The Stock Room blog go to start

 

Does this sound familiar?

 

Wall Street Journal

March 8, 2010, 6:29 PM ET

Greek Prime Minister: Traders are Conspiring Against Us

_______________________________________

apppro’s take for 03/08/2010 @6:00 am EST:

 

                I had a long conversation with a friend yesterday, which started out as an Obama bash, but quickly lead to his total acknowledgment and then acceptance that he did NOT appreciate the timeline of the past 10 years. After I asked him to stop JUST pointing blame he then, maybe saw the light.

 

Þ 9/11

Þ The FED lowers interest rates to almost 0%.

Þ Fannie and Freddie are given a more explicit mandate to make sure everyone has a home of their own – no matter what!

Þ 2004 the bank regulators (at someone’s urging) allows insurance companies, banks, investment banks, virtually anyone who wanted it to LEVERAGE their balance sheets up… up… and away to 30% > 40% > 50% based on assets on hand.

Þ July, 2007 the SEC gives shorts a green flag to do whatever they want by eliminating a 70-year-old rule – the uptick rule.

Þ Then the REAL CRIME in November, 2007 when FASB tells everyone to ‘Mark to Market’ all their leveraged assets virtually to zero. (I still ask where FASB got the insider technical’s for this short seller trillion-dollar payday!)

 

                What occurred after this was an almost immediate take down of the monoline insurers. The stage was then set for all the rest. You want to blame Bush… yeah he sure started the ball rolling. You want to blame Obama… yeah he’s done nothing to fix the real issues. You want to blame the bank CEO’s who were “Just following orders!” Fine, blame all these people as long as you include YOURSELF and especially all those SHORTS that were the real reason we’re at this point.

 

Side Note: I am relinking the following site as a reminder to my above friend as to why his Prez is NOT a boomer.

Generation ME!

_______________________________________

apppro’s take for 03/06/2010 @10:00 am EST:

 

                A couple of weeks ago I asked the question: “What have we learned?” As you may remember my conclusion was:  NOTHING! SQUAT! ZERO! NADA! ZIP!

                Right after that we almost drove the world off a cliff – again – through the horrid shorting of Greece. Not until only after the Greek government screamed at the financial community to stop the manipulation and speculation have things calmed down. Instead of blaming the banks that afforded Greece (among other things) to throw a fabulous Summer Olympics in 2004; Greece is throwing that blame right back where it belongs – onto speculators and bond short-sellers. Now, as I said would happen, Greece seems to be getting time to resolve whatever their internal issues maybe; and they are NOT being forced into bankruptcy over a weekend… remember Lehman’s, Bear… as we had forced many of our financial institutions in to just so some shorties could garner bigger profits.

                On the home-front, unemployment numbers this week seemed tolerable, manufacturing #’s are improving, and consumer spending appears to be regaining traction. This is all well and good, but it just doesn’t feel right! Why? My main peeve is that business is still being scared to death about Armageddon II, and there are way too many out there still hell bent determined to bring it on… and I’m not talking about a cheerleader movie, either. Our Prez seems determined to force down everyone’s throat a health care bill that accomplishes little except to increase costs and to give his bruised ego a boost. The SEC supposedly had meetings on putting back a watered down ‘uptick rule’, but it seems that even that won’t get done. In the meantime, horrid media channels promote their version of short-term trading, one has even been moved up to a prime time spot. I refuse to mention it! Deplorable! Just deplorable!

                I thought that when the CEO of Citi went to Washington and actually screamed that shorts caused this mess, something would happen.

Pandit: Short sellers contributed to Citi's woes - MarketWatch

Guess not! Best I seemed to garner was a brief comment from a CNBS commentator on that horrid FastAsswipe show. Listen to the “20 second” trading comment made at around 3 minutes into the video.

 Fast Money, March 4, 2010 - CNBC.com

What really wanted to make me vomit was the reaction by those jerk-head traders/traitors on the show. “What me worry!”

                So, now I say and not ask the question: “What have we learned!”

_______________________________________

apppro’s take for 02/19/2010 @6:30 pm EST:

 

                What we allowed a few shorties to do to our financial system; we are now allowing them to do the same thing to Countries as a whole. A few months back we had that Dubai incident where supposedly they were going to default and everything was going to crash. Well, basically it turned out to be a ploy by Abu Dhabi to gain control of a good part of Dubai’s finances and real estate. Now we have a situation with Greece, where a few bond players have been messing around with a sovereign Nation’s finances.

