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Will Apple Beat 2009 Revenue Consensus?

Traders using purely fundamental analysis always find a reason to catch a falling knife. Do you really think Apple is going back to 170? Or even 120? Give me a break. The borrowed money that pushed it there dried up and like the rest of the market, the risk/reward for shorting AAPL is still better than for going long

Weighing the Government Action Options

If banks at risk raised deposit interest rates, they would have fewer problems getting funds. There is a lot of cash from the stampede out of riskier assets that would gladly sit in an FDIC insured account or CDs, if they paid 5-6% instead of 0.1-2.0%. Instead, bankers are crying wolf because they can't make a 5% spread anymore borrowing short to lend long, and the incompetent US govt is doing everything possible to prop up an unsustainable debt orgy without actually sweetening terms for those with capital

60% of Google Employee Stock Options Are Drowning

Technically the options are not "worthless". They are underwater. However, because the stock market could still go up, the options may be in the money later, and thus still have value today. IIRC there is an active market for Google ESOP options and I believe they can be traded even when underwater.

Kudos to the clever ones that exercised w/ a trailing stop around $700, and are now retired.

High Yield Spreads Hit Highest Levels Since 2002

Well, a 10% yield still sucks if you will lose 20% of your capital from defaults, plus 10% from inflation caused by the govt bail out printing press.

Is U.S. Debt Losing Creditworthiness?

Of course the US will pay. It will just print more money to do so.

The Outlook for Chip Stocks - 5 Analysts Discuss

Thanks. Good reading.

Outlook for Oil: 2008 Thus Far and a Preview of Coming Attractions

Oil may hit $500/b in 2012 simply due to the hyperinflationary bias of the federal reserve. They clearly intend to print their way out of bank/homeowner/govt insolvency.

But I do agree oil is likely to rise even priced in euros, gold, agg commodities, etc.

Short Selling Opportunity in Stocks, Bonds

Shorting gold stocks to go long physical gold is a suicide play. The gold stock beta vs physical gold is about 2. Perhaps that will change. Likewise, when jumping in front of a bus, perhaps the bus will stop in time. I wouldn't bet in favor of it though.

Claymore to Liquidate 11 of Its Least Popular ETFs

Yeah.. glad to see the death of some of the wanna-be-SPY products. How about more commodity or international ETFs, instead of yet more overpriced US equity ETFs that correlate highly w/ existing products?

Putin Backs Shell Into a Corner

What makes you think the acquisition probabilities are not already priced in?

Is the CPI a True Indication of What Lies Ahead for the U.S. Economy?

The data is historical (already priced) and does not suggest a dollar rally.. USD has been bleeding against a broad array of currencies for the past 5 years DESPITE other countries minting like mad. I've not seen much data on where the money is going but the US is certainly not the primary winner. Commodity-rich countries (Australia, Venezuela, Russia, OPEC) may be smiling the most.