Investors 411 Blog

Nation Building Quagmire

Ronald Reagan was right

Once again Frank Rich’s Sunday NYT editorial is outside the American corporate media news box. It deserves your attention and is, in part, the basis for the points below. LINK

• We, getting out butts kicked in the war on terror – The call for a 3rd unilateral surge of troops (see Oct 25th post) is  a major example of failure – you don’t call for more troops when you are winning.
• The debacle or “unjust” war/nation-building in Iraq is the underlying cause of the trouble in Afghanistan. – While we fiddled with Iraq – Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran all burned. This was predicted over and again since the Iraq war started by Investors411 and others.
• Pakistan (2 to 3 times larger than Iraq+Afghanistan and a nuke power) is deteriorating rapidly – All polls show the #1 party in the polls is now the Muslim religious party who campaign slogan is “Go America Go”
• Systemic failure of the military/pentagon to foresee the Hasan/Ft. Hood disaster.
  

Solutions fromthe far right and the military

• Of course right wing solutions blather fear and religious leaders like Pat Robertson are calling Islam “Not a religion, but a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world.” Every Islamic terrorist is using Robertson’s (or some right wing American like him) quote to turn moderates into terrorist recruits.
• This right wing view is diametrically opposed to US military/General McChritstal’s call for 40,000+ more troops in Afghanistan   “The key to success – a strong personal relationships forged between security forces and local populations.” A worthy goal, but is it doable, what are the costs, and like Iraq will it just make things worse.

Iraq/Afghanisatan

• Maliki, our guy in Iraq, is one of the founding fathers of the Darwa party. The Darwa party is responsible for killing almost 250 American marines in a bombing in Lebanon. Reagan was smart and he got our troops out of the Lebanon quagmire
• The two major religious leaders in Iraq – Sistani refuses to ever speak to Americans & Sadr hates us worse than Pat Robertson hates Islam. They hate our occupation.
• Our invasion of Iraq has created the biggest refugee crisis in the world according to the UN. 4.2 million people have been displaces when the Shia just about destroyed the Sunni’s in Iraq. Sunni’s were responsible for most of the violence. LINK
• Maliki/current government along with Hezbollah and Hamas was the first to recognize (insert most negative adjective(s) you can think of here) Admadinejad election in Iran
• Iraq’s economy is rich with oil & Afghan’s rich with Opium. To create/nation build in Afghan means creating a whole new economy. Far more costly than Iraq.
• Our guy, Karzi, in Afghan, is corrupt, an election rigger, and his family directly related to the opium trade.

Solutions - Absolute worst solution is some form of  Obama compromise – (send in 20,000 troops)

If you’re going to commit to war/nation building in Afghan do so absolutely . Otherwise you’ll never win . If you do commit – Expect/be prepared for of tens of thousands of casualties, a lot more than 40,000 troops sent, many trillions in cost, a huge extended cost of occupation/nation building beyond Iraq, Afghanistan to other countries, our huge deficit to explode higher and the majority of Americans/world (already against the war) to grow in size and anger.

My choice – Ronald Reagan made a wonderful decision NOT getting us involved nation building in Lebanon after the bombing of the marine barracks.

STOCKS

AS ALWAYS, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH BEFORE INVESTING!

Index	Percentage %	Volume
Dow	-0.91%	up
NASDQ	-0.83%	up
S&P500	-1.03%	flat
Russell2000	-2.09%	-

Investors411 record – 4 1/2 years of beating benchmark S&P 500

(see results for last 1/2 year – click  6/25 & scroll down)

• Brown = repeat statements
• Green = usually bullish statements
• Red = Usually bearish statements

Technicals, Fundamentals & Analysis

Dollar fell  a  significant -0.60 so stocks rose The inverse relationship between the dollar and stocks is so strong it is easily the dominating factor in movement of equities. The other forecasting are distant seconds to the US dollar’s movement.

Monday’s since September have been historically very good for stocks. If the dollar is going to breakdown and stocks breakout higher it most probably will happen this Monday or next.

Major rally in most countries overnight.

KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid – The dollar rules

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Significant forecasting tools/Indexes for stock markets

(Besides #1 Volume & #2 Reaction to News)

BDI - The Baltic Dry Index measures the flow of goods by price (world trade) .

