lose money

Quick history lesson: Mark-to-the-Market was a practice originally begun by futures and commodity traders in the 19th century.  Essentially, mark-to-the-market means your holdings must be "priced" every night…at the price they can be sold at. (…)

A client called me today, curious about buying shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  He said, "I'm sitting at home, watching the stock market channel and I'm amazed.  I am seeing all of the shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac changing hands.  The stock prices are so cheap.  But, Tom, I thought these two companies were gone?  Can I still buy them — and maybe make a few bucks on them? (…)

That was the headline I found over at CBS Marketwatch.  As usual, the news media is whipping (anyone who will read) into a frenzy about Lehman Brothers.  More news may be forthcoming about Lehman — between the time I finish writing this and the time you read this. (…)

Pretty sad story reported recently…but sad, as in pathetic. (…)

Recently, oil and commodities dropped 20 to 25% in four very fast weeks, catching nearly everyone off guard. But as fast as the drop took place, we start to see signs of a reversal back up. (…)

In one of my most recent posts I discussed the "ready to explode" product issued by brokerage firms called "auction rate preferred securities."
Well, that didn't take long. (…)

Exxon reported nearly $12 billion in profits for the previous quarter recently. $12 billion! More net profits in one quarter, than ever recorded in the history of mankind.
And what did the stock do? (…)

Sometimes, trying to get your arms around a gigantic number (for example, the area of earth covered by land) just takes time. (…)

The line heard in every economic recession, and every single stock market pullback is: this time it's different. (…)

Bank Failures in Nevada and California
The headlines this past weekend showed that US regulators took over two banks Friday afternoon and sold them both to Mutual of Omaha bank. (…)

This article could be titled: Can (fill in the blank) go any lower? I'm not picking on Merck.
The reality is you could drop in Merck, Citibank, General Motors, Ford, J.P. (…)

OK, no names are used in this post! But holy cow!
In the midst of the sell off this week, Bloomberg Radio interviewed a money manager about the current condition of the market. (…)

Oh boy, these kinds of headlines are never good.
Two former Bear Stearns portfolio managers were arrested this week, not because they did a poor job of managing money. (…)

The indicators flipped to defense this past week.
What does that mean?
Well for many of us, we have a LOT of money already in cash. so we're properly positioned. But now what? (…)

The period we're in now is not necessarily a "bull market" or a "bear market" but more like a structurally "fair market." I didn't make that up on my own — Tom Dorsey, from Dorsey Wright and Associates in Richmond coined that term. (…)

There was an article distributed nationwide, written by the Associated Press, and carried locally in the Asbury Park Press on March 22, 2008. (…)

All these firms hold the same investments.
There is STILL considerable risk in the group.
Why did this happen to just Bear Stearns? (…)

UPDATE: Sunday evening, 03/16/2008: Bear Stearns to be acquired by JPMorgan Chase for $2.00 in stock swap deal.
That is NOT a typo!
The stock closed at $30 on Friday. On Thursday, it was $57.00. (…)

The news surrounding Bear Stearns on Friday morning was not good! There are several important elements to this story. (…)

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped below 12,000 today, March 7. In technical terms, this is a significant move. (…)