Sorry about not posting anything yesterday, I was tied up with clients. I love my work, and always keep in mind I am paid to be a financial advisor while being a blogger is a freebee.
In my opinion, the markets remain in a narrow trading range (SPX 1325-1375), and pretty boring. Until we can either break above or below these levels, I am not real interested in what happens.
I continue to believe a retest of the January 22 lows (DJIA 11,640; S&P 500 1,270; Nasdaq 2,200) is in the cards. I would not be surprised if the re-test did not hold.
What does amaze me is the plethora of BS being thrown around by Wall Street and the media covering the Presidential race.
This morning- and here we go again- Merrill Lynch issued sell ratings on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Talk about old, and mildewed news, everyone and their mother knows FNM and FRE are going to report horrible quarters, and both stocks would probably trade down to the low $20's.
In August 2007, I wrote an article entitled, "Wal-Mart: Sorry Merrill, you're wrong again!", after Merrill Lynch issued a "sell" recommendation on Wal-Mart. At the time of the "expert sell" recommendation given by Merrill Lynch, the stock was trading around $43-$44. Today, the stock is trading at $49.77.
If these analysts were such great soothsayers, why didn't they see what the housing bubble was going to do to FNM and FRE when both stocks were trading in the 60's and 70's?
One of the best kept secrets in the mortgage mess is the lack of media focus on the destruction of middle-class jobs. Since the "New World Order" gang (Bush the Elder, Bill Clinton ,and Dubya) pushed through NAFTA and CAFTA, the US manufacturing base has been nuked. As such, the types of jobs people need to be secure homeowners have disappeared.
John McCain and Hillary Clinton are also part of the gang. McCain during his visit to SC and Michigan told voters that "The jobs lost are never coming back". I guess to sum up McCain's Republican establishment platform; we can say there will be less jobs, more wars, and more illegals.
Market Re-Cap
Stocks traded down this morning after Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released a weaker than expected reading on regional manufacturing. Manufacturing activity fell to -24.0 in February from -20.9 in January -- its lowest levels since the 2001 recession
The Conference Board's monthly index of leading economic indicators fell for the fourth month in a row, marking a 2 pct drop over the past six months -- also the biggest decline since 2001.
Crude is trading up 25 cents to $98.48/bbl this morning supported by rising geopolitical tension. Economists are worried that the high price of oil will kill consumer spending as people pay more for gas, further hurting economic growth.
Despite high energy prices the inventory numbers released by the EIA showed larger than expected builds in crude and gasoline. All I can say is someone keeps messing with the price, and pick pocketing the consumer.
Legendary oil investor T. Boone Pickens said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Thursday morning, that he expects oil prices to drop $10 or $15 a barrel in the second quarter. He went on to say that he thought prices would be back above $100 in the second half of the year.
Gold futures surged to a record high as a weak dollar and soaring commodity prices boosted the appeal of gold as an inflation hedge. Stagflation continues to be a concern.
On the political front, the "little people" get to choose their next President from the 3 handpicked candidates from the news media. The "New World Order" gang is a little nervous since they only have two of their candidates in the race (McCain &Clinton).
In my opinion, some of the best candidates are not in the race or have no chance of winning.
Barrack Obama is touting himself as not being beholden to the special interests- in other words the "Globalists" and "New World Order" gang. I don't know if he is or isn't, but the American people are supporting his message.
What gets me is all of the candidates are talking about "change". I'll tell you, after these clowns are thru with us, "change" is the only things we'll have left in our pockets.
