Stock Market News & Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks » Bear Market

Investors Review Their Best Investment Book

Steve Selengut — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:23:53 +0000

“My wife was trying to sleep and she’s waking up and saying “What’s wrong with you?” What could I tell her, that I was cracking up over a financial book—?” “As I approach retirement in a few years, I’m very encouraged by the cash flow my portfolio can generate. If I can generate nearly [...]

8 Inverse ETFs to Profit from Economic Meltdown

Rick Pendergraft — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 02:29:59 +0000

The news is saturated with Hank Paulson’s $700 bailout plan. This is diverting attention away from the increasingly bleak outlook for the wider economy. Rick Pendergraft says no bailout can immediately solve the problems in the housing market. And all indicators suggest these will run well into 2009 at least. Rick says your portfolio should be all [...]

Pier 1 Imports (PIR) Insiders put faith and money on the line

Frank Lara — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:30:58 +0000

With so many stocks beat up by the Bear market, you would expect insiders who believe their shares are trading at a discount to buy them outright and show us the way. Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE:PIR) has been doing just that, the amount of insider activity is either a case of blind faith or true vision.

Global Investing Roundups

Money Morning — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:51:43 +0000

Chrysler Building Sold to Abu Dhabi; 2,500 Employees Depart From Northwest; Icici Bank on the Prowl; OPEC Revenue to Jump 86%; Steve & Barry’s Bankruptcy; Bear Market S&P; Busch to... Money Morning is here to help investors profit hand...

MARKET COMMENT July 9, 2008 Big Wednesday Wipeout!

David Fry — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:17:35 +0000

MARKET COMMENT July 9, 2008 Big Wednesday Wipeout! Bonzai Pipeline, Oahu It’s just a big picture but those are big waves! If you rode a wave successfully like that in markets yesterday you were probably pretty pumped-up to try again today. But, wipe-outs happen.

Three Ways to Guard Against Market Drops

Nilus Mattive — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:18:42 +0000

June wasn’t kind to the stock market. In fact, the S&P 500 had its worst month since September 2002 and its worst June since 1930. So far, July hasn’t been much better. End result: The S&P 500 is now back below 1300, the same place it was at in the beginning of [...]

Santoli-isms?

Roger Nusbaum — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:09:00 +0000

Michael Santoli had a great one liner in his StreetWise column.

THE OUTSIZED FOCUS LAST WEEK ON THE DOW'S REACHING "official" bear-market status with a 20% decline from a recent high is a bit like fixating on the moment that storm winds go from 73 to 74 miles per hour to formally become a hurricane.

He also mentioned that oil was up 25% since May 1. I hadn't thought of it in those terms but anyone's perception of fundamentals notwithstanding, 25% in two months creates a meaningful headwind for further price rises in the near term.

In an environment like this that headwind could be overcome to be sure but with energy now 16% of the S&P 500 an equalweight position takes on a little more risk for downside volatility than some folks may realize.

The Big Picture For The Week Of July 6, 2008

Roger Nusbaum — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:11:00 +0000

No video this week. We have guests and other dogs with us for the holiday.

The chart is YTD for the Legg Mason Value Trust (LMVTX) versus the S&P 500.

You know the fund for its very long streak of beating the S&P 500. A look at the stale holdings on Yahoo Finance shows that it makes what I think are big bets and sometimes big bets do not work out.

It has United Healthcare (UNH) which has a 4.45% weight after a 41% drop. The fund is overweight financials versus SPX and it has zero in energy. Zero?

This is a good example of how actively managed funds can be problematic. A contrarian might have guessed that after a long run of outperformance the fund would lag. That makes sense. But the issue that I see and have articulated before is that there is no way to do any forward looking analysis on an actively managed fund. This is because no one can know what the manager will do six months from now.

I always say that I don't go zero anything because that is a bigger bet then I am willing to make. LMVTX' zero weight to energy makes the point. Even an underweight to an energy ETF would have helped the performance numbers.

This is not to pick on the fund because it is a good bet that the fund will outperform at some point in the future but that the lag came at the worst possible time (into the the teeth of a bear market) is either bad luck or something else but either way it was bad timing.

The Five Secrets to Succeed at Bear Market Investing

Keith Fitz-Gerald — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:05:21 +0000

By Keith Fitz-Gerald Investment Director Money Morning/The Money Map Report The Dow Jones Industrial Average is already in the bear’s grasp. And the U.S. economy may well be headed... Money Morning is here to help investors profit h...

Trends say play Companhia Paranaense de Energia

Ted Gottsegen — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:24:23 +0000

Forget what you think you know, this Bear market isÂ killing everything.Â What isn't it killing?Â Brazil and Energy stocks.Â Â For aÂ combo of both,Â turn toÂ Companhia Paranaense de Energia (ADR)Â (NYSE:ELP), better known as Copel.

Stock markets turmoil, rising commodities and week US dollar.