John Paulson, Hedgies at Center of Greece Woes? - Stocks To Watch Today - Barrons.com

Please don’t blame John Paulson alone. The biggest terrorist of all is lurking behind his bonds out in California while he preaches his ‘New Normal’ crappola.

 Mohamed Measures Greece

I’m not sure why Greece is taking this! They should rise up and tell all those financial terrorist where to place it.

 Greek PM Warns Other Euro Countries

                Back to our stupidity. In 1 month we have gone from looking at a time of reasonable growth >>> to almost entering Armageddon II >>> and now to what appears to be a stable period of stagnancy, or should I say lunacy!

Chart for Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI)

All in all just a ridiculous amount of hysteria and angst, and again for no better reason then to allow some short-term traders/traitors a bigger profit.                 The media hasn’t helped. Even when someone tries to show a positive take – so-called reporters like Maria Bartiroma lean over the desk shouting in her own guests face, basically calling them an idiot. I’m not sure whether Squeaky Fromme from Morgan Stanley was all that happy with her!

 Outlook On Financials

And, as a side note:

SEC Votes on Uptick Rule Next Week; Have You Voiced Your Opinion? Barons.com

The 4 Golden Rules

1. Immediately, reinstate the Up-Tick Rule.

2. Crack down on naked short selling. Require stock certificate #'s when a short sale needs to be covered, including ETF’s.

3. Institute some rules on how the media ’reports’ news in order to prevent rumor-boarding. Not censorship… just sensibility & responsibility.

4. Pass a Wind-Fall Capital Gains Tax of 65% on ALL short sales!

_______________________________________

apppro’s take for 02/16/2010 @8:30 am EST:

 

The Smoking Gun

 

                Well, this smoking gun isn’t so smoking – it’s right out there! I have screamed that the short-term mentality of option traders/traitors controlled by SkyNet is causing most, if not the entire current crisis. I have complained that what all these guys were doing was just gambling and even though no one was stopping it, NO ONE even was trying to tax them at the same rates a compulsive gambler has to pay. Why the heck do the rest of us have to pay for their compulsive behavior?

                This morning a guest on CNBS came right out and said it. I will paraphrase, but listen to the guy from ‘The Schork report’ towards the end: “These traders are using the SAME computer programs that POKER players use to determine the next card. Nothing is based on fundamentals anymore, it’s all just gambling!”

 Trading Block

Why do we continue to subsidize this kind of behavior? I also have to ask why the people of Greece, who are currently getting screwed over are allowing their entire Nation to be destroyed for bond trader/traitors short-term greed?

(Continued on page 2)

Get email blog alerts                                              blog@apppro.net

The Stock Room

 

blog ETF’s, Water, Chinese Game, Casino & Gaming Stocks on page 2.

blog Alternative Energy & Stem Cell now on page 3.

News links have now been moved to page 4.

Realtime news Widgets have been moved to page 5.

Click here for your FREE Downloads.

The Quote Room 20 minute delayed.

apppro’s comment thread on Seeking Alpha

Want your Seeking Alpha thread linked? Link SA request.  

 I’ll Show You Mine If...

To Contact us:

info@apppro.net

Cloud Callout: Got something relevant to say?
Click here.

Home@apppro.net

The View@apppro.net

apppro's Services

Links & Resources

The Stock Room

The Quote Room

EasyShop

iRudy

Home | The View | Services | The Stock Room | Links & Resources | EasyShop

blog Stocks

 

$ as of 03/05/10

$ at 1st Mention

What's the Diff.

% Diff.

.DJI

Dow Jones Average

10566

12382

-1816

-15%

.GSPC

S&P 500

1139

1424

-285

-20%

.IXIC

Nasdaq Composite

2326

2422

-96

-4%

.VIX

CBOE Volatility Index

17.42

18.00

-0.58

-3%

AA

Alcoa

13.84

27.25

-13.41

-49%

AAPL

Apple

218.95

67.63

151.32

224%

AMTD

TD Ameritrade

18.09

17.06

1.03

6%

BCON

Beacon Power Corp.

0.41

1.28

-0.87

-68%

BX

The Blackstone Group

14.90

35.03

-20.13

-57%

CAR

Avis Budget Group

11.53

19.50

-7.97

-41%

CAT

Caterpillar Inc.

