Daily Markets - Financial News & Opinions

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• How Strong Leadership Generates Strong Shareholder Returns
• The Utter Uselessness Of Wind Power
• Lunar Phases And The Stock Market: A Follow-up
• Video: The Day Ahead: Fed’s Beige Book
• Forex Trading: Rebound Bullishness In AUD/USD
• A Different Story
• Singapore Stock Market:
• Forex Commentary: US Dollar Loses Ground To British Pound And Japanese Yen
• The Bullish US Dollar ETF (UUP) No Longer Affecting The Market Tick For Tick
• Impose A Windfall Profit Tax On Goldman Sachs’ High Frequency Trading
• China ETFs: Will Efforts To Boost Investment Pay Off?
• S&P 500 Breaks Rising Power Trend: Support Levels To Watch
• Now Is The Time To Go Nuclear
• Will America Learn This Thursday if SEC’s Mary Schapiro Is A Liar?
• Video: Pledging To Limit The Government’s Job Description

How Strong Leadership Generates Strong Shareholder Returns Posted: 12 Jan 2010 09:01 PM PST When it comes to long-term investing, how much can management and culture matter? A whole lot! Management can ruin a company or create and sustain a great one. Management and culture, along with operating and financial processes, are key components to generating superior shareholder returns. These factors can’t guarantee superior performance every time, of course. But on the whole, great companies consistently do better than not-so-great companies. On the flip side, unless you’ve just woken … [visit site to read more]

The Utter Uselessness Of Wind Power Posted: 12 Jan 2010 08:01 PM PST Cold Weather Update The principles have never been in doubt. Now, the cold weather of recent days has afforded a set-piece demonstration of the uselessness of wind turbines in the UK: data from this handy source. The contribution made by the current fleet of wind turbines has ranged from a little over 2% of total national requirements, to as low as 0.2% (low winds are often associated with sustained cold weather). This extreme swing is not predictable very far in advance, and … [visit site to read more]

Lunar Phases And The Stock Market: A Follow-up Posted: 12 Jan 2010 07:01 PM PST My apologies for not keeping up with the blog but family duty calls. I had to travel last week to bring my ailing 90+ year-old mother out of the rehab center and into hospice care. She’s survived a long, eventful and some might say traumatic life (a Holocaust Survivor). The odds of her recovering is slime so the best I can hope for is that her remaining days, weeks and perhaps months are painless and worthy of living. Now back to some more mundane topics. Over the past week, there were … [visit site to read more]

Video: The Day Ahead: Fed’s Beige Book Posted: 12 Jan 2010 07:00 PM PST The stories, data, and stocks that may have the greatest impact during the next trading session. … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: Rebound Bullishness In AUD/USD Posted: 12 Jan 2010 06:01 PM PST Price action on AUD/USD, a daily chart of which is shown, has made a swift rebound after breaking down below a long-term uptrend in late November. This rebound has brought the pair close to the 15-month high around 0.9400 that was hit in mid-November. In the course of the recent bullishness price has broken out above several resistance levels, including a short-term downtrend resistance line extending from the 0.9400 high, and has tentatively defied speculation that a new downtrend is in the … [visit site to read more]

A Different Story Posted: 12 Jan 2010 05:53 PM PST Three recent reports suggest that the “smart money” is moving in to scoop up the bargains in CRE: “‘Bottom-Feeding’ Investors Drawn to US Real Estate in Hope Rates Stay Low” (Financial Times) The beleaguered US commercial real estate sector has been attracting a new wave of money from sources including foreign banks, US private equity firms, and a leading Chinese sovereign wealth fund. Market participants warn that the activity represents “bottom-feeding” by opportunistic investors whose … [visit site to read more]

Singapore Stock Market: Posted: 12 Jan 2010 05:50 PM PST Morning Highlights Singapore market slipped into negative territory when trading started today as weighed by Wall Street’s decline and the Chinese central bank’s move toward tighter policy on Tuesday. The STI opened lower at 2906.20. Asia Travel broke high of 0.79 Singapore News Updates: CapitaLand has signed a Joint Venture agreement with Hoang Thanh Investment and Infrastructure Development Joint Stock Company, a real estate developer in Vietnam, to jointly develop a 14,000-square metre … [visit site to read more]

