Roy Mehta

Job cuts in the financial sector have gotten so bad that some unemployed workers are offering to work for free.

These people should be learning a new skill set. There just won't be as many finance jobs as there were before.

okupy.com

Reddit's Ad Experiment Is Good News for Conde Nast. Maybe for Digg, Too.

Yes, Reddit is good for the crowd they are going for. When I want funnier stuff with a little politics and news, I got to okupy.com.


On Mar 27 06:50 PM robert99 wrote:

> By the way, reddit is the best social bookmarking website on the
> internet, bar none. Go to digg if you prefer mindless top ten lists,
> pictures of celebrities, fast cars, and video game news. Go to reddit
> if you prefer politics, current events, international relations,
> applied technology, random humor (that's actually funny) and a surprisingly
> intelligent and rational group of commenters. At reddit, you never
> know what you're going to get, but you know it will be interesting.
> No, I don't work for reddit; I just enjoy the site immensely. I
> hope CondeNaste can find a way to capitalize on reddit without screwing
> it up, because it's one of the best things the internet has to offer.

News That Moved Wednesday's Market

Hey Garlicbulb,

Calling something a recession has become a tricky thing. You are right that Mr. Vitner is saying something strange in the quote, but that's why I thought it was interesting. There is the well known definition of what a recession is (two straight quarters with negative GDP), but does that really does that need to happen to say we are in a recession anymore? I think that has come up for debate recently. It "feels" like a recession to many Americans, is that enough? It looks as though it could be to Mr. Vitner, or at least that his (and perhaps Wachovia's) definition is not as rigid as the well-known definition. Also looking at other economic data, besides GDP, a case for recession could definitely be made.
Just my thoughts. Thanks for commenting Garlicbulb, hopefully some other people can share their thoughts.

News That Moved Thursday's Market

Gordon,
After last month's horrible Philly Fed reading I guess I was expecting the worst, and when we got something slightly better, I took the news as something positive. A -17.4 reading is nothing to get excited about.

But, I don't really rely on CNBC or much media to gauge how good a number is, I look at the market's reaction. The market jumped when the number came out, so I felt comfortable enough reporting it as something that was better than expected. Just wanted to give you my take. Thanks for the comments and always call me out if something doesn't seem right to you.

Roy

Who Is Jerome Kerviel?

yes, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered at SocGen. If this guy can do it, who knows what else people have done to cover up positions? I traded that Sunday night/ Monday morning when the european markets opened and there was a massive sell-off on their open (Germany's I think). The ER2 went down like 3.5% in the first minute. Are there traders at SocGen that understand market depth?
Jerome is going to end up writing a book and making millions too.

News That Moved Friday's Market

Hey kkin365,

Not sure what charts you are referring to. Check this out: bigcharts.marketwatch..... The 52-week low for CFC is $4.43, so I'm not real sure when the stock closed under $3. Also, rumors of the deal spread during Thursday's session and drove the price higher. Thanks for the insight Pete1212.

Roy

Pending Home Sales Climb Unexpectedly

Hey Guys,

I appreciate you visiting SA and leaving comments, even some that don't cast me in the best light, because I enjoy hearing other peoples' opinions. Please understand though, that we, as 'news brief' editors, for the most part try to present 'the story' such as it is, without offering our own opinion. If my bias appears in there, it was unintentional. In this story, I presented the economic figures and quoted analyst opinions about those figures. If that qualifies me for a spot on certain people's "idiot" lists, so be it.

Roy

Tuesday Wrap – Dow -0.29%, S&P -0.03%, NQ +0.22%

Hey Rdial,
Yeah, I think a lot of this rally has to do with the shorts getting squeezed after yesterday morning. What magnified it was that there was so much bad news early yesterday, that I could see a lot of people going short before the mkts opened yesterday also. One telling sign is that the Russell 2k has outperformed. I think a lot of is because so many people were short the Russell for a variety of reasons (small caps have little int'l exposure, get hit hard by energy prices, etc.), and now they are running to cover. In addition, the Russell is still about 3% from it high, so there's still room for it to run. Just my opinion, love to see what other people believe.

Thanks,
Roy

EBay Will Take a $1.4 Billion Charge Related to Skype

Hey Lisa,
Ebay bought Skype for $2.6 billion, with the potential for certain former shareholders to get another $1.7 billion depending on performance levels reached in 2008 and the first half of 2009. EBay said the $530 million payment "is reasonable given the progress and anticipated rapid growth of Skype's active user base." So, that $530 million is on top of the $2.6 billion, and there could be more payments related to acquisition later. Thanks for the question.

Roy

Friday Wrap – Dow -0.12%, S&P -0.30%, NQ -0.30%

Hey David,

Thanks for the idea. I will definitely check the movement of the dollar each day, and include it especially if there is a significant move. My goal is to make the daily column as useful as possible to readers, so please keep leaving any suggestions.

Roy

Consumer Confidence Number Comes Through

Hey NoFate,

Thanks for your comments. In the articles, it is our goal when we cover economic numbers to provide investors/traders with market moving data. The indicators may or may not be as accurate in forecasting as perceived, but they do have an effect people's views of the market, and people do trade off of it. If you look at a chart of any index future, you will see that that there were two distinct volume spikes during the morning (beside 9:30 of course) -- at 8:30 and 10:00 -- indicating the reports released at these times influenced that markets. There was some activity at 9:00 (when the RBC was reported), but it apparently did not garner the same level of attention as the others.

I will definitely pay more attention to the RBC index and watch for its accuracy and market impact in the future. Once again, I appreciate the comments.

Roy

US Market Fails to Dismiss Double Top Scenario

agreed jordan, this article states extremely obvious facts. It blew my mind when he said that the market would find resistance at its all-time high.

I wonder many of those calls Buffet has bought back considering that position has gone against him a lot.

US Market Fails to Dismiss Double Top Scenario

agreed jordan, this article states extremely obvious facts. It blew my mind when he said that the market would find resistance at its all-time high.

I wonder many of those calls Buffet has bought back considering that position has gone against him a lot.

How to Cash In on Last Week's Selloff - Barron's

hmmm....basically telling people to invest in S&P's largest holdings while most people are probably heavily invested in it or something similar already. Doesn't seem right to me. Smart guy like you has to be able to come up with something better than that.