs created per month. So far in 2012: 146K/month. [View news story]
http://1.usa.gov/T7xXI1
Note: U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force"
Interest rates on Treasurys are bound to go up someday, right? Don't be so sure. The bond vigilantes have been tamed, and observers note that private holders have been largely replaced by "uneconomic" buyers who will hold bonds at any price: "The single biggest mistake that smart people have made over the past few years is assuming that interest rates have to go up." [View news story]
The London Whale was hooked by a NYC "monster." The tale of how Boaz Weinstein and other hedge fund managers took JPMorgan for billions. Now running his own money, Weinstein was once a whale himself on the wrong side of a trade, he and his team at Deutsche Bank losing $1.8B in 2008. [View news story]
Fitch downgrades 5 Greek banks, including National Bank of Greece, to CCC from B- following an earlier downgrade of the sovereign to CCC. "An exit of Greece from EMU ... could be followed by a withdrawal of international support," and widespread private sector (in addition to public sector) defaults. [View news story]
The setting of the sun will not be delayed.
Facebook (FB +0.6%) closes at $38.23 following an epic final hour of trading. Shares spent an enormous amount of time between $38 and $38.05, without ever breaking below the IPO price. Underwriters are widely seen as responsible for the support (I, II, III), though their apparent efforts couldn't prevent the NASDAQ from falling 1.2%, or a general bloodbath from occurring among social networking and other Facebook-related stocks. [View news story]
Thousands of demonstrators are taking advantage of the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago to stage a protest today, chanting mostly about economic issues that have little to do with the summit's topic: The war in Afghanistan and other security issues. President Barack Obama and representatives from some 60 countries are due to arrive soon for the two-day meeting over the weekend. [View news story]
Get educated in skills with value,
Get a job.
One of the reasons for Facebook's (FB) less-than-stellar performance today may be due to the fact that the system became so clogged that traders backed away, says CNBC's David Faber. The big mid-day drop - from $40 to $38 - apparently happened because the Nasdaq temporarily stopped taking orders at one point, which created enough uncertainty that traders on many desks stopped trading the shares altogether. The SEC has launched an investigation into the issue. (video) [View news story]
Freddie Mac Gets Paid To Obstruct Refinancings [View article]
Some Context For Apple's Massive Numbers [View article]
"2012 will give us the tightest year of apartment vacancies in recorded history," writes Karl Smith. The ensuing higher rents are obviously a boon to single-family housing as buying becomes cheaper than renting, but Smith sees the chance of a "transformative boom" in multifamily building that will not only charge the economic recovery, but alter the look of our cities. [View news story]
Eighteen months on, there has been no real explanation for what caused the "flash crash" and no evidence that the fundamental problems behind it have been fixed, which means 2012 could bring another, potentially more damaging freefall in the markets. [View news story]
Since then, stock breakers (for better or for worse) have been implemented which now halt such crashes for a few minutes.