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As Hungary’s Recession Deepens The Central Bank Cuts Rates In “Snails Pace” Mode

Manuel Alvarez-Rivera (January 8th, 2009) Writes:
The fact that Hungary's National Bank did not decide to make an unexpected interest rate cut at its meeting earlier this week seems to have a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchiveamp;sid=a84zp9hh0af0"surprised some/a, but it really should not have done. According to James Morsink, head of the IMF delegation to Budapest, Hungary only has room to cut its benchmark interest rate a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchiveamp;sid=aW.6Yo1wzmp4"at a “gradual and cautious” pace/a. The reasoning behind this view is simple, any more rapid reduction in the bank's benchmark rate risks being accompanied by a devaluation of the forint, and and any such devaluation would inevitably lead to a rise in mortgage defaults and problems for the banking system as holders of Swiss Franc forex loans find themselves unable to maintain their payments as unemployment rises and wages and salaries fall.br /br /Thus it is that even though the Hungarian economy is now in its worst recession in over a decade ...

The All American Investor

Contrarian Profits (January 8th, 2009) Writes:

America’s finest quality is that it has no memory! Three months ago, the topic of the day was which window to jump from; today all I hear is how hot the market is. This morning’s conversation on “Squawk Box” was how the market has moved 24 percent and maybe there is too much exuberance.

Too much exuberance? Last October we were wondering if there would be a run on the banks. Now it’s too much activity.

This complete lack of an ability to remember any bad news has a backside, you knew that was coming. The backside is that we also are blinded by the short-lived bad news.

For four months, almost every editor at “The Daily Edge” described the market this fall as the best buying opportunity of our lifetime. Virtually no one paid any attention.

The only thing more deficient than our memory is our ability to buy when things are cheap,

...

Haven’t Tried Investing on Your Own Yet? Get Started at QualityStocks!

QualityStocks (January 5th, 2009) Writes:

Investing is much easier than what it used to be. Now you can sign up for your own online trading account and be approved in just a few days. From there all you have to do is enter the symbol of the stock you wish to purchase as well as how many shares you want. With so much competition in the online brokerage market today, many are offering low commission rates as well as free independent research tools to make better trading decisions.

Our name emphasizes the commitment we have to connect subscribers with companies that have huge potential to succeed in the short and long-term future. It is part of our mission statement to help the investment community discover emerging companies that offer excellent growth potential. We offer several ways for investors to learn more about investing in these companies as well as find and evaluate them.

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter has

...

Obama Stimulus and January Effect, this Week’s Top Stories

Contrarian Profits (January 5th, 2009) Writes:

President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team is reportedly putting the finishing touches on an economic recovery plan that could run from $675 billion to $1 trillion, though many experts believe the program will most like range between $700 billion and $800 billion.

Briefings for top congressional Democrats were to start either over the weekend or today (Monday), a senior transition-team official told The Associated Press late last week. President-elect Obama is slated to meet today with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in a Democratic strategy session that is likely to focus on the economic recovery package.

It’s time to look forward, not back. The 111th Congress meets tomorrow (Tuesday), and a comprehensive economic stimulus package is at the top of its agenda.  Hopefully, the lawmakers can put partisan bickering aside (fat chance) and have a bill in place for President-elect Barack

...
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The Woes of Fannie and Freddie

Bill Bonner (December 29th, 2008) Writes:

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are to America’s great empire what the East India Company was to the British Empire in the 19th century…and the Louisiana Company was to France in the 18th. Huge, stupid, and probably fatal.

Freddie and Fannie are huge government-chartered mortgage lenders. In 18th century France, speculators bet on the riches of Louisiana, through the government-chartered Louisiana Company. In the 19th century, they wagered their money on the riches of India, through the government-chartered Eastn India Company. And in the 20th century, they gambled on rising housing prices through Fannie and Freddie.

The immediate problem is that the mortgage lenders are running out of money. They need to raise $75 billion. A few years ago, that would have been no problem.

Everybody was ready to put money into America’s go-go, securitized housing market. But then, housing went.

Yesterday’s news tells us that housing prices are falling in 23 out of

...

CarMax Continues To Struggle - Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries (December 24th, 2008) Writes:

CarMax Group (KMX) continues to face a difficult used-vehicle environment, largely due to aggressive incentives being offered by new vehicle manufacturers. Declining used-car value due to the ongoing weakness in the overall economy and higher funding cost at the CarMax Auto Finance is eroding the margins of the company. The current economic slowdown and reduced consumer spending had a negative impact on the company s retail business. It is aggressively cutting prices on trucks and SUVs to reduce inventory. A drop in earnings and a higher valuation make us apprehensive about the stock's performance in the near term. Thus, we rate the stock a Sell and maintain our six-month target price of $6.50. Read the full analyst report on KMX

"KMX" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks Investment Research

What Is The Level Of Deflation Risk In Germany?

