searcher

Asset Allocation: Is the Old Normal Becoming the New Normal?

Even the relatively secure, less risk averse and more adventurous, all right greedy, would do well to keep sufficient cash to seize an opportunity afforded by a panic in an issue, if not the market itself.

Goldman Tries to Combat Its Bad Image

"God's work," doubt many of us are doing much of that, save those posting here, I'm sure. Vultures and such provide a service to Mother Nature. Really don't see the need for GS to apologize for being less deluded than the unfortunate majority. The seat of greed and hubris lies not solely or even principally with GS, but with all. I hope all this transference is doing some good as catharsis, but I doubt so. When and if the profit to be made by GS for their perfidy was apprehended, the security should have been acquired.

If This Is a Recovery...

How many years will it take till were being warned about a paucity of workers as the boomers die off?

The Too Big to Fail, Too Big to Exist Act of 2009

Don't see how Citibank could've ever been seriously considered as a 'refuge' for Wachovia or Merrill Lynch or any other entity. B of A, aka NationsBank et al, foolishly aspired to the failed Citibank ambition to be the bloated 'Empire of Capital'. The only plausibly rational move was Wells Fargo's acquisition of Wachovia. The main reason for the 'passive aggressive' regulatory posturing relates to off balance sheet liabilities that would boggle the mind.

U.S. Healthcare Legislation Investment Impact

Those enterprises that will profit from any increase in volume in patients and procedures would be the most likely to benefit. Abbott Labs, Covidien, Becton, Dicknson, C.R. Bard, Baxter Int'l etc.. Also, well capitalized generic drug makers. It's an ill wind that blows no one any good.

Study Debunks Another 'Active vs. Passive' Myth

No argument with the preceding; however, the threshold of performance 'not met' by the active managers in the small stock field is higher than that 'not met' by the passive managers in the larger stock field. The 61% to 60% is not going to dissuade wild gamblers like me.

The Trouble with Clean Coal

So, the 2nd L of T applies here by essentially saying you cannot ‘round-trip’ at a net gain. That makes a lot of sense. If C(oal) + O2 = H2O + CO2 + Energy(heat), then I guess I’d want to try to capture that darned CO2. Gas is awful pesky as it tends to leave home; even if in a ‘tank’. If ‘dissolved’ under pressure, that’s still a ‘tank’. So, then I’d next look to make a stable substance (other than coal – the forbidden ‘round trip’) that could be formed by CO2 + XX + Energy (0 to much less than that which is the point of the exercise). If there were some way to use photosynthesis in a closed system that you could ‘bleed’ off the oxygen and ‘harvest’ carbon based products, such would be a great science fiction resolution.

Natural Gas Extraction May Be More Expensive Than It Seems

So, the front end costs after the field has been found and 'proved' and demarcated entail drilling individual wells, including radial techniques, compressing water to hydraulically fracture the shale and to use manufactured ceramic spheres to retard the fissures from collapsing. Where does the water come from? Where does it go? Is the gas thus liberated migrate back up the same intrusion? What is done with the other associated petrochemicals (benzene etc.)? Have the true back-end costs been identified and recognized in the economic model for sustained 'production line' development?

'China Up / U.S. Down' Theme Checkup

How much of China's expansive policy went directly, without passing 'Go', into their stock market?

Healthcare Profits: Assessing Company Sensitivity to Obamacare

Herbal or alternative or fringe etc. medications are not the issue. Hard science pharma (or a reasonable facsimile in view of the delusional activities of quite a few R&D pharma outfits) is very very expensive and will definitely suffer. Perhaps I'm prejudiced but socialist schema tends to have a static as opposed to dynamic world view. I fear a concern with a apportioning the 'pie' will eclipse efforts to grow the 'pie'. If you think the accountants force triage healthcare now, just wait till the government has strangled the private sector with the Trojan horse of the public alternative.

I Heart ETNs

If an impairment in the credit worthiness of the note issuer becomes apparent signaling 'abandon ship', there's gonna be a whole bunch of folks at the gunnels. Bids will come down very quickly.

IndexIQ Launches Two Inflation Hedge ETFs

GRES looks to be a very expensive hedge over time.

A123 vs. BYD and Other Irrational Battery Investments

Most salient is "As near as I can tell, PHEVs and EVs will always be at the bottom of the lithium-ion food chain because there will always be more sensible applications that are far less price sensitive."

Nouriel Roubini, One on One: More Doom and Gloom

As I read the gold puffs, apparently gold is good for the coming inflation and good for the coming deflation and if it's both, never mind the order. It's good as gold. Hell, there's gotta be an incredible conspiracy that restrains gold from trading at $5k.

S&P 500 Price Change Frequency Distributions

Nonsense & phooey to any 'judgement' the precision afforded by mathematical modeling provides. Distributions are just that. Pretty good is damn good when you realize you cannot reify from distributions. Mathematical precision is not a guarantee of relevance. An idea of the distribution is really the best you can expect to be relevant to the market.