Google and MBIA
Google shares are currently at their highest level since 2008. Shares of MBIA are also contributing to our Global Opportunities Portfolio.
Zynga and Jive top a busy IPO calendar this week.
This could be the busiest week in the US IPO market since 2007. A dozen companies are set to go public, with the energy sector well represented, along with the tech internet sector, according to the latest from Renaissance Capital. Of course, the highest-profile companies set to price are Zynga and Jive Software. Here’s what you .. read more
A Closer Look
Heads or Tails. It’s really anyone’s guess to where the markets will be headed over the course of the rest of the year. The last week of trading provided no new insight into the direction that the market will take. While we received “good” news on the European front, it wasn’t enough to propel us .. read more
Weekly Chart Review – C’est la vie!
Once again this week, strong economic data out of the U.S. was obfuscated by the ongoing crisis in Europe. For the week ending December 2nd, initial jobless claims dropped by 23K from 404K down to 381K. This is the lowest reading since February and the second lowest reading since the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, yet .. read more
In Defense of ETFs
Recently, Exchange Traded Funds have come under fire from all sides, being portrayed as risk-intensive instruments used and manipulated by speculators or market-driving, chaos-causing forces from hell. While ETF’s are not perfect (nothing, for that matter, is), State Street came out with a ETF-themed white paper that does a marvelous job at separating the facts .. read more
In The News – John Chapman
John Chapman, Chief Economist here at Alhambra,was recently featured in “The Freeman Ideas on Liberty“, one of the oldest and most respected libertarian journals in the United States. He, along with John Allison, published an article titled “A Return To Gold”, which detailed the shortcomings of fiat currency and the virtues of the gold standard. Here is .. read more
Attn: Boomers, stocks are the new bonds
Baby Boomers (1946-1964) face a dilemma. How do you adequately save for retirement while preserving purchasing power during a long retirement? May I suggest looking at high quality, high dividend yield equities? At this time, with equity valuations low and bond yields at historic lows, the case has become compelling. The S&P’s forward P/E ratio is .. read more
Weekly Chart Review – “Who loves ya, baby?”
After a historically bad Thanksgiving week for the S&P 500, the markets turned around with one of the best weeks since Spring of 2009. I’m calling this the Aristotelis “Telly” Savalas market. It starts with Greece and you end up with no hair. Markets around the world jumped higher after the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the .. read more