The BDI is @ 4% off its high (early June) Before that it gained almost over + 630% from its all time low of 663 in Dec. of 2008 (April 2009 high of 4291 )

The BDI rose a VERY significant +155 points yesterday and closed at 4111. Up 12 days in a row . The BDI’s growth did slow down a little as it approaches its major resistance level at 4291 . (This years high)  The BDI has rallied about 2000 points since late September. =  Bullish for stocks & world trade right now. Especially good for our positions in FXI & EWZ

Like most major resistance /support levels expect 4291 to hold. Technically – Upward momentum slowing is a sign that the 4291 resistance level will hold and after being up 20 of the last 22 days the BDI is certainly overbought.

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The Dollar is currently the #1 forecasting tool .

$USD - Check out the 6 month chart (to the left) or a multi year chart of the US dollar of the US dollar.

Mantra – Dollar up = US stocks down & Dollar down = US stocks up

US dollar was down a  significant  -0.60% yesterday. The dollar closed at $75.23 . “ Usually a major support level at least temporarily halts any fall.” The $75 support level held and now the dollar is near the bottom of its range.

The next important resistance level for the dollar is the falling 50 day moving average (blue line on chart). This is at $76.20 this AM . The support level is a little below $75.00 . Both are EXTREMELY important lines in the sand. A breakout on either side will move US equities in the other direction and the world will follow.

There is a major squeeze play going on as the resistance level keeps falling as does a major trend line. Support remains flat at @ $75.  Only $1.20 separates the two. Which ever side the Dollar breaks out through will set the momentum for it and the opposite will happen for US ( and most world) equities.

CAUTION – The first breakout (up or down) is often false. Right now the momentum (since the long term trend is down) is with the Dollar bears and consequently stock bulls

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$NYMO The NY Stock Exchange McCellan (EOD) Index measures how much the NYSE is oversold or overbought .

The index closed at +5.83. This indicates stocks are just a wee bit overbought and moving is either direction is possible.

Key to chart – Zero  is roughly  neutral and roughly when you approach to @ +60 you are overbought and approaching -60 you are oversold . Buy at oversold and sell at overbought. Nothing is absolute in this chart. In fact using the moving averages as a central point is better than using zero. Nothing is absolute about the minus or plus 60 number either.

Oversold conditions = buy, Overbought positions = sell

Positions

The  Positions Section (top of blog) to see all the latest buys and sells

Sorry have not had a chance to update Positions section in well over a week – see past updates

Investors

Comments – NOT the time to buy or add to recommended positions. (FXI, EWZ, GLD )  Enjoy the rally. Shorter term investors may want to sell part of the 3 major positions while they are at highs.

Going to add Indonesia & Vietnam ETF’s – but waiting for dips. Also going to add DGP (this ETF does about 2x what the GLD does) – More explanation later. As a trade like GS. Again, waiting for dips

Traders (short term plays) These are not ETFs, but individual stocks

Extra Note of Caution here – Even though I always warn you AS ALWAYS DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH BEFORE INVESTING! please note I’m far less confident in individual stock picks

Long Term Outlook – The dollar looks like it may break down through major support and the benchmark S&P 500 is on the verge of a yearly high – Outlook will change to CAUTIOUSLY BULLISH if/when this happens. But subject to further change back to neutral since breakout was weak.

Long Term Outlook = CAUTIOUSLY BULLISH

More than Just Wall Street Horrors

Photo from SeekingAlpha.com

Wall Street

Let’s call it the Halloween Horrors (See analysis below under stocks)

Mideast

Afghanistan – The run off election process in Afghanistan has broken. The challenger Abdulla Abdulla has withdrawn from the process.  The UN, as well as most of the world, determined that the first election was corrupt. The current president refused to even change the head of the Afghan Election Commission who was in charge of the corrupted election so the Abdullah Abdullah resignation is understandable.  This leaves the obviously corrupt Karzi as the only candidate and the future partner of the USA.  Story from BBC LINK

Latest news on tube is that there will be no runoff election .

