Dow Up for the Year!

Can I get a hallelujah? The $DIA is up for the year! 

It’s a little underwhelming, considering the market activity since May.  And today’s action was a bit underwhelming, but price is the ultimate indicator.

I was thinking about the week before Labor Day 2010, and that was the start of an incredible bull market run.  Now, here we are having a nice rally the week before the week before Labor Day.  It was almost as if folks were trying to get in ahead of the run-up, and then creating the run-up and rally themselves!

I remain positioned in low-beta stuff, cash, some oil, and the QQQ and VB trade.  I think the latter is close to positive, and offsets the (now) small loss in the QQQ trade.  So those trades have been like being in a money market fund, but much more exciting, right?

Check out the Long Beach Press Telegram App

This is the Long Beach Press Telegram app for the iPad. Check it out.

The app shows the newspaper as-is, and then when you select an article, the article appears in a readable format on the right-half of the screen. Kind of cool. Different.

When I was a kid, I used to sprawl out on the living room floor with the Sports section, reading about the Dodgers and Angels. I remember an 8th-grade math teacher who had us pick stocks, and the with the largest percentage gaining stock received extra credit.

It wasn't me.

$HPQ: The Right Price Point

Have you followed the Hewlett Packard $HPQ tablet story? I only have because my coworkers have all been scrambling to pick up a $99 tablet. Hey, they want it for checking email and surfing the web. Not a bad deal, right?

My thought, initially, was that it would be better to spend the money and get an iPad or some Android tablet. Why spend money on a failed platform without vendor support? But now here comes an article where HP is going to make some more at this price point.

Maybe it's the right price point. Maybe it could be a loss-leader that opens up an app store of profitability. Should HP give up on their tablet so soon, just as they've found the magic price point?

#106: Thoughts on $AAPL (Apple) Stock

Rich Guy in a Bathtub – $BAC

$BAC: Comment from a Clearstation thread on Bank of America!

Those who buy after Warren Buffett does, tend to get in at higher prices and may not reap the rewards of following the Oracle of Omaha.  I always say that it would be nice to know what Buffett is going to do before he does it.  Otherwise, why bother?  One could just buy his stock instead of trying to shadow him.

TGIF Randomosity! $GLD! $AAPL

• Steve Jobs and $AAPL, Hurricane Irene, $GLD bubble collapse, Libya…
• 7 ways to play the Gold collapse.
• The gadget guide to survive Hurricane Irene.
• Picture is of Bloomberg TV’s Susan Li. And… I find myself watching more Bloomberg these days.
• Are folks just going to have to learn to live with less? “The U.S. has yet to wrestle with the question of public policy priorities in a world of scarce resources,” Harvard professor Katherine Baicker. That doesn’t sound like an election year winner.
• You know greedy Wall Street… Investors look at Lowes and Home Depot for gains from Hurricane Irene boost.
• Meet the Women of Bloomberg. Sounds like an old Playboy magazine feature, eh?
• I guess Bernanke also predicted long term US economic growth.  The interesting thing is that the market was down early, right?  And even with no action by the Fed, it looks like the market recovered with no problem.  Maybe the lack of action is seen as a boost.  LOL.
• So, Ray Rice as #1 Fantasy Football draft pick?
• My concern with $AAPL and the departure of Steve Jobs, is that there is a high premium in the stock for being the hot and innovative tech leader.  I think iPhones and iPads will continue to sell well, but what about the risk premium in the stock that is tied to Steve Jobs?  I suppose one could argue that some of that has come out the past few years, but all of it?  Stock is ignoring the news and is strong.
• I remain invested the same… No changes for awhile.  It’s interesting as we approach Labor Day.  Remember last year, the market bottomed and had the Labor Day rally, then never looked back. It’s almost as if that is being priced in this year, no?  I’m not sure where we go from here, but I’m remaining in the low beta stuff, some cash, the QQQ and VB trades still on, and some oil.  That’s about it.

TGIF!

The market is finishing the week with a rally!  Bernanke gave a “let’s wait and see” speech in Jackson Hole.

“The Fed has a range of tools that could be used to provide additional monetary stimulus…  We will continue to consider these and other pertinent issues...at our meeting in September,” Bernanke said.

Nasdaq up almost 2.5% as I type, while the SP500 is up nearly 1.5%.

Party on, Wayne.