Edward Hugh (December 24th, 2008) Writes:
by Edward Hugh: Barlecona br /br /br /Only one thing is really clear about the Germany economy at the present time, and that is that it is shrinking rapidly. In fact it contracted far more than most analysts and observers expected in the third quarter (although I, for one, a href="http://www.rgemonitor.com/euro-monitor/252923/what_is_the_recession_risk_for_the_german_economy"was not especially surprised/a), entering what now appears to be its worst recession in at least 12 years as both exports and domestic spending continue to fall. German gross domestic product in Q3 dropped by a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent from the second quarter, when it fell by a quarterly 0.4 percent, according to revised data from the Federal Statistics Office. The Germany economy last had a two quarter contraction of this magnitude back in 1996.br /br /br /pa href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SRwqCqomolI/AAAAAAAALd8/hUkBJVBg6wg/s1600-h/GDP+y-o-y.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5268131889409335890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 198px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SRwqCqomolI/AAAAAAAALd8/hUkBJVBg6wg/s320/GDP+y-o-y.png" border="0" //abr /br ...
Tags for this Post:
AAA government, Alexander Kockerbeck;, Angel Merkel;, Angela Merkel, Angela Merkel's administration, bank rescue costs;, bank rescue package, Berlin, billion-euro bank rescue fund;, car purchases;, Carl Heinz Daube, Deutsche Bank, Eastern Europe, Economics, Economy Ministry, Edward Hugh, energy, energy price shock;, Essen, EUR, Europe, european commission, European Union, Federal Finance Agency;, Federal Labor Agency, Federal Statistical Office, Federal Statistics Office, food, Frankfurter Allgemeine;, German government, Germann Economy Ministry;, Germans;, Germany, GfK AG, Gross Domestic Product, http, International Monetary Fund, Japan, London, machinery, Middle East, Moody's Investors Service, negative energy;, New Year's Day, Norbert Walter;, Oil, Oil Prices, Paris, public finance;, retail, Retail Sales, Russia, Spain, sudden negative energy shock;, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung;, Tokyo, United States, USD

CarMax, Inc. (KMX) - Bear of the Day

Zacks Market Commentaries (December 23rd, 2008) Writes:
CarMax, Inc. (KMX) continues to face a difficult used-vehicle environment, largely due to aggressive incentives being offered by new vehicle manufacturers.

Declining used-car value due to the ongoing weakness in the overall economy and higher funding cost at the CarMax Auto Finance is eroding the margins of the company. The current economic slowdown and reduced consumer spending had a negative impact on the company s retail business. It is aggressively cutting prices on trucks and SUVs to reduce inventory.

A drop in earnings and a higher valuation make us apprehensive about the stock's performance in the near term. Thus, we rate the stock a Sell and maintain our six-month target price of $6.50.

"KMX" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks Investment Research

QualityStocks is Your One Stop Resource for New Emerging Stock Ideas

QualityStocks (December 23rd, 2008) Writes:

QualityStocks assists publicly traded companies by getting their story out to the investment community while helping investors discover emerging companies with plenty of growth potential. Our name emphasizes the commitment we have to connect subscribers with companies that have huge potential to succeed in the short and long-term future. We believe strong management and vision for the future are crucial for any company to be successful.

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter has been a real hit with both traders and investors because it keeps their finger on the market’s pulse without having to spend countless hours keeping up-to-date. The publication consolidates information from hundreds of Small-Cap and Micro-Cap Online Investment Newsletters in a summary format, plus provides the latest information on the companies we feature.

To sign up for the QualityStocks Daily Newsletter, visit www.signup.qualitystocks.net

The QualityStocks Blog keeps investors up to date on everything related to the small cap and micro cap

...

What Is The Level Of Deflation Risk In Germany?

Edward Hugh (December 23rd, 2008) Writes:
Only one thing is really clear about the Germany economy at the present time, and that is that it is shrinking rapidly. In fact it contracted far more than most analysts and observers expected in the third quarter (although I, for one, a href="http://www.rgemonitor.com/euro-monitor/252923/what_is_the_recession_risk_for_the_german_economy"was not especially surprised/a), entering what now appears to be its worst recession in at least 12 years as both exports and domestic spending continue to fall. German gross domestic product in Q3 dropped by a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent from the second quarter, when it fell by a quarterly 0.4 percent, according to revised data from the Federal Statistics Office. The Germany economy last had a two quarter contraction of this magnitude back in 1996.br /br /pa href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SRwqCqomolI/AAAAAAAALd8/hUkBJVBg6wg/s1600-h/GDP+y-o-y.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5268131889409335890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 198px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SRwqCqomolI/AAAAAAAALd8/hUkBJVBg6wg/s320/GDP+y-o-y.png" border="0" //abr /br /And all the signs are that the fourth ...
Tags for this Post:
AAA government, Alexander Kockerbeck;, Angel Merkel;, Angela Merkel, Angela Merkel's administration, bank rescue costs;, bank rescuebr /package;, Berlin, billion-euro bank rescue fund;, car purchases;, Carl Heinz Daube, Deutsche Bank, Eastern Europe, Economics, Economy Ministry, energy, energy price shock;, Essen, EUR, Europe, european commission, European Union, Federal Finance Agency;, Federal Labor Agency, Federal Statistical Office, Federal Statistics Office, food, Frankfurter Allgemeine;, German government, Germann Economy Ministry;, Germany, Germany, GfK AG, Gross Domestic Product, http, International Monetary Fund, Japan, machinery, Middle East, Moody's Investors Service, negative energy shock;, New Year's Day, Norbert Walter;, Oil, Oil Prices, public finance;, retail, Retail Sales, Russia, sudden negative energy shock;, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung;, Tokyo, United Kingdom, United States, USD

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