Trade Radar Operator

What Price Safety? Time to Desert Stable Value Funds

Sometimes the Seeking Alpha editors take liberties with the posts that they publish. For example, they removed the link that I provided to previous posts on the subject. Here it is for those that are interested:
blog.trade-radar.com/s...

Also, the title has been made more provocative than that on the original post. I am not suggesting investors should flee stable value funds altogether, just that they should consider lessening their exposure.


On Oct 10 11:41 AM Alan Young wrote:

> I have done a lot of studying on investment, but this is my first
> encounter with the term "stable value fund." Sounds like a good idea,
> but what is it? Imagine my dismay when the article gives no definition,
> no explanation, no examples, not even links to the previous "several
> posts."
>
> Well, maybe "dismay" is too strong a word. But it sure makes the
> article useless for many readers.

Caution: Plenty of Event Risk on the Horizon

Manuel, you are correct. My caution arises from the fact that so many stocks have accomplished this. This indicator can't get much better but could easily get worse.


On Sep 14 10:02 AM manuel wrote:

> sorry I am learning, but if a shorter term MA(20) crosses a longer
> term(50) isn´t that a bullish sign?

Citigroup's Doomed IT Strategy

Digs - please don't confuse productivity with cost savings. Everything is 10 times harder to accomplish and takes 10 times longer now that more systems and services are integrated and rationalized. You are spot on, however, in your assessment of Citi's auditors.

Intel (INTC) Q109 EPS of 11 cents beats by 8 cents. Revenues $7.1B vs. consensus $6.98B. [PR]

If you look deeper into the numbers, the picture is not so rosy. They didn't take as huge a write-down as expected on certain assets and their tax rate was 1% instead of the expected 27%. Processor sales were down significantly. Don't get me wrong, the company did well under the circumstances, but this is not short sellers manipulating the market.

Sallie Mae: Subsidy Cuts Hurt, But Why So Bad?

Default rates on student loans are high and the government guaranties make it worthwhile for private lenders to offer these loans. Given that the government limits what interest rate can be charged to borrowers, the government has effectively caught lenders in a vise - they are unable to adjust credit cost according to creditworthiness if the lender wants to participate in the FFEL program.

Tech Bellwethers: Earnings Scorecard

Most analysts are of the opinion that the great results from Apple and IBM were company specific, not indicative of the tech sector as a whole. I was looking to confirm this by maintaining a scorecard. As good as Google did, their rate of growth is clearly slowing and the Adsense issue is troubling.

Apologies for not including the numbers for Apple.

Five Signals the Tech Slump Is Nowhere Near Over

DanM -

Your point about tech gains being minimal is quite valid and I did allude to that concept in a post titled "Who needs tech in a recession?"

As for the headcount reduction, I am referring to tech companies themselves, not their customers. It is not a sign of growth in the tech industry when tech companies are laying off employees.

In a Recession, Who Still Needs Tech?

Newborn - the APL part of a list of ticker symbols that Seeking Alpha creates. I agree it is in error. I suspect they meant to use AAPL.

Note there is another ticker error. The editor entered Nortel as the name of the company associated with NTAP. It should be Network Appliance.

UltraShort ETFs: At a Tipping Point?

Sheesh! I am happy to see this post generated so many comments; however, it was merely intended to communicate my musing on the current chart of QID and the fact that TA wasn't providing any predictive capability, even as we all seek a bottom. The post was not intended to be especially profound.

I agree it is best to examine the underlying indexes before trading the ultra ETFs and I always do. Still, doesn't hurt to look at the ultra ETFs as they kind of exaggerate the moves of the underlying which sometimes help provide further insight.

UltraShort ETFs: At a Tipping Point?

Sheesh! I am happy to see this post generated so many comments; however, it was merely intended to communicate my musing on the current chart of QID and the fact that TA wasn't providing any predictive capability, even as we all seek a bottom. The post was not intended to be especially profound.

I agree it is best to examine the underlying indexes before trading the ultra ETFs and I always do. Still, doesn't hurt to look at the ultra ETFs as they kind of exaggerate the moves of the underlying which sometimes help provide further insight.

How to Handle a Snap-Back Rally (If We Get One)

Actually, the Seeking Alpha editors came up this title. It is certainly more exciting than my original title: "Weekly Review - the beatings continue". Anyway, that's why I didn't quite deliver on the promise of the Seeking Alpha title.

SKF Regaining Its Old Form?

Yes, E F Nuttin. I also watched in pain as SKF just sat there. But that was over a week ago and more recently SKF has been acting somewhat more normally.

Yahoo Almost Gets It Right

All goods comments, everyone. I guess I just have trouble accepting that a bad merger is better than no merger.

In a Vulnerable Bond Market, Two ProShares ETFs To Consider

Charlie - as I understand it, the current account deficit is reduced as exports increase. If rates rise (bond prices go down), theoretically the dollar will increase in value. This would make US exports less competitive and might actually increase the current account deficit.

Google: Don't Hate the Player - Hate the Game

I also have positive attitude about Google but I have had the same experience with AdWords. I call it AdWords inflation (see my post at blog.trade-radar.com/2...)