Vlada Kynsky — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:06:00 +0000

Global stock markets are still under correction. Major indices haven't succeeded to rally after they bottomed on March this year. Last week Dow Jones Industrial Average has turned into the bear market by drop more than 20% from recent October high. Market lab show still Head and Shoulders bearish pattern for S&P 500 and DJIA on weekly basis. We have closed 4 consecutive weeks in negative for broad US indices.

Iran tension and weak USD lift crude oil to new all time high. Another commodity supported by current market conditions is gold by endless sub-prime mortgages financial crises.

Worse earnings reports are dragging down shares which again triggers selling pressure on US dollar. Which makes vicious spiral.

Outflow from US dollar and shares helping some markets and their currencies. Especially economies growing still at modest pace. Have a look to Czech currency Koruna. Despite 20% appreciation YTD against USD it breaks new highs every week no matter of intervention of Central bank.

Related tickers: (DIA), (SPY), (OIL), (USO), (GLD), (UUP), (UDN), (XLF),

Sell, Hedge … or Be Prepared to Lose

Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:01:46 +0000

The stock market is falling swiftly, and you don’t have the luxury of time. So I’ll get straight to the point: If you haven’t done so already in response to our many earlier warnings, you’d better sell or hedge your vulnerable investments now. If you don’t, be prepared to suffer far [...]

With the Dow in Bearish Territory, and Oil Prices in the Stratosphere, New Potential Problems Abound

William Patalon lll — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:01:11 +0000

By William Patalon III Executive Editor Money Morning/The Money Map Report With the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 20% from its October peak - placing it firmly in bear-market territory... Money Morning is here to help investors profit handso...

Help me MSFT and GE, you’re my only hope

Frank Lara — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:20:49 +0000

Bear Market, the Dow is down 20% YTD, Recession, Stagflation, $4 Gas...Help me Obi-Won Kenobi you're my only hope. Is there any hope left on Wall Street? As Obi-Won would say, I have a bad feeling about this, but there is hope.

Jedi Mastery, Stock Mastery, you can only turn to the largest and most successful of corporate giants:

Technical Analysis: is it worth anything?

Declan Fallon — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:29:00 +0000

Followers of Barry Ritzholz's TheBigPicture and Felix Salmon's Conde Nast Portfolio will have noticed the battle between the pro-market-technician and anti-market-technician stance of the respective authors. Unfortunately for Felix, using Jim Cramer as...

MARKET COMMENT June 9, 2008 Beneath the bullish headlines market internals weren’t very pretty.

David Fry — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:09:22 +0000

MARKET COMMENT June 9, 2008 Beneath the bullish headlines market internals weren’t very pretty. The only impressive thing today is markets gapped higher rather than lower at the opening. Given the viciousness of Friday’s sell-off some follow-thru selling would have been expected. Oil prices fell back 3% and home sales data were above expectations.

Pictures du Jour: Banks to indicate direction for stock market

Prieur du Plessis — Fri, 30 May 2008 02:10:14 +0000

Global stock markets topped out on the back of the sub-prime/credit debacle in October 2007. Prices subsequently moved lower until reaching climatic bottoms in January/March this year, triggering rallies throughout the world until a few days ago. The big question investors are grappling with at this stage is whether the rise [...]

International ETF in focus.

Vlada Kynsky — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:38:00 +0000

Recently I posted how international ETF stand in relation P/E to GDP (link to post). The most undervalued seemed to be emerging markets of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China).

World markets had turned to negative on October and have started bear market which lasts already 6 months. But major fall happened at the beginning of year 2008. I run my screen for ETF to see the leaders and laggards on YTD basis. Her you have result.

ETF	Ticker	ROC %
Brazil	(EWZ)	16.3
Mexico	(EWW)	9.1
Canada	(EWC)	6
Russia	(RSX)	3.9
Australia	(EWA)	2.2
Spain	(EWP)	1.1
Japan	(EWJ)	-0.6
U.K.	(EWU)	-3
France	(EWQ)	-3.2
US	(IVV)	-3.5
Italy	(EWI)	-5.6
Germany	(EWG)	-5.9
S. Korea	(EWY)	-7.8
China	(FXI)	-10.4
Hong Kong	(EWH)	-12
India	(INP)	-28.1

Bullish Percents getting a little toasty

Declan Fallon — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:45:00 +0000

Although not of immediate concern, some of the bullish percents are about to enter bear market (but not bull market) top territory. If January lows represent the start of a bear market then these breadth indicators should top soon. If the current rally is a continuation of the cyclical bull market then there is room for another 15-20% of gain (perhaps as much as 50% for the Nasdaq Bullish Percents).

How this impacts on the market remains to be seen, but the likely outcome would be a negative divergence between breadth indicators and the market; indices make new highs as bullish percents fall. Time will tell.

I'm traveling to D.C. so there will be no update tomorrow. INS appointment Friday.

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