Articles

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.

I just got my new Dell laptop: the Inspiron 1520. I have only own Dell's for a while, but haven't been this impressed with one in more than 10 years.

Imagine paying over $46,000 a year for a college education at Duke University (and many other private universities for that matter)and paying for pathetic professors who shouldn't be in kindergarten much less universities. All universities in America are badly managed and poor investments. The people who teach are almost always way to the left and they are "adults" who have never left school -- not terrific role models. But every once in a while, how bad they really are hits you in the face.

There were two big movers on wall street today in the biotech world. AGIX- up 33% and PDLI down 20%. Here is my take on both.

In the midst of all the turmoil in the mortgage sector -- and all the layoffs -- IndyMac is turning up-stream. While the company laid off some 400 people (about 4% of its workforce) last month, it has turned around entirely at the most surprising time and has hired some 600 people laid off by other mortgage lenders. This is a bold move and suggests that at least one company in the sector is taking a bet on growth and a lessening of the credit crunch. It suggest, moreover, that they are expecting the Fed to drop rates soon, perhaps even sooner than the next meeting.

Fidelity provides its customers and others with an attractive alternative to the low rates offered by most banks on checking accounts. The accounts offers a 3.5% rate, no fees, no minimum balances, and refunds on ATM transactions.

For years Qualcomm has been a fantastic company, owning the W-CDMA technology and building the chips that go into the handsets for this technology. We are moving into a new era and it is time to sell the stock.

It will not be long before China’s bubble bursts. The Shanghai index hit over 5000 yesterday, five times where it was mid-2005. Last November, it hit 2000; in March 3000; and in May 4000. One doesn’t need to be a genius to see a big bubble and to see one at the very verge of blowing up. When it does, it will have a huge impact on other markets – most of which are heavily into China’s. It will be viewed, additionally, as very embarrassing by the Chinese. China’s way of dealing with any international embarrassment is to act decisively and forcefully. Executions are common strategies, and you can be sure that heads will role (literally!).

Contrary to what pundits are saying on CNBC, this is not the time to be investing in emerging markets.

The stock market frenzy of recent has been a thing to behold. Something fundamental has happened – actually crept up on us – that has turned the traditional herd behavior so characteristic of past market events into a new stampede phenomenon. Anyone who has tried to herd cattle knows that it is not as easy as it looks and that, importantly, it takes time to get them all moving in the same direction. Stampedes are something else. The volatility we have all experienced, big time, these last weeks (both up and down) has been an ever more important indicator that something has taken hold of the market to which we have given insufficient attention and that will continue to have a fundamental impact not only on markets, but on individual economies and the world economy too.

The yield on treasury bills plummeted today as investors sought them as a safe haven. Clearly, the impact of the credit crisis is not over.

AOL had no choice but to try to remake itself completely when changing internet access patterns forced it to give up its once lucrative subscriber revenue model. The company was a great early entry into the use and possibilities of the internet. It was filled with people (I knew them all in the early days) who were filled with the excitement of breaking ground and leading a seismic shift in communications and information. But things have changed rapidly, and AOL is yesterday.

The market girations of recent are hard on even the most seasoned investor. Sleepless nights are common during these periods. I have shorted many times before, but only when I believed a particular equity for a particular reason was going to go south. This time, I tried a different kind of short program, and I am sleeplng (and doing other things) again.

On Friday, August 17, Countrywide increased its offering on 3-month, 6-month and 1-year CDs above those offered by its competitors. E-Loan now has the most compelling 2-year and 3-year CD rates. These increases have occurred in spite of a sharp decline in Treasuries the previous day.