By SIMON CONSTABLE
Good news: The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is up 12.6% (including dividends) for the year, one of the best first quarters in a long, long time. Many stock analysts are projecting a banner year for stocks, as investors pile into the market to counter today's low interest rates and fears that bond prices may be soon tumbling.
Bad news: Some of the biggest funds just aren't keeping up. The $59 billion large-cap American Funds Investment Co. of America Fund (AIVSX) was up 11% for the quarter. The story's similar for the $54 billion American Funds Washington Mutual (AWSHX), up just 7.7%, and the $37 billion Vanguard Windsor II fund (VWNFX), up 12.4%. See original post here.
By SIMON CONSTABLE
Short sellers do things differently. Unlike most investors, they want to see the securities they've selected decline in value.
Specifically, they borrow stocks or bonds and sell them, hoping to buy them back later at a lower price for profit. The short-seller maxim is "sell high, buy low." See the original here.
NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT MARCH 15
SEE THE VIDEO HERE.
TODAY GREECE GOT A BIG NOD FOR ITS LATEST BAILOUT.
THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND APPROVED ITS PART OF A 130 BILLION
EURO LOAN, THE BULK OF WHICH IS COMING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION.
SO IS GRRECE OUT OF THE WOODS AND CAN WE REST EASY THAT THE CRISIS
WON’T RETURN TO GIVE THE MARKETS THE JITTERS AGAIN?
WELL IN A WORD – NO
EVEN THE IMF SAYS SO.
“THERE IS NO WIGGLE ROOM ON THE GREEK ECONOMIC PORGRAM,” IMF STAFF WARN.
WHAT THAT MEANS IN ENGLISH IS THAT GREECE IS STILL BROKE AND ITS
GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO HAVE TO REALLY KNUCKLE DOWN WITH IMPLEMENTING
ITS SPENDING CUTS
ADD TO THAT SOCIAL PROBLEMS WE KEEP SEEING ACROSS THE ADRIATIC COUNTRY
AND ITS NOT DIFFICULT TO ENVISION THE CRISIS RETURNING IN SHORT ORDER
AND WITH IT A POSSIBLE SCARY RIDE FOR THE US STOCK MARKET. That’s WHAT
MOST OBSERVERS ARE SAYING, BUT I’D GO FURTHER AND SAY THERE IS STILL A
BIG CHANCE GREECE LEAVES THE EURO, THE SINGLE EUROPEAN CURRENCY.
AND BELIEVE ME WHEN THAT HAPPENS INVESTORS WILL HAVE FEW PLACES TO HIDE
I’M SIMON CONSTABLE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Tight supply, and continued demand for growing car and truck markets, should keep expanding the metal's price.
By SIMON CONSTABLE
Here's something to put a shine in your portfolio: Palladium, the often-overshadowed cousin of the precious metal platinum, is poised to gleam brilliantly.
Thanks to both rising demand and sketchy supply, some analysts are looking for a 20% jump in futures prices this year, with continued growth through 2014. Link to Barrons.com.
By SIMON CONSTABLE
First, the bad news: For most workers, fat salary hikes won't happen this year. The economy's still too weak.
Now, the good news: You can get other financial goodies from your employer, if you know how.
Most people are unaware that corporations are riddled with seams of gold. Here's a guide to finding the buried treasure. The specifics will be different for each company, but this should get you close enough to mine some dollars.
1 Your 401(k) plan.
To the extent you can afford to do so, put enough money in your 401(k) retirement plan to collect the entire company match.
A lot of data suggest people don't do that, says Mark Schmit, vice president of research at the Society for Human Resource Management in Alexandria, Va. "If you don't take advantage of it, you are leaving money on the table."
It can be like getting an extra 3% or 4% raise, on top of any annual salary increase. For more read here.
By SIMON CONSTABLE
Sometimes it pays to look beyond the obvious when it comes to investing.
That means adding some exotic investments to a portfolio laden with blue-chip stocks and Treasury bonds. Think platinum and pipelines.
The popularity of blue chips has driven the Dow Jones Industrial Average to levels not seen since before the financial crisis. And investors so crave Treasurys that yields have plunged and remain close to historic lows. The way to find bargains is where others aren't and that means going off the beaten path. For more read here.
Rising Oil Prices vs Recovering Economy
by EditorTB on FEBRUARY 21, 2012 in COMMENTARIES, ECONOMY
SUSIE GHARIB: As we reported earlier in the program, oil futures traded at
a nine-month high today. Tonight`s commentator worries those higher oil
prices could hurt the U.S. economic recovery. He`s Simon Constable,
columnist at “The Wall Street Journal.”
SIMON CONSTABLE, COLUMNIST, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Something in the
Middle East has a good chance of blowing a hole in your pocketbook. A
growing spat between Israel and Iran has oil prices surging. A row between
Sudan and south Sudan is making it worse. Right now, oil costs $106 a
barrel, up from around $98 at the beginning of the month. What that means
for you is higher gas prices — much higher. A gallon nationally now
averages $3.57, up 13 percent from a year ago, according to the latest AAA
report.
It will likely reach $4 soon. It`s already there in California. Heck,
it`s not even summer driving season yet. So, what? Well it`s likely that
this surge in prices will worsen and put the brakes on a very fragile U.S.
economy. Think of it like a tax hike just when we don`t need one. The
higher gas bills will suck money out of your wallet that could have been
spent on other things. It will be bad for jobs. It means it could be time
to hunker down and save whatever extra cash you have. I`m Simon Constable.
Read more here.
