“Little else is required,” Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations, once remarked, “to carry a state to the highest degree of affluence from the lowest barbarism but peace, easy taxes and a tolerable administration of justice; all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things.”

But this quintessentially laissez-faire perspective gains very little traction in modern-day America. In fact, it gains no traction whatsoever, except in a few fringey financial publications. Instead, America’s political elite conspires with the Wall Street bourgeoisie to lead the nation from the highest degree of affluence to the lowest barbarism.

The process begins innocently enough in the name of “crisis management,” as the political elite provides multi-trillion-dollar guarantees and bailouts to the Wall Street bourgeoisie. The proletariat embraces these bizarre, counterintuitive remedies because they genuinely believe these “remedies” contain curative powers. In other words, the proletariat believes that bureaucrats and politicians, following

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We have been saying since the end of 2008 that emerging markets in general -- and Latin American in particular -- would outperform more developed markets such as the U.S., Europe and Japan. Indeed it has been our mantra in the past few months. Now this view has become the consensus, and Brazil seems to be one of the more interesting places for equity investments.The so-called BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) have been outperforming the market. Through June 10, 2009, according to The Economist, Brazil is up 70.5%, Russia is up 77.5%, China is up 65.9% and India is up 65.3% (all in U.S. dollar terms). In the same period, the Emerging Markets MSCI was up 39.2%, World MSCI was up just 10.3% and the S&P 500 just 4%.It seems that the decoupling theory that was so criticized recently is back and stronger ...

We have been saying since the end of 2008 that emerging markets in general -- and Latin American in particular -- would outperform more developed markets such as the U.S., Europe and Japan. Indeed it has been our mantra in the past few months. Now this view has become the consensus, and Brazil seems to be one of the more interesting places for equity investments.The so-called BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) have been outperforming the market. Through June 10, 2009, according to The Economist, Brazil is up 70.5%, Russia is up 77.5%, China is up 65.9% and India is up 65.3% (all in U.S. dollar terms). In the same period, the Emerging Markets MSCI was up 39.2%, World MSCI was up just 10.3% and the S&P 500 just 4%.It seems that the decoupling theory that was so criticized recently is back and stronger ...

Charles Nenner appeared on CNBC again today.  I guess since the market is at a possible turning point, the producers figured Mr. Nenner would be the perfect guest. And that he might be!

I have provided three previous posts highlighting Mr Nenner and his major market forecasts.  One of which predicted a move to 950 or so on the S&P 500 (view here).  Then, in the early part of May, Mr. Nenner began forecasting a possible return to the lows we reached the beginning of this year (view here).

Then on June 1, I was granted an interview with Mr Nenner’s managing director David

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Stocks are stalling. So says today’s Financial Times… “Major equity markets came under pressure yesterday and initial gains for commodities eroded as investors cast doubt over the global economic outlook.”

We see red on our Google Finance screen. And nasty little minus signs. The Dow closed down -1.25% yesterday. The S&P 500 fared worse. It ended the day down -1.27%. The yield on 10-year T-bonds dropped too, signaling increased demand for safer havens than the notoriously capricious stock market.

What’s there to doubt? We were under the impression here at our Notes bunker that the global economy was awash with “green shoots.” Investors have been piling into junk stocks since March. US equity markets are up 37% in just under four months. Why stop now?

The bulls’ answer is that the recent flagging in stocks is a necessary “consolidation” – a “breather” on the way to the moon. But concern is growing that the rally

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FedEx Miss Spooks Wall Street

by The Investment U Research Team

While the headlines seem to point to FedEx’ (NYSE: FDX) missed profit numbers as a reason for this morning’s market decline, the real reason we’re seeing the activity that we are is that real concern has crept into traders that the rally is over.

The S&P is down just over 5% from it’s high last Thursday – the alarm bells traders and investors are hearing may be real.

While President Obama is pushing for reform that he hopes will restore investor confidence, he might want to remember to encourage Wall Street as well.

Inflation actually came out relatively tame in recent reports, and it’s highlighted the fact that our economy is picking back up as fast as anyone hoped it would.

Investors aren’t going to

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“Little else is required,” Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations, once remarked, “to carry a state to the highest degree of affluence from the lowest barbarism but peace, easy taxes and a tolerable administration of justice; all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things.”

But this quintessentially laissez-faire perspective gains very little traction in modern-day America. In fact, it gains no traction whatsoever, except in a few fringey financial publications. Instead, America’s political elite conspires with the Wall Street bourgeoisie to lead the nation from the highest degree of affluence to the lowest barbarism.

The process begins innocently enough in the name of “crisis management,” as the political elite provides multi-trillion-dollar guarantees and bailouts to the Wall Street bourgeoisie. The proletariat embraces these bizarre, counterintuitive remedies because they genuinely believe these “remedies” contain curative powers. In other words, the proletariat believes that bureaucrats

...

Stocks fell for a second session in a row, extending a global slide, as waning optimism about an economic recovery painted a bearish picture.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had fallen 187 points on Monday, slipped another 107 points and gave back two weeks of gains as investors sold off stocks.  A strong report on housing starts provided some fillip early in the session but stocks pared gains as the Federal Reserve reported a 1.1% decline in industrial production and concerns about the economy resurfaced.  The S&P 500 also recorded its second consecutive decline, falling 1.3% and the Nasdaq was off 1.1%.  Volume on the NYSE remained modest with only 1.2 billion shares exchanging hands and declining shares outpaced advancing issues by a seven-to-three margin.

Premarket futures are holding steady in front of consumer price data, weekly crude inventory statistics, current account data, the administration's financial regulatory

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 17, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Nabors (NBR), Patterson-UTI (PTEN), Schlumberger (SLB), Baker Hughes (BHI) and Alexza Pharmaceuticals (ALXA).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog:

Land Driller Gains Unsustainable

We are scratching our heads to justify the impressive recent gains made by land drillers such as Nabors (NBR) and Patterson-UTI (PTEN). We are of the view that these gains lack fundamental support and remain unsustainable.

Shares of land drillers

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With the S&P 500 falling to a fresh two-week low, the big question is this a correction, or the start of a major trend on the downside?

I have just finished a short video that details many of the key concerns that we have for this market. If you have not seen our videos before you may enjoy this one. This video does not require a plug-in.

The video is free to watch and there is no need to register.

I would love to get your feedback about this video on our blog.

All the best,

Adam Hewison
President, INO.com
Co-creator, MarketClub