Vinsanity

S&P: Hyper Exuberance Brings 66% Chance of New Lows Ahead

i can see the sky thru my roof already...i need a TARP.

Boom or Bust Cycle: Where Are We Now?

Dave, this ain't America's Next Top Model and you ain't Tyra Banks either, chief. Restrain your commentary to the intellectual debate.

I am a committed bear (took the red pill in Feb 08) this is one of the few bullish positions that actually make sense to me. Carry on Alex.

Why This Rally Will Continue

Mr. Graham, you cite irrationality often in this article, but then try to rationally support reasons for the current situation to continue. That , on its face, is irrational.

Some Graham and Dodd Type Thoughts on Stocks vs. Bonds

bonds have had a bad rap for the past decade because individual investor heuristics favor get-rich quick schemes of stocks. Then, investors complain that the stocks that could have made them rich if they sold at a premium valuation fell back to book value.

Every investor should own some bonds (20%, 33%, etc.) in their portfolio, regardless of age unless you are a a savvy stock analyst. Period.

Sugar, India and Monsoons

"Obviously India is meddling with the free market in sugar... Economists say India’s approach to regulating sugar is an example of how populist policies can hurt the very people they were meant to help: farmers and the rural poor.
Only a "free capitalist" market, as we have in the U.S. can work..."

Corn subsidies? Bailouts? Let us review current events...otherwise an excellent article but I can't get past this statement.

Why Everything You've Heard About Leveraged ETFs Is Wrong

another way to combat the misconceptions is for investors to perform due diligence before forming conceptions...

but in our Twitter-fied world, a name change would save some bloodshed.


On Aug 05 09:09 AM Baboon wrote:

> Simply adding the word 'daily' to the leveraged etfs' names would
> help considerably in dispelling many misconceptions about them.

Sovereign Debt Risk Declines

EMB - Sovereign EM Debt. The only economies growing GDP, right?

Madoff's Investors Don't Deserve Compensation or Sympathy

Social Security is a Ponzi scheme with good intentions.

Also, I expect to see a suit against the regulators who should have to answer for the paper trail they ignored from Markopolos. Not only is Madoff liable, but so should be the negligent regulators.

This was a failure of individuals, not the system.

On Jul 01 10:35 AM RiskAverseAlert wrote:

> First, "Diversification" is NOT "Investment 101." Read Gerald M.
> Loeb's "The Battle for Investment Survival." Let someone who lived
> through the Crash of '29 and subsequent bloodbath correct this bit
> of misinformation. You want to talk "propaganda?" The "balanced and
> diversified" mantra is it.
>
> Second, the Fed and Treasury have TRILLIONS for "structured finance"
> gangsters who are no less guilty of perpetrating a Ponzi scheme dwarfing
> Madoff's by several orders of magnitude. Most folks who invested
> with Madoff were not terribly sophisticated investors. They should
> be made whole because those whom they believed were watching the
> hen house were, in fact, in on the fox's wink and a smile.
>
> That the investing public is largely unsophisticated is more than
> spoken for by your "Investment 101." That compassion is missing in
> speaking about a fraud whose life should have been ended long ago
> (because its existence was in all probability known), speaks for
> the terrible problem America faces when opinion-makers reveal themselves
> as ripe for fascism.

Shorting the Brown Shoots

That depends on the nature of your relationship. If you have given them control and discretion and the prospectus says "No Shorting", guess what?

If it is a non-discretionary broker relationship, then they are flat lying to you to make you leave them alone. I will assume you will educate your self on how to sell short, because that button is right next to "buy" and "sell" so it is an achievable goal and concept.




On Jul 01 10:14 AM wg wrote:

> I keep hearing everybody recommending "shorting' this and that stock
> or treasury bond. Well how in hell do you do it? I'm with Merrill
> Lynch, and my brokers say they don't have the authority to short
> stocks.

10 Top Global ETFs

EM being the largest could also mean that investors need an easy way to get invested in the world's smaller exchanges, and VWO is a lot easier than calling your broker to buy a foreign ordinary onn the Kuala Lumpur exchange.

The Anti White Paper: Investing Need Not Be So Complicated

Mebane Faber's way is pretty simple from the top down...and it works.

www.mebanefaber.com

Country P/E Ratios

Taiwan? Corrupt?

On Jun 25 01:45 PM InnocentsAbroad wrote:

> Of interest, it appears as if the P/E ratio is related to rule of
> law. Corrupt countries demand a higher P/E ratio. Might I suggest
> normalizing the P/E ratio with a corruption index and an accounting
> accuracy index.

Federal Reserve Balance Sheet: Week of June 17

Maiden Lane are the off-balance-sheet LLCs setup to hold the toxic assets (CMBS, MBS, subprime mortgage securitization zombies). You know, since it is against the law for the Fed to hold anything that risky.


On Jun 19 08:21 AM paulsjj wrote:

> Whats "Maiden Lane". A lot of your readers are not familiar with
> the wall street back office jargon you use.

Comparing India Funds: iShares vs. PowerShares

EPI is new and quasi-actively managed. Not the first time I have failed to see the WisdomTree offer in an India review.

India: Singh's Scale of Victory a 'Game Changer'

do not discount mood when investing. Cranky American shoppers could choke the US economy and markets, just like emboldened Indian ones could positively impact future fortunes.

Mood = Investor Sentiment

On May 18 03:28 PM TraderMark wrote:

> Sold my HDB (99.9% of it) this AM
>
> I would not compare ICICI to HDCB - bit differnt niches and managements.
> That said, of course ICICI went up more today.
>
> Will buy on pullbacks - people acting as if Indian world changed
> overnight... good long term tailwind, nothing really changed instantly
> other than mood.