Savvy short sellers know to avoid crowds. The best of them will speak of “crowded shorts,” which refer to stocks that are so heavily shorted that they may become vulnerable to a short squeeze that instantly pushes them higher. A number of big-time short… Read More

When President Obama writes his memoirs, he will surely point to Nov. 14, 2011 as one of the worst days of his presidency. That’s when the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear legal challenges against the Administration’s sweeping overhaul of the United States’ health care system. Administration officials spent thousands of hours horse-trading with various members of Congress, ultimately producing a document which, according to one recent poll, roughly two-thirds of voters would like to see altered or overturned. #-ad_banner-#For more conservative voters, the legislation smacks of government overreach and a loss of personal liberty. For liberal voters, the… Read More

When President Obama writes his memoirs, he will surely point to Nov. 14, 2011 as one of the worst days of his presidency. That’s when the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear legal challenges against the Administration’s sweeping overhaul of the United States’ health care system. Administration officials spent thousands of hours horse-trading with various members of Congress, ultimately producing a document which, according to one recent poll, roughly two-thirds of voters would like to see altered or overturned. #-ad_banner-#For more conservative voters, the legislation smacks of government overreach and a loss of personal liberty. For liberal voters, the overhaul didn’t go far enough, leaving too many profits on the table for private insurers, as the “public option” component was negotiated out of existence. Of course the Supreme Court won’t simply hand down a ruling based on a poll of current voter  preferences. Instead, the justices will look at various aspects of the legislation and determine whether any or all aspects need to be rolled back.   With a ruling expected on or before June 25, it’s time to prep your portfolio for the various possible outcomes. (The Supreme Court holds its press conference on Thursday, June 14,… Read More

The grand sum of $1.4 trillion is a remarkably large number, no matter how you slice it. It’s so large that it can single-handedly impact the direction of the stock market. And thanks to recent events, it is a number you should be thinking… Read More

If you’ve been a regular reader of my articles during the past four months, then you know how much I feared the eventual market rout we’re now witnessing. I only mention this to make it clear that my current, increasingly… Read More

The number 666 has spooky connotations for fans of horror films. It’s also an ominous number that analysts at France-based Societe Generale (SoGen) want you to think about. That’s their target price for the S&P 500.  The S&P 500’s 120 point drop since late March to a recent 1,305 has… Read More

In the spring of 2008, Corporate America was caught off guard. Many companies carried hefty debt loads, and once the financial crisis hit that summer, a number of stocks plunged precipitously on looming bankruptcy fears. The most vulnerable among them: companies with more debt coming due in the following 12… Read More

  I got a chance to catch up with old colleagues at a tech investment conference this past week. And one topic dominated our hour-long discussion: Now that Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) are trading far from their all-time highs, is either one a bargain? More specifically, how… Read More

Ah yes… it’s 13-F season, the time when investors’ fancies turn to what the investment gurus are buying.  Bill Ackman, the legendary value brain behind Pershing Square Capital Management, has been pretty busy these days. With a focused management style that typically involves accumulating… Read More

Reckless actions will get you punished. That’s what JP Morgan’s (NYSE: JPM) CEO, Jamie Dimon, was surely thinking after he learned that a key employee at his firm had lost roughly $2 billion on an ill-conceived trading strategy. In fact, his firm’s losses from this debacle could easily reach twice or three times as much as that initial amount, causing Dimon more sleepless nights ahead. But was this misstep really worth $30 billion? That’s the stunning amount of market value that this venerable bank… Read More

Reckless actions will get you punished. That’s what JP Morgan’s (NYSE: JPM) CEO, Jamie Dimon, was surely thinking after he learned that a key employee at his firm had lost roughly $2 billion on an ill-conceived trading strategy. In fact, his firm’s losses from this debacle could easily reach twice or three times as much as that initial amount, causing Dimon more sleepless nights ahead. But was this misstep really worth $30 billion? That’s the stunning amount of market value that this venerable bank has lost in recent weeks since the trading scandal was announced. Shares have been tarred and feathered so badly that they now trade below tangible book value. Twin pressures That steep drop in shareholder value also likely stems from a pair of other factors. First, the trading losses make it more likely that the entire banking sector will be put in handcuffs when it comes to risky trading for the firms’ own accounts. The Volcker Rule, banking legislation which was likely to be… Read More

With all of the headwinds swirling around stocks today, many investors are seeking the safety of cash. It’s a wise move, but not for the reasons you may think. Cash is not just “safe,” but it is also firepower for the next major upward move in the stock market. Read More