Pakistan The UN (development agencies) is pulling out of Tribal areas. Story from Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper LINK Hillary Clinton’s recent trip to Afghanistan reviewed by Pakistani newspapers – Reviews basically NOT favorable – “White Goddess Should Leave Pakistan ” LINK Deterioration in Pakistan continues and another massive terrorist bombing LINK

Turkey/Iran – This may come as a shocker, but Turkey, who is seeking NATO membership, seems to be taking a pro Iran stand when it comes to nuclear development. Al Jazeera story (Remember AJ has no reason to have a pro Iran bias – AJ is Arab & pro Sunni and Iran is Persians & pro Shia) LINK

Bottom Line – Nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorist is something no one wants.  But the more we try to nation build the worse it gets. Let’s accept noble prize winner Joe Stiglets estimate that so far our nation building has/will end up costing us almost $3 trillion.

• How much is it going to cost to turn tribal Afghanistan from an opium (heroin #1 economic product) to a viable state?
  
• How much is it going to cost us to maintain Iraq? Remember the Iraq government along with Hezbollah and Hamas was the first to recognize Ahmadinejad. The two main Shia religious leaders – Sistani, refuses to even speak with Americans and Sadr lives in Iran.
• How much is Pakistan – almost 3 times larger than Iraq & Afghanistan combined going to cost?
  

Crossroads moment for Obama – Adding more troops and nation building in the middle of the worst recession since the Great Depression. Can we afford the trillions it will cost? Wouldn’t it be better to economically help Pakistan more right now than have to nation build their later.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

The mantra for Investors411 is that job creation is going to be even slower this time than after any other recession. This recession is bigger and badder.  The new jobs from American companies are going to first be in countries with growing middle classes like India, China Brazil and smaller countries – Cheaper labor and you are closer to a growing market.

Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman in today’s NYT offers a short term solution LINK

STOCKS

AS ALWAYS, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH BEFORE INVESTING!

Index	Percentage %	Volume
Dow	-2.51%	up
NASDQ	-2.50%	up
S&P500	-2.81%	up
Russell2000	-3.01%	-

Investors411 record – 4 1/2 years of beating benchmark S&P 500

(see results for last 1/2 year – click  6/25 & scroll down)

• Brown = repeat statements
• Green = usually bullish statements
• Red = Usually bearish statements

Technicals, Fundamentals & Analysis

Volume the #1 historical confirmation factor is telling everyone - GET THE HELL OUT. However, the dollar still rules .

The Long Term Long Term Outlook is back to NEUTRAL As mentioned last Wednesday – When the Long Term Outlook is changed we often go back and forth for a while as stocks move above or below key support levels

A falling dollar helped stocks move higher under Bush and its doing the same under Obama . (Check out weekly stock charts of S&P 500 & The Dollar for last 5 years) This inverse relationship between stocks and the dollar was quite different before Bush. (more on this later)

Lots of major economic events this week – The Fed meets and October’s unemployment # comes out Thursday are the big events.

FEARLESS FORECAST -  I’ve never seen volume be so huge on the downside days and the markets not continue to fall.  However, right now the dollar rules. It looks like its resistance level for the dollar (see below) will hold. Still downside risk is growing.

Investors411 has taken profits on its (20% of portfolio) position in the SPX and short term TRADERS might want to take a little of some other positions off the table (FIX & EWZ) in a rally. – There is NOTHING wrong fundamentally with these ETF’s.  In fact, the BDI is bullish,

Fundamentally, long term I see the dollar falling and technically it looks as if the resistance level will hold. This is good for stocks in the short term – next  month or two.

I’d rather have some more cash to buy any possible major sell off.

Long term – Bearish on the US economically. The mess in the Mideast could deteriorate rapidly and the long term cost are astronomical, especially considering the deficit & the recession. We still have NOT changed the same unregulated “free market” system that caused the financial meltdown. Agree with Krugman on stimulus/unemployment. Think things will hold up till the dollar reaches the low it had under Bush or the Mideast erupts.

——–

Significant forecasting tools/Indexes for stock markets

(Besides #1 Volume & #2 Reaction to News)

BDI - The Baltic Dry Index measures the flow of goods by price (world trade) .

The BDI is @ 29% off its high (early June) Before that it gained almost over + 630% from its all time low of 663 in Dec. of 2008 (April 2009 high of 4291 )

The BDI rose a significant +90 points Friday and closed at 3103. . A higher high price on its chart pattern has been confirmed The BDI has rallied almost 900 points since late September. =  Bullish for stocks & world trade right now

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The Dollar is currently the #1 forecasting tool . It would be a wild guess to predict the daily moves of the dollar, but longer term fundamentals are clearly negative – the trend of a falling dollar should continue.

