Financial Crimes Unit
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Eric Schneiderman- Head of new Financial Crimes Unit.
Obama in the SOTU address announced the creation of a
When Obama took office he appointed Darth Vader/Larry Summers as his chief economic advisor. Summers was under Secretary of Treasury to Robert (former CEO of GS) Ruben who went along with the 1998 the Republican proposal to gut many financial reforms and allow Investment banks to merge with Insurance companies.
1998 was the start and the process continued throughout the Bush administration. Cutting regulations and regulators led to the finacial meltdown of 2008/2009.
Fed Chair, Alan Greenspan Mr “Free Market” himself
admitting deregulating banks was wrong
Summers, who left the Obama administration almost year ago, had coddled the big banks.
This new unit, which is three years late, will be headed by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman
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Another Republican Debate
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Republicans will score this a clear win for Romney.
Another typical Republican food fight that was painfully short on solutions and filled with accusations and counter accusations.
Romney’s most effective line was about family values and it absolutely crushes Gingrich – “I stayed with my wife though MS and Cancer” (Newt has had 3 wives and scored big time when jumped on the media for making the topic the first question of the debate.)
More from USA Today
But it’s not over till the fat lady sings
and Newt has a new docudrama coming out at 5:00EST
If it hits with his billionaire PAC money it could do some damage.
However, Mitt is outspending Newt 3 to 1 in FLD.
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YOUR Comments
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A follow up to yesterday’s Yankee Bob editorial - Two outstanding posts (scroll down at link) yesterday on solutions from JS and Yankee Bob on a financial transaction tax. As always PAUL R keeps you up to date with the latest breaking insight in stocks and trading concepts in the comments section.
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STOCKS
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Wall Street Bull and OWS Symbol
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Short Term Outlook
- Mea Culpa – As some of you know I have been very involved in the Elizabeth Warren Senate campaign. I have not had a chance to work on the Positions page for 2012. I hope to revise it this weekend and on Monday & Wednesday outlined most of an outlook.
- A lot of 2012 has to do with politics. Do we keep the Bernanke/Obama team that has almost doubled the S&P 500 and led to a slow, but steady economic recovery in place or do politics dramatically alter this?
- Long term – As long as interest rates stay low, and there is liquidity without inflation – investment money seeking higher returns will be forced into stocks and bonds. This dynamic has not changed under Bernanke/Obama even though other significant sectors of the world have taken some big hits (Europe & Japan) or are slowly pulling back – China.
The POSITIONS page does not yet reflect the
2012 Outlook.
- Our #1 technical forecasting tool, the McCellan Oscillator (MO) fell to +43.59 . 50DMA at +5.10 (for more see STRATEGY link at top of blog) = NEUTRAL/bearish
- The MO can be read like any chart (see above link) – Three times in January the MO has tried to break out above the 55 to 60 range and failed. Yet is has stayed in a very tight range between 30 and 60. If this range/trend breaks on the top side bulls win and on the bottom bears win. The fact that the trend is from + 30 to + 60 instead of minus is BULLISH
- Mantra – Low volume rallies are a characteristic of Central Banks and friends manipulating stocks/bonds. They have become quite good at this and these rallies have tended to last.
- DAX (Germany) was up over 1% yesterday and this failed to move US markets higher. The disconnect between Europe and the USA is growing. Italian bonds are now below 6%. Conclusion – Its way too early to call a long term trend, but it looks like there is some light at the end of a what will continue to be a long dark tunnel for Europe.
- NFLX – Kudos to Jim J who made a 65% Profit on his combination Option Trade of NFLX. The Strike price for both the Put and Call was $95 and the expiration this Friday. NFLX ended the day up +22.06 after earnings.
- Two more considerations for Option combinations. BIDU (Monday earnings) A short term trade. MCP as a possible long option term combination trade.
- Homebuilders, will be a recommendation this year. 3 homebuilders have been added to YSL 2012 this week. ETF’s - Paul seems to prefer the ITB homebuilders ETF. I like the XHB because it is @5x more liquid and therefore a better for options. Both work as a long term investment.
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Paul’s Corner
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The market sure has been on a tear since the start of the year. Many of Your Stock List 2012 stocks have given good returns. Earnings season is always fun, just when you expect a “pause and refresh” some 2 bit company like AAPL blows out estimates and comments from the Fed add fuel to the party. Party (risk) on?
Um…….well no….. if we look at the charts we see many stocks topping and the averages starting to roll over. HGSI chart indicators definitely show topping/turning in the market. Does this mean we sell and run? No but it suggests keeping an eye on our profits.
The “negative” housing report yesterday took some nice gains out of the housing stocks. The report showed a decline in housing sales in December. Come on, who really buys a home in December? RYL reported last evening and the various news articles don’t make sense, some say RYL met expectations, some say RYL missed. We will probably know by 10 AM which report is correct. If RYL starts ticking off in trading, it’s not a time to roll the dice and buy the dip, give the chart a few days to settle down.
Changes to Your stock List 2012
The following stocks are on the chopping block and are ready to be removed from Your Stock List.
FTK – the news of the cut back in “dry gas” drilling has given FTK a 10% decline in 5 days. A buy the dip? I’m not one who is going to roll the dice on this one.
BKI – an earnings miss and a 10% loss in two days on high volume
We are looking for a semi conductor stock to add to Your Stock List, suggestions?
The Important Stuff
BX34 A bus size asteroid passes earth 40,000 miles away at10:30 AM today. You might hold off any trades until after BX34 passes by.
AAPL has labor issues? Apple execs have long known about abuses of its Chinese workers at its suppliers’ factories but have turned a blind eye, according to a new report from The New York Times. The allegations include knowingly hiring underage workers, improperly disposing of hazardous waste and forcing employees to work continuous shifts and extended overtime.
Canadian kids, Lego’s and a balloon - A tiny Lego man clutching a Canadian flag has made history of sorts, making the first space flight for Lego-kind aboard a weather balloon rigged by two high school students from Toronto, Canada. Canadian teenagers Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad, both 17, attached the figurine – and four cameras – to a helium balloon that went up 80,000 feet into the air, the Toronto Star reported.
Wait! Asad Muhammad??? One of those Muslim terrorists planning an aerial attack on the US? I donno…..
Disclaimer, you know the routine.
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Longer Term Outlook
3 months+
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Still
CAUTIOUSLY BULLISH
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AS ALWAYS, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH BEFORE INVESTING
ALL TRADING INVOLVES RISK AND POTENTIAL LOSS OF PRINCIPLE
CHECK ALL DATA, I MAKE MORE THAN GRAMMAR ERRORS.