59.23

52.22

7.01

13%

CPST

Capstone Turbine

1.20

4.00

-2.80

-70%

CROX

Crocs Inc.

7.49

14.82

-7.33

-49%

CSCO

Cisco Systems, Inc.

25.21

28.58

-3.37

-12%

CVS

CVS Corp.

35.03

31.00

4.03

13%

CVX

Chevron Corp.

74.30

60.70

13.60

22%

DRYS

DryShips Inc.

5.66

5.02

0.64

13%

EBAY

Ebay

24.63

36.77

-12.14

-33%

EEQ

Enbridge Energy Mgt. LLC

50.43

43.05

7.38

17%

ENT

Enterra Energy Trust

2.73

15.78

-13.05

-83%

EWJ

Japan's Nikkei ETF

10.14

13.64

-3.50

-26%

EXPE

Expedia

23.23

14.50

8.73

60%

F

Ford Motor Company

13.00

6.36

6.64

104%

GA

Giant Interactive Group Inc.

7.66

18.00

-10.34

-57%

GE

General Electric Co.

16.35

26.75

-10.40

-39%

GSS

Golden Star Resources

3.43

2.94

0.49

17%

HLYS

Heelys

2.15

30.25

-28.10

-93%

INTC

Intel

20.79

19.19

1.60

8%

JBLU

Jet Blue Airways

5.12

10.65

-5.53

-52%

KRY

Crystallex International Corp.

0.32

5.63

-5.31

-94%

MOT

Motorola

6.95

21.53

-14.58

-68%

MSFT

Microsoft

28.59

21.90

6.69

31%

MSO

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.

5.65

19.23

-13.58

-71%

MTLQQ.PK

General Motors

0.58

19.20

-18.62

-97%

NOV

National Oilwell Varco

43.66

58.25

-14.59

-25%

OPWV

Openwave Systems Inc.

2.75

2.60

0.15

6%

ORCL

Oracle Corp.

24.95

17.93

7.02

39%

PAY

Verifone

21.89

32.39

-10.50

-32%

PFE

Pfizer

17.48

25.41

-7.93

-31%

RFMD

RF Micro Devices Inc.

4.82

5.71

-0.89

-16%

SBUX

Starbucks Coffee

23.37

25.51

-2.14

-8%

SIRI

Sirius Satelitte Radio

0.94

3.68

-2.74

-74%

SKX

Skechers USA Inc.

35.80

23.68

12.12

51%

STEM

Stemcells, Inc.

1.23

3.17

-1.94

-61%

TAXI

Medallion Financial Corp.

8.08

9.95

-1.87

-19%

TYC

Tyco Int.

37.51

25.93

11.58

45%

VLNC

Valence Technology, Inc.

0.91

3.97

-3.06

-77%

WRES

Warren Resources

2.54

14.45

-11.91

-82%

WYN

Wyndam Worldwide

24.01

28.24

-4.23

-15%

YHOO

Yahoo

16.06

33.37

-17.31

-52%

blog Homebuilders

$ as of 03/05/10

$ at 1st Mention

What's the Diff.

% Diff.

BZH

Beazer Homes USA Inc.

4.21

40.30

-36.09

-90%

CJHBQ.PK

Champion Enterprises, Inc.

0.05

11.39

-11.35

-100%

DHI

DR Horton Inc.

12.87

21.37

-8.50

-40%

ETH

Ethan Allen Interiors, Inc.

20.06

33.47

-13.41

-40%

HD

Home Depot

31.80

39.01

-7.21

-18%

HOV

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc.

4.20

26.45

-22.25

-84%

KBH

KB Home

17.25

42.42

-25.17

-59%

LEG

Leggett & Platt, Inc.

20.61

19.52

1.09

6%

LEN

Lennar Corp.

17.01

44.67

-27.66

-62%

LOW

Lowe's Companies Inc.

24.05

30.99

-6.94

-22%

MDC

M.D.C. Holdings, Inc.

35.25

41.66

-6.41

-15%

MHK

Mohawk Industries, Inc.

53.88

83.94

-30.06

-36%

MTH

Meritage Homes Corporation

22.50

40.51

-18.01

-44%

NVR

NVR, Inc.

740.12

483.30

256.82

53%

PHM

Pulte Homes Inc.

11.23

29.25

-18.02

-62%

RYL

Ryland Group Inc.

23.79

41.84

-18.05

-43%

SHW

Sherwin-Williams Company

65.16

66.21

-1.05

-2%

SPF

Standard Pacific Corp.

