Free Mind

Friday Roundup: Commodities, Emerging Markets

David thanks for your excellent charts and comments.
Strangely enough, from my own research, I came up with the same conclusions as the article you are quoting.

China's "stimulus" seems to have gone mainly into the assets market, provoking a new glut and getting us our latest spike in commodity prices.

As to the claimed spike in activity, it may well turn out to be fake. Cfr. on that point this Chinese scholar: search.japantimes.co.j...

The ethnic unrest in Xinjiang may also be confirming that China isn't as quiet as we think it is.

Why GM Is Ready for a Rebound

I concur... Mr. Newman, you should edit your article to warn the average investor that the stock is due to be a total loss when it will be finally delisted.

Quoting the ticker as well did not help to dispell the confusion that brought GM to jump by 36 % today....

Wednesday Outlook: Commodities, Global Markets

Thanks for your excellent and very nicely commented charts, David. I always look forward to finding them. :-)

Yesterday evening's trading was quite animated, with people grabbing puts for whatever price, on the close...

Fear is back, even though we might have a small bounce today. :)

I've been a bit mystified by the resilience of the small caps (IWM) in the face of the move down...

No real fundamental reason to keep holding the "junk".

RSX: From Russia with Love?

Yes, Ron, I did read that part. But the political instability and lack of economic reform make it a doubtful place to invest on the medium term either.

Russia has not yet addressed issues dating back to the fall of communism and has not yet developed an industry of quality. And their structural deficiency with democratic politics keeps them open for a resurgence of communism or a further development of aggressive nationalism.

The main strength of Russia is commodities. But in a deflationary scenario, even that will not be sufficient to get it over its economic difficulties.

So, in my view, I'd rather forget Russia for the time being - unless there is a "velvet revolution" of some sort over there. I guess I can still be a dreamer...


On Jul 07 01:09 PM Ron Rowland wrote:

> Free Mind, did you read the part in the article where it says "...now
> may not be an ideal time to initiate new long positions.."?

RSX: From Russia with Love?

Is Russia really the place to be right now? They are almost bankrupt, the oil dividends are flying away as we speak and they haven't yet solved their numerous economic inefficiencies...

Smart money is currently fleeing Russia, not investing in its markets (if I except Pepsi which thrives on the Russian thirst for symbols).

The next shock for the financials is expected to come from the East... Notably for European and Swedish banks, heavily burdened with loans in Eastern Europe and Russia.

Dennis Kneale: The Ultimate Contrarian Indicator

Absolutely... He hides his ignorance behind attacks on bloggers... But is absolutely ignorant (among others on the Vix, if I have to believe ZeroHedge). Not that it is a huge difference from the rest of the stock pumpers at CNBC.

If Goldman Sachs' Secret Sauce Is Compromised, What Happens Now?

I have just one issue here... Why on earth is this guy uploading such sensitive material from his workplace? He could have saved it on a usb disk and uploaded from wherever else (a cybercafé for instance).

For being a computer wiz, that does not talk favorably of his intelligence. Or is there more to the story than meets the eye?

Green Shoots: Starting to Wither...Soon to Die

This wasn't an occurrence of green shoots... This was "pink shoots", just as pink as the elephants some think they can see. :D