Thursday Market Thoughts

• Whoa, was that $BBY – Best Buy hitting the skids today? Showrooming is the practice of examining merchandise in a traditional brick and mortar retail store without purchasing it, but then shopping online to find a lower price for the same item.
• So today’s action in the market wasn’t pitiful.  Yes, the Dow fell and the SP500 inched lower.  But the Nazamatazz was up a few.  We’re trucking through earnings season and various Fed comments, so it can get a little dicey.  But after Monday’s panic attack, the market soared Tues and Wed, and seemed to pause to catch its breath today.
• Some of the leading stocks get a little whippy here and there.  I’ve been trading them some and it feels crazy to buy something extended way beyond its 10dma.  But every pullback seems to be bought up so far.  And I’m not chasing any pyramid scheme stocks (you know the tickers).  I’m also scared of Russian stocks – but if one can catch the volatility in the right direction – KA-CHING!
• (Oh, same goes for biotechs with no earnings or profits or lemonade sales).
• I’ve definitely noticed that Best Buy crowds have thinned out considerably.  In years past, the place was a zoo around the holidays!  There would be long lines winding around the front of the store, with folks waiting to be assigned to a cashier.  This Christmas, no crowds and no lines.
• The Professor from Gilligan’s Island passed away.  RIP, Russell Johnson.
• Another season of American Idol already?  Time goes by too fast.  And Nikita gets cancelled.  SHEEZ.  Maggie Q did no singing whatsoever and Nikita was on for less than 4 hours a week.  Is that why the show was cancelled?
• They say American Idol viewership was down by 3 million, but still a huge audience.  Like way more people watching it than going to their local Best Buy.
• BENGHAZI.
• Have you seen airline stocks?  I hate airline stocks.  But I had one for a trade earlier.  I guess with oil prices down and FEES FEES FEES for everything, the companies are doing well.  But who likes those FEES?

#164: Market Swoon Continues; Best Buy; Lumia 900; $Appl

#158: The Fed; Is Best Buy a Goner? Is Blackberry a Goner?

Gloomy Repetition

• When I was a kid, my brother used to play records over and over again.  It used to drive me nuts.  One song that I'll never forget the lyrics to is Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks.  It also happens to be a popular market timing strategy.  Coincidence?
• Along the lines of repetition, comes another down day in the markets.  "Goodbye to you, my trusted friend" indeed.
• Yahoo Finance isn't even trying to come up with excuses anymore.  Just "Sellers continue to drive stocks lower."  Yes they do.
• Hey look, Citigroup ($C) is printing in the single digits.  Noice!  Almost a 10% drop today.  Way to go! 
• Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, in the most explicit sign yet that Treasury was abandoning its initial plan for the rescue funds, said on Wednesday he preferred a second round of capital injections into financial companies to help them weather the worst market crisis in 80 years.
• Best Buy ($BBY):  "Most difficult climate we've ever seen."  Climate change is George Bush's fault.  Oh, $BBY down 8% today.
• The #1 issue facing the country?  Presidential Pooch Watch.  Seeing that Obama is the first "global president," it's not surprising that the Fido frenzy has gone international. Peru has suggested its native Peruvian hairless dog, a bald, toothless breed, which actually looks cuter than it sounds. (You can get better acquainted with the breed here.) The country even has a specific dog in mind. Nicknamed "Ears," the four-month-old has been offered formally to the future first family in a letter sent to the U.S. Embassy. If the Obama girls reject the Peruvian pup, we hope it won't create an international incident.
• Meanwhile in auto land, Congress looking at a $25 billion to help auto companies.  Of course, these companies are burning through $6 billion a month, so that'd last 4 months.  Then what?  The problem with the US auto companies is those union contracts.  Toyota and all, who also build cars in the US, don't have those bad deals.  Anyways:

The cash would come with the same restrictions placed on other participants in the Treasury program, Pelosi said, including limits on executive compensation, a ban on golden parachutes, and other "taxpayer protections to ensure that any companies that benefit from this assistance -- and not the taxpayers -- bear the full burden of repaying any costs that are incurred."

• For the record, gold would make a lousy parachute.
• We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.  But the wine and the song, like the seasons, all have gone.