Wednesday, April 30, 2014

‎Dow Hits Record

The Dow hits a record it what seems like a hated bull market.  For all the moaning and groaning about growth and biotech, look at the stodgy old Dow!

Next up… Sell in May?

I lightened up a little today.  No reason to panic out and hope the market goes down over summer, but nothing wrong with ringing the register on some extended names and look to redeploy on any weakness.
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Dow Hits Record as Fed Trims Stimulus as Economy Improves

By Joseph Ciolli and Lu Wang

Bloomberg - Bloomberg - Wed Apr 30 20:15:00 UTC 2014

U.S. stocks rose, with the Dow Jones Average closing at a record, as the Federal Reserve said it wou...

If you have Windows 8, open this in Finance.


Sent from Surface Pro

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

U.S. Homeownership Rate

Even with the US "recovery," home ownership is at mid-1990s low. I remember at the time, there were lots of military base closures hitting local neighborhoods.  Fast-forward to today, and the unemployment rate is still high, wages are stagnant, and loans are tougher to qualify for.

But interest rates are low!
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U.S. Homeownership Rate: Lowest Since Mid-1990s

Conor Dougherty

The Wall Street Journal. - The Wall Street Journal. - Tue Apr 29 22:52:56 UTC 2014

The U.S. homeownership rate hit its lowest level since the mid-1990s, a reminder that despite two years of recovery there is still a way to go before the housing market is back to normal.

If you have Windows 8, open this in The Wall Street Journal.



Sent from Surface Pro

‎Twitter Earnings

$TWTR - Twitter was up big early and then crashed in after hours trading after their earnings report showed slowing growth.  Personally, I spend way more time on Twitter than anywhere else on the web these days.  I don't plan on touching the stock until the lock up period, though. Then I will re-evaluate.
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Twitter User Growth Slows as New Products Fail to Excite

By Sara Frier

Bloomberg - Bloomberg - Tue Apr 29 22:15:00 UTC 2014

Twitter Inc.'s (TWTR) slowing user growth pushed the stock to the lowest since last year's market de...

If you have Windows 8, open this in Finance.


Sent from Surface Pro

Monday, April 28, 2014

‎Who’s Losing in the McDonald’s-Taco Bell Breakfast Battle‎

$MCD vs $YUM at breakfast: Just a casual observation at the few places I pass by on the way to the office, is that there are cars at the McDonald's and not that many at Taco Bell.

Just an observation.
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Who's Losing in the McDonald's-Taco Bell Breakfast Battle

By Suzanne McGee

Fiscal Times - Fiscal Times - Mon Apr 28 16:30:00 UTC 2014

The battle between Taco Bell and McDonald's that's been playing out on your TV screen and across soc...

If you have Windows 8, open this in Finance.


Sent from Surface Pro

‎Toyota moving US base from California to Texas��

$TOY - Toyota is another large employer taking jobs from CA to TX.  The company specifically mentioned the high cost of doing business in CA as a reason for the move.
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Toyota moving US base from California to Texas

GILLIAN FLACCUS

Associated Press - Associated Press - ‎Monday‎, ‎April‎ ‎28‎, ‎2014

TORRANCE, Calif. — Toyota delivered a surprise pink slip to California on Monday, announcing the com...

If you have Windows 8, open this in Finance. Otherwise, open in the browser.



Sent from Surface Pro

Monday Randomosity

· $SPY – It was a “Tower of Terror” day in the stock market. I hope you were smiling when your photo was taken. Please pick up your photo when you exit the ride.

· A “reversals” day in the market!  Started strong, and then WHOOSH down.  Then WHOOSH up.  Then uh oh, here we go again. 

· If you like low-wage jobs, then this economic recovery is for you!  “The National Employment Law Project reports that that low wage industries employ 1.85 million MORE workers now than at the start of the recession while mid-and higher-wage industries employ 1.83 million LESS.”

· Remember $SOCL, the social media ETF?  9-month lows.  That was one folks were buying to “get a piece of FB” last year.  I don’t know if it’s a bad investment for the long term, but I’d rather own a few specific tickers I believe in.  There seem to be a lot of tickers in that ETF that makes me wonder if they’ll even be around ten years down the road. 

· Advertisers backing out!  Used car dealership chain CarMax, airline Virgin America, and the Chumash Casino Resort said Monday that they are ending their sponsorships of the Clippers in the wake of comments allegedly made by the team's owner, Donald Sterling.  What an idiot.

· See, Chris Paul? Should have signed with the Lakers!

· $AMZN – Amazon down another 3% today.  I find it all rather shocking, since the company has a UPS truck on standby for deliveries to my house.  (I buy a lot from ‘em!)  I think it’s just a case where everything in growth land is being sold off right now.  No mercy.  Nowhere to hide.

· Except in $AAPL – Apple, as investors bought it up another 4% today.  The reason Apple shares are up is that because today if you own Apple it’s like owning a pie with 10 slices.  And in June, they’re going to take that same pie and carve it into 70 slices.  Who doesn’t want more slices?

· $MSFT – Microsoft moving ahead with XBOX original programming.  As in TV shows.  Hmm.  More competition for NFLX and just about everyone else.

· $DIS - Including Disney, by the way.  Don’t they have a deal with NFLX to make some Marvel mini-series soon?

· By the way, I was tired of constantly fixing my Windows 7 virus problems.  So I upgraded to Windows 8.1.  No more problems.  For now.  (The new Windows 8.1 OS is not as good without a touch screen, though.  But okay and actually seems faster than Windows 7).

· The Los Angeles Dodgers are struggling, but still near the top.  Not bad, because when the sticks and arms do start to click, that will be No Mercy on MLB, too.  *wishful thinking*

Disney is a Money Printing Machine

$DIS - Disney has made over $1B in Frozen. The merchandise is so hot that the Disney stores are having lotteries to deal with the large crowds. People are lining up in front of stores early in the mornings!

This means sequels. More DVD sales. Games. More merchandise.

Oh, and then there are all the Star Wars movies and Marvel movies and Pixar movies and more more more. Oh, ESPN. And Disney still has theme parks, right? $99 to get in and wait in long lines all day long.

Buy what you know, Peter Lynch.


http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/#!/content/1.2621483