A Tipping Point?
June 17, 2009
Almost everyone is looking for a tipping point. At this time we are looking for signs that the decline in the economy and in the financial markets is lessening and that we might be somewhere near the bottom. If this is the case then can the turn to recovery be far behind? Read more
When Will the Banks Start Lending Again?
June 15, 2009
The Fed’s Quantitative Easing Goes Forward
June 11, 2009
Lots of transactions went on in central banking over the past month or so, not only in the United States but in the UK and Europe. Quantitative easing is the game and, at least, the central bankers are getting more and more comfortable with this. Read more
An Option on Monetization and Inflation
June 9, 2009
You want to place a bet on future inflation? Well, an opportunity for you to bet on inflation is now in the works. The hedge fund Universa Investments L. P. is planning to open a fund in the near future that will allow you to back up your concern with the possibility that inflation is coming around the corner. Read more
Here Comes Dow 9,600, S&P 500 at 1,042 and Some Investment Ideas
June 6, 2009
Sometimes accepting “what is” happens to be counter intuitive. That’s the way it feels right now with the DJIA above 8,700 as I write and the S&P 500 at 945. The trend for this bear market rally is powerful and it will be meaningful to see how far it goes. Read more
Goodbye GAAP, Hello IFRS. Will You Be Ready?
May 26, 2009
It’s become clear throughout the past five years that GAAP and financial reporting in the United States is on a clear path toward change in the form of a convergence with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). World events, most notably the London G-20 Summit, have been calling for a single, high quality set of accounting standards that all companies will use to file. The SEC has recently made definitive steps toward this change, enough to make me believe that IFRS will be here before we know it, so it’s time to get ready. Read more
How the Credit Card Legislation Affects the Industry
May 22, 2009
On Tuesday, the Senate passed legislation which will impose stricter regulations on the credit card industry. Many consumers have been infuriated with interest rate hikes on existing bills and fees for various services such as paying bills via the mail. These rate increases and fees have been hurting the consumer where it hurts, in their wallets, amid a very harsh recession. Many of the consumers who are feeling the pain are the same lower and middle class Americans who are getting hurt from delinquent mortgage payments and a lost job. The big question is how will this bill affect players in the credit card industry if it is passed by the house and signed by President Obama? Read more
Are Junk Bonds Signaling A Swing in the Capital Markets?
May 12, 2009
Junk bonds, also known as high yield debt, issued by those companies in less than sound financial condition, have always accounted for a large portion of the credit pie. During the recent turmoil, debt was hard to sell. Even companies with the prestigious AAA credit ratings from the rating agencies often paid a substantial amount to shore up their balance sheet. If the healthiest companies found it hard, one could only imagine how hard of a job it was for those seeking to sell their “junk” to shore up their finances. The junk bond market literally came to a halt as the collapse of the nation’s large financial institutions destroyed liquidity for the better part of 2008. However, April 2009 has signaled a better time for debt and especially such high yield. With investors willing to take on such risk, is this a sign of a sustained swing in the capital markets? Read more
Best Stocks of 2009 Review: The First Third
May 10, 2009
More than a third of the year has passed and the markets have rebounded nicely from their lows to turn a small profit on the year. It seems that the worst may be behind us when it comes to equity prices as many stocks have rallied more than 50% this year alone. Here at Bullish Bankers, we published a “Best Stocks of 2009″ newsletter at the beginning of the year, and our equities have performed very admirably when compared to our benchmark, the S&P 500. This article is designed to give a recap of how our equities have performed and give some additional explanation to our initial stock picking process. Through Friday, May 8th, our BB2009 Index has outperformed the S&P 500 by 11.51% on a geometric basis ex-dividend payments. Beside each of the sectors I have listed our three picks and the comparable ETF to show our relative performance on a sector by sector basis. Read more
GAAP Energy Earnings Are Worthless
May 9, 2009
One of my biggest pet peeves every time energy earnings come around is how addicted the media is to the shock value that is associated with GAAP accounting standards in relation to the earnings release. I understand that the media has to make headlines that make your eyes jump out of your head in order to stay in business, but I find this type of reporting to only use select facts to make the case of the author. Obviously this is very prevalent in the financial journalism industry and I myself am sure that I have done this on a multitude of occasions but I’d like to think that I rarely try to use these facts to make a situation seem more dire than it is in actuality. A great example of this is what happened to Chesapeake Energy [CHK: 24.22, -0.60 (-2.42%)] this past week after their earnings release after hours on Monday, May 4th. Read more