4.68

23.47

-18.79

-80%

TOL

Toll Brothers Inc.

19.53

26.25

-6.72

-26%

XHB

SPDR Homebuilders ETF

16.57

31.15

-14.58

-47%

blog Airlines

$ as of 03/05/10

$ at 1st Mention

What's the Diff.

% Diff.

.XAL

AMEX Airline Index.

36.76

50.11

-13.35

-27%

AAI

AirTran Holdings Inc.

5.13

11.20

-6.07

-54%

ALK

Alaska Air Group Inc.

37.15

31.89

5.26

16%

AMR

American Airlines

9.39

26.30

-16.91

-64%

BA

Boeing Company

67.93

62.01

5.92

10%

CAJT.PK

Connect-A-Jet

0.00

1.66

-1.66

-100%

CAL

Continental Airlines, Inc.

20.69

36.24

-15.55

-43%

DAL

Delta Air Lines Inc.

12.70

0.02

12.68

63400%

ERJ

Embraer-Empresa Brasileira

22.78

44.93

-22.15

-49%

FRNTQ.PK

Frontier Airlines Holdings, Inc.

0.02

6.25

-6.23

-100%

GOL

Linhas Areas Inteligentes S.A.

13.40

29.09

-15.69

-54%

HA

Hawaiian Airlines

7.84

3.84

4.00

104%

JBLU

Jet Blue Airways

5.12

10.55

-5.43

-51%

LCC

US Airways Group, Inc.

7.43

37.19

-29.76

-80%

LUV

Southwest Airlines.

12.68

14.29

-1.61

-11%

MESAQ.PK

Mesa Air Group Inc.

0.07

6.89

-6.82

-99%

PNCL

Pinnacle Airlines Corp.

8.14

15.84

-7.70

-49%

UAUA

UAL Corp.

18.23

33.55

-15.32

-46%

XJT

ExpressJet Holdings Inc.

3.60

4.84

-1.24

-26%

blog Banks, Brokers, & Insurers

$ as of 03/05/10

$ as of 01/03/07

What's the Diff.

% Diff.

.BKX

KBW Bank Index

48.61

117.89

-69.28

-59%

.KRX

KBW Regional Banking Index

51.15

59.80

-8.65

-14%

ABK

Ambac Financial Group, Inc.

0.72

87.15

-86.43

-99%

AGNC

American Capital Agency Corp.

27.41

19.35

8.06

42%

AIG

American International Group

28.08

69.92

-41.84

-60%

AMTD

TD Ameritrade

18.09

16.66

1.43

9%

AXP

American Express Company

40.20

57.63

-17.43

-30%

BAC

Bank of America Corp.

16.70

47.41

-30.71

-65%

BK

Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

29.70

39.64

-9.94

-25%

BRK-B

Berkshire Hathaway - B

83.36

3643.00

-3559.64

-98%

C

Citigroup Inc.

3.50

49.96

-46.46

-93%

CIT

CIT Group, Inc.

35.99

51.77

-15.78

-30%

COF

Capital One Financial

37.94

72.68

-34.74

-48%

ETFC

E*TRADE Financial Corp.

1.66

22.91

-21.25

-93%

FNM

Fannie Mae

1.01

56.42

-55.41

-98%

FRE

Freddie Mac

1.22

64.15

-62.93

-98%

GS

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

167.18

196.61

-29.43

-15%

HBAN

Huntington Bancshares Inc.

4.96

20.95

-15.99

-76%

JPM

JPMorgan Chase & Co

42.81

44.71

-1.90

-4%

MKL

Markel Corp.

358.00

478.30

-120.30

-25%

MS

Morgan Stanley

29.41

63.84

-34.43

-54%

NTRS

Northern Trust Corporation

54.89

59.00

-4.11

-7%

PNC

PNC Financial Services Group

55.57

68.50

-12.93

-19%

RJF

Raymond James Financial Inc.

27.39

29.58

-2.19

-7%

SCHW

Charles Schwab Corp.

18.96

18.37

0.59

3%

STL

Sterling Bancorp

9.34

17.34

-8.00

-46%

UBS

UBS AG

15.28

32.45

-17.17

-53%

WFC

Wells Fargo & Co.

29.15

32.56

-3.41

-10%

XLF

Financial Select Sector SPDR

15.22

34.18

-18.96

-55%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Quote Room