leh

Why I Bought AIG Last Week

This is a pure market sentiment trade IMO given the overwhelming number of unknowns and will be interesting to watch play out. I went long on Friday after watching the strong price action and seeing some substantial OCT call option volume. But the real reason I went long (besides the obvious financial/confidence floor the Fed loan provides) is shown in some of the other replies here, namely that AIG remains in many of our minds a valuable and venerable American institution/brand, no matter the damage wrecked by the credit swap derivatives. I'm reading posts on some of the stock boards by individual investors who are professionally employed in the insurance underwriting field and who are jumping in here with both feet. Why? They claim AIG is the 800-lb gorilla in this space and very profitable in this field. A formerly $60-70 stock at these $5 levels is indeed a compelling speculation, and in many ways a long stock position here can be regarded as a perpetual call option on the future of AIG.

Any guesses on a short-term top? I'm thinking $10 range within the next couple weeks.

Cramer Also Believes Cramer Has a Branding Problem

I agree with the last two posts. Barring yet another Clark Kent act in which JC morphs (in disguise of course) into the sober financial statesman/savior by day after cavorting on the tube as a rabid stock-hawking carnival barker by night, this aint gonna happen. Kind of like Howard Stern asking to become commissioner of the FCC. Cramer's already got the two-headed monster thing going; sprouting a third is simply asking too much IMO.

Course you can't shut this guy up regardless, so I'm sure he'll go on "advising" the officials from the bleachers as he swills his Ballantine Ale and showers abuse on the umps and players alike.

This Is Not "the Big One"

I say we cap CEO salaries--or tax 90% above certain levels to help finance this corporate bailout. Also, substantially raise tax rates on profits of any financial companies engaging in leveraged derivative trading--or ban it altogether.

Financial Crisis: This Is the Real Deal

Obama's a smarter, more intense and dedicated guy who is temperamentally better suited to the immense challenges ahead than Grandpa McCain, who in the end chose Bush in a skirt as his running mate. I also think Obama would be a much superior global diplomat, which ought not to be underestimated in a time when international cooperation is needed more than ever.

Palin may be a shrewd governor but she's far too much of a wild card for me, especially after 8 years of Stupid, and both she and Bush share the same maddening conviction that 1) they're somehow divinely inspired and 2) that they can just follow their gut and "not blink", and somehow this will suffice. We've had more than enough of this seat-of-the pants governance, and it's been disastrous.

Biden's a dedicated public servant with a deep background in both foreign affairs and the energy. In fact he authored a bill recently that would subsidize advanced battery development here in the US for hybrid applications--somethin... we desperately need.

IMO there's no comparison between the quality of the choices here, and I think the ongoing economic crisis will be deadly for the Republicans in November. It's already pulled McCain back down in the polls after his soccer mom bounce. Look for a landslide if things continue to deteriorate.

Attention Locusts: The Party Is Moving to Merrill and AIG

I agree this market is enough to make you want to walk away and find another trading vehicle less subject to the manic hedgies and their agendas. Personally I'm looking at FOREX--volume that dwarfs any equities market and makes it less susceptible to manipulation, excellent liquidity and spreads, technically more stable, etc. Opinions?

Worst Downgrades - Cramer's Stop Trading! (9/5/08)

Cramer's just trying to defend his precious bottom call on the financials from July--good luck with that. And what makes him so sure the hedgies are done with liquidations? Sure, he has some roots and contacts within that world, but tell me any of these sharks are going to share any kind of valuable information with a human bullhorn like Cramer and I have a few financial stocks I'll sell you real cheap named Fannie and Freddie.

I'd guess a technical sucker bounce here, then seriously lower through October--all this manic bottom picking is making me nauseous. NO one knows how many more hedge funds and/or banks are going to blow up over the next few months, and Doug Kass's recent bottom call is so hedged that it's virtually meaningless, at least without a time context.