Articles

I just can't get enthusiastic about the Fed's move and this rise in bank stocks.

I've learned that you can never tell what an unintended consequence of an action will be. Wall Street is partying now but there are plenty of ways this rate cut could go bad. Here's one.

Morgan Stanley's earnings fell by 17%, surprising Wall Street after the more positive earnings announcement from Lehman yesterday.

Women have become one of the main targets of credit card marketing. Learn about three major types of female credit card users and how banks try to induce them with credit card deals for women.

Countrywide announced today it had received $12 billion in credit financing, helping it avert any kind of liquidity crunch. The market responded positively.

Starbucks has had a long tradition (and a formal policy) not to market to children. But, it is now reversing this decision, driven by bottom-line interests rather than by good business practice. In many ways, SBUX’s plan is much like a recent decision by Altria (MO) to assign priority emphasis to increasing sales abroad – and, thus, to increasing the incidence of lung cancer world wide. It is sad to see two major American corporations build out their business at the expense of the welfare of vulnerable children and adults. Investors are not likely to worry too much about the sale of cigarettes in other countries (actually many are likely to applaud MO’s decision), but they should be concerned about Starbuck’s plan to sell caffeine to kids.

In the past, the kind of volatility we have seen over the last weeks signaled bottoms, crashes, reaction to war and terrorism, and the like. The frequency, speed, and psychology of the recent series of plunges are now getting much harder for all of us to interpret (and impossible for technicians). In fact, it has become a fool's folly to predict and interpret downticks and upticks in the market. Something else is going on.

Say what you will about Ben Stein (and some are not impressed all of the time), I think this guy is one of the few sane, mature voices out there in a sea of panicked children. He has a wisdom and perspective that are sobering at the same time as they are calming. And, he is right. Listening to him is like sitting on the lap of a wise old man -- he is realistic, he knows the lessons of history, and he is calming. Most importantly, he is not trite and he doesn't have his head in the sand. He is particularly refreshing because he speaks in Grown-up Speak -- someone who sees things with clarity and doesn't run around declaring that the sky is falling.

The payroll numbers are out and they looked pretty dreadful. Instead of a gain in payrolls, employment actually fell by 4,000, the first time the number has dropped in four years. I took a stand saying the numbers would come in better than expected and was wrong.

Before the onslaught of the credit crunch, it was widely believed that the Fed would raise rates to cool inflation fears. I remember on BestCashCow reading quite a few articles discussing fears of inflation and real inflation versus core inflation, etc.

The New York Times announced that Amazon is launching a new e-book reader The Kindle. My first reaction to this was, why? I applaud Amazon for trying but I don’t see this as a big business, even with their book buying heft behind it.

Apple, a company which never drops their prices, has now dropped the price on the 4GB iPhone to $299 barely two months after introducing the product.

The launch of a new credit card for Second Life underscores the growth of truly digital financial services products. This is a trend which should continue to grow.

The WSJ offers five reasons why the Fed will cut rates but I'm not sure sure. Here's some of my analysis on this.

Home Depot just bought back 290 million shares. There is no surprise here as this has been in the works for months. And, it has been widely viewed as a positive move by the company. Nonetheless, its share price dropped 5% as a result of two phenomena – both very short term. Tomorrow, if not later today, HD’s price will recover and a quick 5% return can be made by even the most conservative investor.