The markets are experiencing a bit of a thaw today, with the memory of panic several weeks behind us now. The VIX has just broken decisively below 40 for the first time since September. Treasury yields have broken out just a tad from their extreme lows. Oil has jumped back to the mid-40s, copper has [...]

Bloomberg columnist Jane Bryant Quinn reports that most financial planners still view stocks as the cornerstone of a retirement plan. An informal survey of planners showed overwhelming support for an equity allocation of 50-60%, although many have a new found respect for cash.
It still sounds as if most financial advisers are pretty worthless, just dishing [...]

“Even Hitler got whacked in gold stocks”

Gold fever
Retail investment demand for gold (and silver) has exploded since this summer, even as the exchange price has fallen well off its highs. Coins and small bars have become unavailable for sale anywhere near the spot price. Even Krugerrands, of which 46 million ounces exist, are fetching a $100 premium on Ebay.
The largest bullion [...]

This bubble was so extreme by any standard but Tulip Mania, that even after a 40% fall, the exchanges are full of junk stocks priced to go down another 40-100%. Where are the earnings? Where are the dividends?
Here are some prime examples:

Home Depot. How on earth is this company supposed to make money in the [...]

This is why everyone needs to be extremely careful about their brokerage, banking, counterparty and business relationships. What would a bankruptcy of any of these entities do to your finances? From Bloomberg:
Lehman Won’t Return Prime-Broker Assets for `Months’ (Update2)
By Tom Cahil
Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) — Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. will take “considerable time” before it [...]

Those crowing about sinister machinations by the banking cartel to topple world finance, buy up the scraps on the cheap, and set up a dictatorship while they’re at it are overestimating today’s financial honchos. Morgan and Rockefeller were the real deal, but these guys are just amateurs. Do these look like the spoils of a [...]

According to The New York Times Dealbook blog, the word is that nobody wanted the entirety of this gangrenous carcass without a complete Federal Reserve guarantee a la Bear Stearns, so the healthy parts are being carved off, while the Fed graciously trades some of its remaining assets for the fetid pieces:
Lehman Brothers will file [...]

There is no way any rational buyer will take over Lehman without someone else taking the risks of holding their bad assets. With a market cap of just $2.6 billion, Lehman’s share price is not the issue. An honest valuation of Lehman’s assets would surely result in a massively negative equity figure.
The company is clearly [...]

Jim Rogers admitted today on Bloomberg TV today that he thought the dollar could rally for a year. From him, this came as quite a surprise, even though he has been calling for a bounce for several months. He also admitted that he was losing money in foreign currencies and commodities, and said that the [...]