$USD - Check out the 6 month chart (to the left) or a multi year chart of the US dollar of the US dollar.

Mantra – Dollar up = US stocks down & Dollar down = US stocks up

US dollar rose a SIGNIFICANT +0.52% yesterday. The dollar closed at $76.36 .  

From yesterday – The next important resistance level for the dollar is the falling 50 day moving average (blue line on chart). This is at $76.74 this AM . So dollar is 0.40% away from major resistance. It’s the line in the sand – Best read of the tea leaves is that it will hold. In fact, Investors411 will add to some positions  as we get close to this resistance level.

Positions

The  Positions Section (top of blog) to see all the latest buys and sells

Friday – Going to sell some SPX-reasons – Free cash for other investments & take profits

Long term investors should realize that positions like EWZ & FXI are going to have more dramatic moves than American stocks.

AS ALWAYS DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH BEFORE INVESTING!

The 3rd Surge

Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek asks – Do we need a Third Surge in Afghanistn? LINK

• In Jan 2008 we had 26,607 troops in Afghanistan.
• The first “quiet” Surge under Bush added almost 22,000 to 48,250 by the end of 2008
• The second surge in 2009 under Obama we added @ another 20,000 troops
• Now “generals” have turned up propaganda for a third surge of 40,000 to 80,000 more troops.
• The total surge in Iraq was only  20,000 troops.

Zakaria offers an interesting alternative strategy. You may or may not like Zakaria’s strategy. But, it is is certainly far less costly than nation building or colonialism throughout the Arab world . See link above.

Two huge bombs went off in Baghdad Iraq today killing hundred(s) (to early to tell how many died) LINK

Just a reminder that in Iraq the Shia slaughtered the Sunni’s (many who were terrorists) and million(s) fled or faced slaughter.  This had a huge impact on entrenching the new Shia dominated government. The new Iraq Shia led government is corrupt, sustains high unemployment, and along with Hamas and Hezbollah was the first to recognize Holocaust denier Ahmadinejad in Iran even while he was brutally crushed the “Green Revolutions.”

The two major Shia religious figures in Iraq with millions of fanatic followers -  Sadr, embraces Ahmadinejad and Sistan i remained silent about “Green Revolution..”

We are about to enter our second decade of nation building or colonialism in the Muslim world that continues to add trillions to our deficit .

Crossroads – Nation Building

Violence in Pakistan

The Huffington Post has become a major focal point in opposition to expanding in Afghanistan.  Site founder Arianna Huffington has an excellent article “Why Joe Biden Should Resign. ” LINK Biden has opposed the Afghan buildup in favor of a focus on Pakistan. Three of you have chimed in on the blog and agree that since Pakistan has Nuclear weapons, many more al Qaeda and affiliates it makes sense not to focus resources (financially 30 to 1 ) on Pakistan instead focus on Afghanistan. 41 were killed yesterday in a coordinated attack on Pakistan Police stations. LINK

Looks like we are going to have a do over election in Afghanistan LINK and then send in more troops for another long costly war.  After that Pakistan, perhaps Yemen, the Sudan, Iran, then back to Iraq.  The LOOOOOOONG war in Afghanistan means nation building in a country whose #1 export is opium not oil.  How are we ever going to get out of debt while spending trillions nation building?

Seems like Obama without Biden is going down the same path as Cheney/Bush .  From an editor in London, Simon Tisdall – “With friends like the US, Pakistan doesn’t need enemies.” LINK Another from Paris by William Pfaff LINK Another from Paris by William Pfaff LINK

STOCKS

AS ALWAYS, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH BEFORE INVESTING!

Index	Percentage %	Volume
Dow	+0.47%	down
NASDQ	+0,05%	down
S&P500	+0.43%	down
Russell2000	-0,10%	-

Investors411 record – 4 1/2 years of beating benchmark S&P 500

(see results for last 1/2 year – click  6/25 & scroll down)

• Brown = repeat statements
• Green = usually bullish statements
• Red = Usually bearish statements

Technicals and Fundamentals

Last hour rally lifts stocks. Always bullish to close at highs of day. Volume falls. We held onto Dow 10,000 and that’s psychologically bullish. Holding Dow 10,000 into weekend important

Google hit and IBM missed earnings reports. Last night GOOG was up 3% and IBM down 3% in after hours trading. GE and BAC missed this AM.

