Market Update – May 28, 2010
Calm Waters ahead? The past three weeks have probably been the strangest shift in individual investor psychology we have ever seen in our 24 years of investment experience. We went from a calm steady market to almost complete panic in three weeks. We now believe the market is trending to a more stable period ahead. […]
Market Update – May 20, 2010
There is one constant in the financial markets – emotions. All markets go through bouts of “fear and greed.” The length of these emotional ups and downs is different each time. It was only three weeks ago that we were receiving phone calls from clients who were very optimistic about the market. One client left […]
Market Update – May 14, 2010
Greece coming to America? To say the last couple of weeks have been interesting is an understatement. The Greece problem boiled over, necessitating a bailout costing almost $1 trillion. Some of that money comes from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), of which the US is the largest contributor. America’s portion of the bailout is now […]
Market Update – May 3, 2010
Since our last market update on Greece, the market took a nose dive as Greece’s deficit problems got worse and the yield on the Greek 2-year note shot up to 19%. Greek bonds were downgraded to junk status. Both Spain’s and Portugal’s bonds were downgraded as well. The vultures see wounded meat in Europe and […]
Market Update – April 15, 2010
It is hard to believe that it was two years ago that Bear Stearns collapsed into the hands of JP Morgan. As many believed it to be unfathomable, we now look back at the event as a mere drop in the bucket. However, the lessons learned do not have to be carried that far into […]
Market Update – March 31, 2010
The argument about the true cost of the health care bill is not being fought in Congress or by the CBO. Instead, it is being fought in the US Treasury market. The Treasury market auction last week had long- term yields moving higher and was met with less enthusiasm than past months. The bond market’s […]
Market Update – March 16, 2010
More Government Spending? Ask your friends or colleagues if they believe the U.S. Government should be spending more in order to get us out of the recession. The reaction we have gotten from both conservatives and liberals alike has been a resounding “NO” – many times it has been a resounding reaction. In our last […]
Market Update – March 1, 2010
Individuals are Getting Their Balance Sheets Healthy The past year has served as a wake up call to individuals about the risk of too much debt. Many have reduced their spending and are now saving more. Frivolous spending has been replaced with saving. Cash is king and the “good ‘ole days” of living on borrowed […]
Market Update – February 17, 2010
The Problem with Wild PIIGS For years, we at THOR have talked about the potential problems with the European Union (“EU”). As long as there are no stresses on the system, the system works relatively well. However, our real concern with the EU was if and when one of the weaker countries ran afoul of […]
Market Update – February 3, 2010
The January Effect Revisited In our last market update, we talked about “the January effect”, a phenomena in which a positive market in January has a high correlation to a positive market for the entire year. Below is a copy of that e-mail: “The January Effect This is an anomaly where the stock market rises […]