The big story over the last couple of days continus to be oil. Yesterday, oil prices tanked by more than $5 after China raised the domestic price of refined products (gasoline, diesel, etc.). Why would that matter? The idea is that if more consumers have to pay the “real” price of energy (China, Malaysia, Venezuela, and other countries subsidize or cap the price of energy products for their citizens), energy use will fall and so will energy prices. Today, oil prices have come bouncing right back (+$3.50 or so as I write) amid reports that Israel is contemplating an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. That kind of volatility really gets the market’s blood pumping.

The other big news of the week? Many companies in the financial sector continues to plumb new depths. Almost every day, we hear about fresh losses, more capital raisings, and more regulatory trouble. The regional banks …

No, this is not a hotstocknot article. I wrote this article for NextInsight about one of the lesser-known stocks in my virtual portfolio, and thought I'd reproduce it here in my blog. As always, grab the facts, but be sceptical of my opinions and think it through yourself. You may be aware of a Stock Challenge organized by NextInsight and that I am one of the invited participants. In my virtual portfolio is a stock called Silverlake Axis, and I’m writing this article as many people are not familiar with it. The company is a software services provider for banks, with a focus on Asian banking. Here is how the company describes itself on its website: “Silverlake Axis is a leading provider of end-to-end universal integrated banking solution. The Group's award winning Silverlake Axis Integrated Banking Solutions are implemented at over 75 customer sites in Asia including 40% of the Top 20 ...

I wanted to follow up on the farm land, and related, stocks. Allow me to disclaim the hell out of this research. I do not vouch for the accuracy of any of the ticker symbols as things get lost in the translation going from the symbols on the local markets and the US five letter identifier. Further I have not done what I would call proper research on any of the names this merely an acknowledgment that these companies exist. This post is just my sharing what I have found so far but there is more looking still to be done. Remember the big macro which I think is that the dynamics of supply and demand for food are changing. There has been a combination of more demand from incrementally richer countries, investment demand for certain products, funky weather in some places (Australia had ...