U.S. real estate market stepped up to the plate this week… and struck out, again

Posted by Eric LeRiche | June 23, 2010 .

U.S. real estate market went to bat this week… and struck out, yet again. on three consecutive pitches actually. Strike one was on Monday… when the Treasury released its latest numbers on the Home Affordable Modification Program. The background: 1.24 M borrowers enrolled in the program — which was launched with the hope of helping [...]

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Can a regular investor make money in a secular bear market?

Posted by Eric LeRiche | June 23, 2010 .

It’s a common misconception that you cannot make money in a secular bear market (such as we are in right now). This belief is especially prevalent among retirement savers. The general thinking is that a secular bear market must surely mean the end of one’s retirement dreams. And you know what? They are absolutely correct! [...]

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Is the recession truly over?

Posted by Eric LeRiche | June 17, 2010 .

Is the recession truly over? It may seem somewhat late to be asking that question. After all, haven’t Washington and Wall Street already bragged as to how we have had an adequate number of consecutive months of GDP growth to sound the death knell for “The Great Recession of 2007-2010”? Heck, we’ve even been regaled [...]

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BP Share Price Finally Plunges…

Posted by Eric LeRiche | June 11, 2010 .

BP shares plunged to a 14-year low this week on fears of political fallout. With investors seemingly deciding to panic all at once, BP’s U.S. exchange-traded ADR (the company also trades in London) tumbled 16% in one day on Wednesday. That fall cut the share price almost exactly in half, as measured from pre-oil spill [...]

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The Gulf Fiasco: How It Affects Your Energy Investments

Posted by Eric LeRiche | June 4, 2010 .

(from agora) This oil fiasco in the Gulf is getting worse and worse. The spill is now the largest in U.S. history, and we will live with the effects for years to come. What follows is some thinking (and guessing) on what the consequences might be — especially as it relates to our investments. At [...]

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Proof you can`t trust Wall Street analysts

Posted by Eric LeRiche | May 28, 2010 .

(Taken from taipan publishing) Traditional Wall Street analysts are insane. Not all of them, but the vast majority it seems. Either that, or maybe they are just fools. I don’t care about tailored suits or impressive credentials or number-crunching prowess. A guy (or gal) can sport an expensive suit and a fancy pedigree and still [...]

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What does the BETA of a stock represent?

Posted by Eric LeRiche | May 25, 2010 .

By definition, the market itself has an underlying beta of 1.0, and individual stocks are ranked according to how much they deviate from the macro market (for simplicity purposes, the S&P 500 is usually used as a proxy for the market as a whole). A stock that swings more than the market (i.e. more volatile) [...]

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Upcoming trading week forecast

Posted by Eric LeRiche | May 17, 2010 .

The overall technical condition of the major indexes continues to deteriorate. We are a little oversold on an intraday basis but not on a daily basis. Charts suggest downside to near the 200 day moving averages of the major indexes. (NYSE composite broke below it friday.) For the S&P 500, that stands at 1100 today. [...]

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More Banks are being Investigated…

Posted by Eric LeRiche | May 13, 2010 .

U.S. authorities are expanding their probes of past mortgage securities deals, with New York’s attorney general opening an investigation into whether eight banks misled rating agencies, a source familiar with the matter said. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office on Wednesday served subpoenas on four U.S. banks and four European lenders, the source said. [...]

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The Only Hope… A (Much) Cheaper Euro

Posted by Eric LeRiche | May 12, 2010 .

Look. You can’t borrow your way out of debt. More loans won’t do it – you have to save and grow your way out. Saving and growing require an upswing in productivity. Thus the struggling PIGS – Portugal, Italy, Spain, etc. – do not just have a debt problem, they have an economic growth problem. [...]

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