Good news is NOT having the positive impact it had last quarter. How markets react to news is our #2 confirmation factor. It has turned BEARISH

Warning – Financial sector seems ready for at least a light correction. 1120 on the S&P in technical terms a 50% retracement number. If you don;t know what this means – just think the S&P is at 1097 and there is a big boulder in the road ahead to 1200.

Famed investor George Soros this AM is quoted on CNBC saying  “the US will be a drag on worldwide economic recovery”

Rotation/Sector Rotation

What happens in a bull market is different sectors take over leadership. Leadership rotates. So far in the US – energy, tech and financials have lead. Many foreign markets have broken out before the Dow and other indexes reached new yearly highs. (Brazil, Chile, Australia, Mexico, Germany plus more) The US sector now in the lead is energy. Rotation is what the bulls love to see. It’s like a relay race where another runner picks up the baton or carries the markets.

The supporting themes that juices everything is a falling dollar,  the huge stimulus packages around the world, & bailed out shadow banks/financials.

Oil prices have now also broken out over $77 (new yearly high) and if they go north of $80 Main Street is going to get hit and Wall Street will eventually feel it too.

——–

Significant forecasting tools/Indexes for stock markets

(Besides #1 Volume & #2 Reaction to News)

BDI - The Baltic Dry Index measures the flow of goods by price (world trade) .

The BDI is @ 40% (I haven’t done the math) off its high (early June) Before that it gained almost over 630% from its all time low of 663 in Dec. of 2008 (April 2009 high of 4291 )

The BDI nine day rally flattened out two days ago and has fallen 99 points. It shot up a significant +91 points yesterday and closed at 2688 =  Bullish for stocks & world trade right now

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$USD - Check out the 6 month chart (to the left) or a multi year chart of the US dollar of the US dollar.

Mantra – Dollar up = US stocks down & Dollar down = US stocks up

Stocks went up so guess what happened to the dollar – The dollar reached a new yearly low two days and steadied yesterday at +0.04 % The dollar closed at $75.50. We have developed a support level just below $76 . The dollar closed below its support level. = Bullish for stocks

NB -

• Earnings will probably trump the dollar as the #1 influencing factor for the nest two weeks. But the falling dollar is the main driver of stocks right now and we have a long way to go till we hit last year’s $71 low.
• A slow decline in the dollar = good a rapid decline = bad .
  

Last year’s low was around $71, so there is a long way to go before the next major and very crucial support level.

Positions

The  Positions Section (top of blog) to see all the latest buys and sells

I will try to revise this section to make it clearer – Open to any private suggestions – just went over it today.

Recommendations-

• Buy GLD on dips.
• Our other positions have gone way up and are NOT worth chasing at this time .
  
• If you are a stock picker or short term trader do not chase hot stocks – wait for a dip. Everything seems overbought. Financials on dips still decent plays. Looks like dip is coming.
• Traders – Bought small position in CSCO a few days ago
• Traders – NVS (Novartis) 11+% profit so far. Usually would take profits now or at least sell 1/2, but going to wait till swine flu hits.
• Having reached a higher high on major indexes, you start to think more about how much to hold and how much to sell.

AS ALWAYS DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH BEFORE INVESTING!

Afghanistan

Huffington Post has a huge Afghanistan section. No other news outlet even comes close. LINK

Steve Clemons has one of the best websites on issues facing America. He is both realistic and a relative moderate. He features a big Af/Pak Debate by some foreign policy experts LINK Title of debate “AMERICA CANNOT AND WILL NOT SUCCEED IN AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN.”

Today’s WashingtonNote.com , Clemons blog focus is Iran – “Imposing More Sanctions On Iran Will Not Work” Both these articles give some in depth analysis.

Bottom Line – Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries – I don’t want these countries to become havens to those who will attack America, but in no way do I want to continue  spend $100s of billions to nation build democracies around the worlds.  Our results in Iraq are a Shia government that is corrupt, best buddies with Ahmadinejad, and still a nation deep in poverty despite having huge oil reserves. Furthermore, while we focused on Iraq, Afghanistan/Pakistan deteriorated.

