Beware the Conflicts of Interest in Money Management
In 1954, after 25 years, the Dow Jones Industrial Average regained its previous all-time high set in August of 1929. Coincidentally, that same year Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith published his landmark study of the debacle, The Great Crash: 1929. Galbraith was no fan of unfettered capital markets, and blamed the crash on rampant speculation, among other things, .. read more
Independent Adviser v Broker/Dealer
I don’t even feel compelled to write anything…these parting words say it all. Op-Ed to the NYT from departed Goldman Executive Director, Greg Smith, Why I am Leaving Goldman Sachs: To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about .. read more
The 17-year Market Cycle, Revisited
Joseph Gomez, Sr. Investment Advisor As of today, the S & P 500 is up 11% for 2012, a 4 year high. I believe we are within weeks/months from the point where investors will exit the “dis-belief stage” of a bull market (marked by historically low volumes) to the “acceptance stage” (marked by increased volume and .. read more
General Motors: An Emblem of a Potemkin Economy
Thinking Things Over March 11, 2012 Volume II, Number 10: General Motors: An Emblem of a Potemkin Economy By John L. Chapman, Ph.D. Washington, D.C. There were no private investors or companies out there willing to take a chance on the auto industry. Nobody was lining up to give you guys loans. Anyone in the financial .. read more
A Closer Look
As expected, the S&P 500 corrected slightly in the beginning of the week, but succeeded in only finishing down three straight days before a rally pushed the index back close to the highs. As for the small cap stocks, the Russell 2000 fell back to its 50-day moving average, before bouncing off its upward trendline. .. read more
Weekly Economic & Market Review
Is the Greek debt crisis over? Based on the stock market reaction last week one is tempted to say, yes, finally the Greek problem has been solved. Stocks sold off early in the week when it looked as if the deal might not be fully subscribed but recovered as European leaders managed to twist enough .. read more
Trend Watcher – Is Consumer Discretion an Oxymoron?
Joseph Gomez, Sr. Investment Advisor and Portfolio Manager Up until this Tuesday, the S&P 500 had closed in overbought territory (more than one standard deviation above its 50-day MA) every single day this year. The 1.5%+ decline on Tuesday moved the S&P 500 back into “neutral” territory for the first time in 43 trading days. While the .. read more
Suffering the Dead Money of QE and LTRO
There still persists in the minds of both investors and policymakers a need to believe in the printing press as universal financial salvation. First it was quantitative easing (QE) in the US. In the past few months the European Central Bank (ECB) has upped the debasement ante by twice engaging in Long-Term Refinancing Operations (LTRO), .. read more
