Global Market Comments April 22, 2009 Featured Trades: (UNP), (PWR), (YHOO) 1) I took some time off yesterday to watch a piece of economic history roll through town. The Union Pacific Railway's (UNP) engine no. 844 roared past, hauling a trainload of retired union members and railroad buffs in its trademark yellow observation cars. The
Global Market Comments April 21, 2009 Featured Trades: (COPPER), (FCX) 1) Those who followed my recommendation to buy copper on January 5 are the happy participants in the first bubble of the year. The red metal has rocketed from $1.28 to $2.26, while producer Freeport McMoran (FCX) soared 88% from $25 to $47. Heavy and
Global Market Comments April 17, 2009 Featured Trades: (PHM), (CTX), (POT), (MOS), (AGU), (WHEAT), (CORN), (SOYBEANS), (RICE) 1) March Housing Starts came in at 510,000, down 10.8% from February, and short of the 540,000 consensus. Permits fell 9% to 513,000. Completions were down 3.5% to 796,000.?? The estimated five million houses for sale, in foreclosure,
Global Market Comments April 16, 20091) I chatted with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi yesterday as she was passing through the San Francisco Bay Area. I have known Nancy for 15 years, and she was breathing fire and spitting nails as usual. With the public fuming over banksters' bonuses and bail outs, Wall Street
Global Market Comments April 15, 2009 Featured Trades: (GM), (CHINA), (MSO) 1) Thanks, but no thanks! Goldman Sachs (GS) voted with a big thumbs down on the stock market today yesterday by issuing $5 billion in new equity at $123/share. Perhaps not coincidently, this gives the government a $1 profit on its holding in the
Global Market Comments April 14, 2009 Featured Trades: (WFC), (WB), (JPM, (BAC), (C), (GM) 1) So there is life after near death! Wells Fargo (WFC) stunned the street with a surprise $3 billion profit in Q1, vastly better than expectations. The shocker was that charge offs from loan losses amounted to only $3.3 billion, a
Global Market Comments April 13, 2009 Featured Trades: (VIX), ($BVSP), (RSX), ($BSE), (FXI), ($KOSPI), (SPX), (EEM), (TBT), (PHB), (HYG), (FCX), (CHK), (COPPER), (OIL), (NATGAS), ($XEU), (REIT) First Quarter Report CardMany readers have asked me to review my recommendations of the last three months, so here is The Mad Hedge Fund Trader's Q1 report card. I
Global Market Comments April 9, 2009 Featured Trades: (GOLD), (ABX), (GM), (TM) 1) 'There is room for bulls and bears, but pigs get slaughtered,' said Peter Munk, the legendary founder and CEO of Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold producer. This is his admonition to worshipers of the barbaric relic hoping for a quick super
Global Market Comments April 8, 2009 Featured Trades: (PLD), (TBT), (PHM), (CTX)1) I bumped into Jim Lehrer last night, the legendary anchor of 'The News Hour With Jim Lehrer' on PBS, as he breezed through the San Francisco Bay Area promoting his 22nd novel, 'Oh, Johnny'. The ex-Marine, whose first big story was covering the
Global Market Comments April 7, 2009 Featured Trades: (VIX), (SPX)1) Today I spoke to my old Morgan Stanley boss , Barton Biggs, who is so bullish that he believes we are only one third to one half of the way through the current stock market rally. Barton, voted best international strategist for seven years, and