Just like in the colonial empires of the 20th century (from England to Russia) you’ll find that nation building has brought former dominate powers down. This is just history repeating itself. In the middle a recession for Main Street these funds should go to help Americans not nation building abroad.

STOCKS

AS ALWAYS, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH BEFORE INVESTING!

Index	Percentage %	Volume
Dow	+1.37%	up
NASDQ	+1.71%	up
S&P500	+1.37%	up
Russell2000	+1.84%	-

Investors411 record – 4 1/2 years of beating benchmark S&P 500

(see results for last 1/2 year – click  6/25 & scroll down)

• Brown = repeat statements
• Green = usually bullish statements
• Red = Usually bearish statements

Technicals and Fundamentals

The Dollar is currently the #1 factor influencing stocks.  Yesterday’s significant move down created a major rally for stocks.  Earnings season which officially opens today (Alcoa reports) will be a fundamental driver of stocks, but the dollar will still be very important.  What investors are looking for is top line sales growth. Last quarter Inel Computer had some top line growth and that sparked a rally. INTC is obviously again a key factor.

Volume moved up, but only the NASDQ was above average. You might call this partial confirmation of the move higher.

Australia raised interest rates and this show signs of an improving worldwide economy. LINK The US is not going to raise rate for a while until the jobless situation turns.

Mortgage applications are at a 4 month high as rate falls is the headline on the major financial news channel LINK – Bullish news

Markets are overbought, and you should notice that huge amounts of $ are NOT entering the market

There are some strong technical resistance areas around the old S&P high of @ 1070, 1120 and 1200. (more later on this) These are areas I’d take some money off the table. Especially 1120 & 1200.  S&P or SPX is at 1055.

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Significant forecasting tools/Indexes for stock markets

(Besides #1 Volume & #2 Reaction to News)

BDI - The Baltic Dry Index measures the flow of goods by price (world trade) .

The BDI is @ 46% off its high (early June) Before that it gained almost over 630% from its all time low of 663 in Dec. of 2008 (April 2009 high of 4291 )

The BDI rose a significant +79 points yesterday and closed the day at 2441 .   Longer term (since the June high) the rate of decline has softened, but its still going in the wrong direction. We seem to have started to reversed the longer term June move. We’ve had a rally 8 of the last 9 days from a low of 2166 .  Resistance level of 2491 (last months high) first major hurdle to cross – Bullish for stocks .

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$USD - Check out the 6 month chart (to the left) or a multi year chart of the US dollar of the US dollar.

Mantra – Dollar up = US stocks down & Dollar down = US stocks up

The dollar fell -0.51% yesterday. Three down days in has brought the Dollar to $76.31 less than 0.50 of its yearly closing low of $76.00 (major support level)

Last year’s low was around $71, so there is a long way to go before the next major support level.

Positions

The  Positions Section (top of blog) to see all the latest buys and sells

See yesterday’s update for a full outline of current positions. Sold XLF for +7% gain. Over the course of this year Investors411 has sold XLF (financials) for 23% gain (10% of portfolio) and twice for 7% gains (both 5% of portfolio)

Both GLD and EWZ are trading at new highs. Like US markets right now these stocks (GLD might be termed a commodity – gold) are over bought. Looking for a buy the dip opportunity .

AS ALWAYS DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH BEFORE INVESTING!

Iran Gets Caught Red Handed

Perhaps this is one reason why the Russian President came out and said sanctions are inevitable.

Breaking news – Iran has been caught by US, Ger., Eng. and Fr. secretly trying to enrich Uranium . This news should dominate news cycle. Holocaust denying, illegitimate President Ahmadinejad (photo above) announced he got caught with his hand in the nuclear cookie jar. LINK

Obama’s Bill to triple non military aid to Pakistan passes Senate. LINK

These two news items are interconnected .

The US obviously has limited resources. We should NOT be trying to spend trillions (Nobel prize winner Joe Stigletz put this cost at $2 to $3 trillion) nation build in Iraq, Afghanistan, or other countries.  What we need to focus on is the nuclear problem especially in Iran and Pakistan.  If we can increase stability in Pakistan now (the $1.5 billion in aid is still too little)  we could prevent spending trillions there later.