Forex Commentary: US Dollar Loses Ground To British Pound And Japanese Yen Posted: 12 Jan 2010 05:21 PM PST The U.S. Dollar finished higher on Tuesday against a trade-weighted basket of currencies while losing ground to the British Pound and Japanese Yen. Risk aversion was high as demand for safer assets rose after China’s central bank took action to prevent the economy from overheating. This was a strong hint that it was prepared to raise interest rates and end government stimulus measures. The GBP USD opened slightly better and advanced throughout the day following a report which showed that the … [visit site to read more]

The Bullish US Dollar ETF (UUP) No Longer Affecting The Market Tick For Tick Posted: 12 Jan 2010 05:01 PM PST There is a phenomenon going on now that is showing a clear change of character and I for one am happy about it. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (UUP), or the ETF for the dollar, is no longer affecting the market tick for tick such as it had for so many months. “The UUP has had up days that has seen the markets go up and now down days that has seen the market be flat to slightly down. I would be very happy to see that trade disappear in to the abyss and for now there is some … [visit site to read more]

Impose A Windfall Profit Tax On Goldman Sachs’ High Frequency Trading Posted: 12 Jan 2010 04:21 PM PST The American taxpayer bailed out Wall Street. How does Wall Street return the favor and refund the American taxpayer? Why is Washington pursuing this topic now? The Washington establishment feels the beating pulse of rage from the American public. I guess it would have been too much to expect the Washington crowd to proactively address the topic of repayment from its incestuous partners on Wall Street. In fact, we should expect to hear the Wall Street establishment bellow that they … [visit site to read more]

China ETFs: Will Efforts To Boost Investment Pay Off? Posted: 12 Jan 2010 04:05 PM PST Investors seeking to gain exposure to China have utilized exchange traded funds (ETFs), but now the country is beginning to open up its capital markets to foreign investors, with caution. The new Chinese policy may provide better efficiency in the markets. China’s economy has seen runaway growth in the last year, which is why the government took a few steps to keep things in check. One such move is raising the minimum reserve requirement put in place by its banks, guiding credit to sidestep … [visit site to read more]

S&P 500 Breaks Rising Power Trend: Support Levels To Watch Posted: 12 Jan 2010 04:01 PM PST Like a fever that does not seem to go away, the S&P 500 finally a lengthy rising consolidation trendline channel this morning and continues to fall by mid-afternoon. Let’s take a quick look at the pure price move over the recent weeks and then look at possible levels of support to watch. Sometimes it can be very helpful to take a pure price view of the market, especially with regard to determining the “behavior” or “characteristics,” such as the recent steeply rising uptrend … [visit site to read more]

Now Is The Time To Go Nuclear Posted: 12 Jan 2010 04:00 PM PST In 2010, I believe that the stars are aligning for nuclear power. In 2008, costs for everything (steel, concrete, copper, equipment, etc.) pretty much skyrocketed and a lot of developments in the nuclear space were either delayed or deferred. In 2009, the markets crashed and capital availability dried up. Again, many nuclear projects were delayed or deferred. But the world needs the energy. The so-called alternative energy systems — wind, solar geothermal — are starved for capital, … [visit site to read more]

Will America Learn This Thursday if SEC’s Mary Schapiro Is A Liar? Posted: 12 Jan 2010 03:45 PM PST Head of SEC, Mary Schapiro January 14, 2010 at 4pm U.S. Distict Court for the Southern District of N.Y. Presiding Justice, Jed Rakoff Will America learn this Thursday afternoon if SEC Chair Mary Schapiro did in fact lie verbally and in a proxy statement regarding the merger of the NASD with NYSE Regulation to form FINRA? As I highlighted in my commentary yesterday, “The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Should Investigate…”, I believe FINRA and Mary Schapiro are truly the … [visit site to read more]

Video: Pledging To Limit The Government’s Job Description Posted: 12 Jan 2010 03:03 PM PST This video seems to be gaining popularity online… though it probably doesn't benefit much from the overly feel-good music thumping in the background.   Nonetheless, in a series of "pledges" a few notable ones crop up: * "…to inform Congress that just like me they do not have an unlimited budget." * "…to remember that wanting to keep your own money isn't greed and spending other people's money isn't compassion." * "…to limit the government's job … [visit site to read more]

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