The stock market is nothing if not a place of pure deception.  Just when you think you have the market figured out it changes course leaving you scratching your head in frustration.  Or even worse, just when the market seems to be making logical sense it makes no sense whatsoever, which seems to be the case most of the time anyway.

LOGICAL DECEPTION

Think about the following: all you hear in the news media is how the consumer is not spending any money; how the Christmas season will be dismal; how continued unemployment  will  stifle any improvement in consumer sentiment, etc. etc. yet have you taken a look at the retail sector in the last few months? The RTH (Retail Holders Trust) broke out yesterday to a high it has not seen since the

I was raised in a home with a brother seven years older than I.  During my pre-teen to early teen years (mid to late 70s), my brother introduced me to what we now call classic rock from the likes of Eric Clapton, AC/DC. Led Zeppelin, Elton John, and the Rolling Stones.  I say introduced, the walls in my home were thin and his room was next to mine.  Needless to say when his stereo was on I could not help but be introduced.  I continue to listen to these same artists and many more too numerous to mention here but suffice it to say it took me an entire weekend to download my classic rock cd collection on my new IPOD.  I now will need a another IPOD if I wish to download any new music.

While working out

This is a guest contribution by Damien Hoffman, editor-in-chief of the very popular Wall St Cheat Sheet blog. Make sure to put this site on your must-read list.

Nouriel Roubini and His Acolytes

Following the incredible popularity of my post “Is Nouriel Roubini a False Prophet?“, I’ve decided to do a little introductory lesson for those more interested in avoiding charlatans …

Cold Reading is a primary set of techniques employed by phony psychics and market prognosticators. When cold reading, the primary objective of the sender is to ensure that the recipient perceives the statement/prophecy to be a hit. Here are a few classic techniques used by Ms. Cleo and Nouriel Roubini:

TECHNIQUE 1. The “Rainbow Ruse”: Indicate one trait

Risk aversion has re-entered the investment equation with risky assets such as equities and commodities bearing the brunt of the selling orders, while gold bullion, government bonds, the US dollar and the yen are attracting safe-haven money.

The global stock market pullback seems to be gathering momentum with three markets on my radar screen now trading below their 50-day moving averages, indicating a reversal of the secondary trend. These markets are China, Hong Kong and Chile, with most others uncomfortably close to this intermediate support level (see table below). I am of the opinion that more markets will fall below the 50-day lines and that we will at least see some degree of reversion to the key 200-day moving averages (often used to distinguish between primary bull and bear markets). The table provides the key levels, as well as the declines since the recent highs.

Click here

The Rise of TheStreet.com

A company that many of our editors have been keeping track of over the past several weeks for its stock price as much for it’s borrowing of our Oxford Club’s Chairman’s Circle ideas is TheStreet.com (Nasdaq: TSCM).

And its recent price movements have been drawing a lot of interest from technical traders and fundamentalists as well. If you’re unfamiliar with TheStreet you’re probably familiar, if not aware of it’s outspoken leader Jim Cramer.

While many have questioned his entertainment factor against the value he’s added picking stocks for viewers, his real impact on TheStreet’s bottom line is immense. His face is a majority of the brand. The concern for investors would be for something to happen to him.

TheStreet publishes almost 100 new articles a day and uses the traffic to fuel its premium services and gain “eyeball”

The week of June 26th was very bad to Boeing. After continued reassurance from CEO Jim McNerney that the company’s much anticipated (and previously delayed) Dreamliner 787 would be delivered by the 23rd, Boeing once again came up short. To investors, this was simply one slip-up too many… and a company that cannot fulfill promises is a company worth selling. Making matters worse, the next day, the U.S. Department of Defense terminated the land warfare weapons program headed by BA’s Integrated Defense Systems unit worth an estimated $160 billion. Thinking that there was no possible way to add more grief onto shares of Boeing, Qantas Airways canceled orders for 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners after being “disappointed” by Boeing’s management.

Shares slid on the day of the initial 787 delay by 6.46%. On the day of the

Last week, Valero announced the postponement of a major capex project in Port Arthur, a guidance towards a second quarter loss, and a dilutive stock offering. Basically, a triple whammy that sent the stock tumbling from $22 to $18, a near 18% single day loss.

A lot has been written since about how CEO Bill Klesse and Valero management has mismanaged the business and how this company deserves its well below industry average P/E ratio.  The all-knowing Jim Cramer even put Bill on the “Wall of Shame.” Is this all an over reaction or was I wrong about my purchase of Valero earlier in the year? Is Valero not truly a value, but a dreaded value trap?

One positive note with regards to last week’s bomb was that Valero was able to issue shares to the market at $18, establishing a relatively

Look Before You Leap into the DGI IPO: Watch out for these 4 Big Risks

by Louis Basenese, Oxford Club Senior Analyst

Jim Cramer’s sounding his obnoxious “Buy! Buy! Buy!” on this week’s Digital Globe (NYSE: DGI) IPO – a provider of high-resolution satellite imagery used for defense and consumer location-based applications (i.e. - Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth).

I’m not saying the DGI IPO lacks the potential to rocket out of the gates. The performance of other recent IPOs – Changyou.com (Nasdaq: CYOU) and Rosetta Stone (NYSE: RST) – suggest underwriters are intentionally under pricing deals to get them out the door. In turn, investors are reaping the rewards. The stocks are up 86.3% and 63.7% from their respective offering prices.

However, you need to look beyond the

Cramer gets one right. Once in a great while, Jim Cramer gets it right. I’m not a big fan, and certainly I don’t watch his show. In my opinion, anyone who relies on him as a sole source for investment advice might do just as well talking to a cab driver in New York.

But occasionally, his rants actually coincide with a company worth looking at… for the right reasons, of course. And yesterday he mentioned a wireless company that’s actually worth considering.

It’s one that I’ve been following for a while in the wireless sector.

Now, if you’re going to invest in a wireless telecommunications company, it’s important to pay close attention to where its customers are located. Why?

Because the strongest growth will occur in areas of the world where wireless still hasn’t penetrated to the extent it has in the U.S. and Europe.

The U.S. has somewhere in the neighborhood of

Tekelec (Nasdaq: TKLC): Stock of the Day

by David Fessler, Advisory Panelist

Cramer gets one right.

Once in a great while, Jim Cramer gets it right. I’m not a big fan, and certainly I don’t watch his show. In my opinion, anyone who relies on him as a sole source for investment advice might do just as well talking to a cab driver in New York.

But occasionally, his rants actually coincide with a company worth looking at… for the right reasons, of course. And yesterday he mentioned a wireless company that’s actually worth considering.

It’s one that I’ve been following for a while in the wireless sector.

Now, if you’re going to invest in a wireless telecommunications company, it’s important to pay close attention to where its customers are located. Why?

Because the strongest growth will occur