Obama directly addressed cutting nuclear weapons at the UN Here’s al Jazeera’s interview of Jordan’s Queen Noor. Remember al Jazeera is basically a Sunni arab news outlet and Iran is Shia and Persian. No love lost between the two. LINK

Alternative Energy (+ and -)

Tom Friedman is back writing about alternative energy or lack of alternative energy manufacturers in the USA. Also there is  in the comment section of the blog an insightful reference to a Newsweek story “Big Oil Goes Green For Real ” LINK

Last week Friedman bemoaned the fact that the 14 new solar energy plants (one significant component of alternative energy) has all been built outside the USA. LINK

G 20

The G 20 countries are meeting in Pittsburgh and if corporate media let’s us get buy protests you can find some substance. The NT hits the nail on the head. The G 20 nations with a lot of stimulus packages and other measures have averted a worldwide economic meltdown. Now the tough part begins – Getting past self interests and coming up with some global regulatory solutions and avoiding protectionism LINK

STOCKS

AS ALWAYS, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH BEFORE INVESTING!

Index	Percentage %	Volume
Dow	-0,42 %	down
NASDQ	-1.12%	down
S&P500	-0.95%	flat
Russell2000	-1.89%	-

Investors411 record – 4 1/2 years of beating benchmark S&P 500

(see results for last 1/2 year – click  6/25 & scroll down)

• Brown = repeat statements
• Green = usually bullish statements
• Red = Usually bearish statements

Technicals and Fundamentals

There hasn’t been big volume behind this current short term dip, but it has been moderate.  The NASDQ (tech’s have lead) the retreat and has had the biggest volume.  A second day of losses usually acts as confirmation of the first days turn, especially if volume rises.  So we get a kind of partial confirmation.

One of the internet darlings and AAPL competitor, RIMM got toasted in an early earnings report – down 10+% – Bearish news for techs

A Fed Governor Kevin Warsh has said that we may have to raise interest rates sooner than later.  Stocks love a 0% interest rates and rising interest rates means other ways of making $ become more viable than stocks. WaPo editorial LINK = Bearish Fundamental

Earnings season is around the corner.

G 20 summit taking place in Pittsburgh.

BDI seems to be turning higher = Bullish

Iran has a secret uranium enrichment program just announced by US government = Bearish news

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Significant forecasting tools/Indexes for stock markets

(Besides #1 Volume & #2 Reaction to News)

BDI - The Baltic Dry Index measures the flow of goods by price (world trade) .

2388 is support level/number to watch – Yesterday BDI fell -10 t o close at 2165. Major support level has been broken and the rate of fall is dramatically intensifying – From @ -70 to -10 Short term Bullish for stocks

The BDI is @49% off its high (early June) Before that it gained almost over 630% from its all time low of 663 in Dec. of 2008 (April 2009 high of 4291 ) A 50% retracement from highs is a major support level. Therefore some stabilization is understandable.

What this means – World trade is in trouble – lots of ships are sitting in ports empty.  To some degree, China has stopped buying raw materials and/or the US consumer is not buying as rapidly as earlier in the year. Braking a support level is significant, but 2250 (current level) is still a long way from the Dec. 2008 663 low. = Storm clouds gathering

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$USD - Check out the 6 month chart (to the left) or a multi year chart of the US dollar of the US dollar.

As predicted the $76 support level held.

Mantra – Dollar up = US stocks down & Dollar down = US stocks up

The dollar rose a very significant + 0.76% yesterday and closed at $76.91. Technically this is a new short term high from a few days ago = Bullish for dollar and bearish for stocks

Last year’s low was around $71, so there is a long way to go before the next major support level.

Positions

The  Positions Section (top of blog) to see all the latest buys and sells

Sold all of 10% stake in XLF (financials) at 15.01 for a 7+% profit.  Reasoning – if markets do have a 5 to 10% correction higher beta (those stocks that are most volatile) names will get hit.  There’s a lot of talk about a consumer protection agency passing congress with financials as its focus. LINK

I keep waiting for some sort of regulation to be voted on so the same kind of meltdown does not happen again and Democrats, who are in control, keep disappointing.

Again just like selling AAPL, not being greedy sometimes hurts.  As a trader I do play with ETF’s that do 3x financials both long and short (FAS &FAZ)

Plan to add to EWZ (Brazil) on a dip.

AS ALWAYS DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH BEFORE INVESTING!