Charting Stocks

Much has been made over the recent stock market rally. The advance from the bottom has, indeed, been historic and has caught many of us by surprise. Though the market was extremely oversold and due for an upward correction, we continue to be  amazed at its strength and longevity.  A closer examination, however, reveals that [...]

Standard & Poor’s downgraded the credit rating of Ireland for the second time this year.  S&P cited the vast amount of money the government must continue to throw at the nations banking system.
The rating was cut down to AA, from AA+,  moving it to the same  level the United Arab Emirates as Japan, and Slovenia [...]

Below is an excerpt from a piece in Bloomberg today.
The U.S. economy will enter “hyperinflation” approaching the levels in Zimbabwe because the Federal Reserve will be reluctant to raise interest rates, investor Marc Faber said.
Prices may increase at rates “close to” Zimbabwe’s gains, Faber said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Hong Kong. [...]

(Bloomberg) — Global leaders took their biggest steps yet toward a new world order that’s less U.S.-centric with a more heavily regulated financial industry and a greater role for international institutions and emerging markets.
At the end of a summit in London, policy makers from the Group of 20 yesterday delivered a regulatory blueprint that French [...]

Via WhatReallyHappened.com

A sign of our times.
AP – Evidence of the slumping economy is stacking up at an Ohio school which has nearly 700 applications for one open janitorial job.
Officials at Perry Local Schools near Canton in northeast Ohio say they’ve extended the deadline until Monday to accommodate the overwhelming response to the week-old posting. The full-time [...]

We hear much about institutions being too big to fail, and so, the taxpayer is expected to bear any cost to save large financial companies. We think that the more relevant question to ask is whether these institutions are too big to save?
With the passage of the most recent bailout bill, the taxpayer is now [...]

According to todays ISM release, the US Manufacturing sector dropped again in February while the employment sentiment fell to its lowest reading ever.  This is the 13th straight month of manufacturing declines.
The Institute for Supply Management’ s (ISM) monthly purchasing managers’ index (PMI) registered a reading of 35.8% in February. Readings under 50% are consistent [...]