Wall Street Pit

Options Activity Alert: JCP, OSUR, GS

Caitlin Duffy — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:43:42 +0000

JCP – J.C. Penney Co., Inc. – The department store operator’s shares had their worst percentage drop in more than two decades on Wednesday after the Company reported a loss for the first quarter, sales that fell more than expected and discontinued its quarterly dividend. The stock trades 17.3% lower this afternoon at $27.54. May [...]

Shall We Target Inflation with Fiscal Policy?

Scott Sumner — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:18:30 +0000

Most Keynesians seem to think that fiscal policy influences AD and inflation, even when rates aren’t stuck at the zero bound. This recent article from The Economist illustrates the conventional Keynesian view: Even the lower estimates could easily be enough to tip the economy back into recession. Mr Greenlaw says the closest precedent was in [...]

Industrial Production Rebounds Sharply In April

James Picerno — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:22:09 +0000

If you’re looking for evidence that recession risk is rising, you won’t find it in today’s update on industrial production, which surged 1.1% in April—the biggest monthly rise since December 2010. The cycle may be drag us down in the months ahead, but industrial production is putting up a pretty good imitation of swimming against [...]

The Impossible Hope of an End to Austerity

Charles Wyplosz — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:50:06 +0000

With French and Greek voters rejecting austerity, politicians are once again taking the government spending debate seriously. This column argues that the voters are right – it is a bad idea to tighten fiscal policy when growth is so feeble. But the column adds that, wherever one looks, the road away from austerity looks desperately [...]

Uncertainty Abounds – Markets Have Taken Note

Chris Ciovacco — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:40:39 +0000

Last summer the big question in the markets was whether or not the European Central Bank (ECB) would print large quantities of money in an effort to cap rising bond yields in Europe. Between July 6 and August 8, 2011, the markets were not confident about getting assistance from European policymakers or the ECB. In [...]

Market Tries to Find a Bottom

Scott Redler — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:25:21 +0000

Overseas Headlines continue to control this market as seems the foot that keeps kicking this can down the road is getting a bit fractured. Whereas before Europe was slogging through the mud, now they are sinking into quicksand ever since leadership was voted out in France and Greece snubbed all those that bent over backwards [...]

China’s Oil Thirst Drives Everything

Anthony Alfidi — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:26:13 +0000

The China growth story is still sputtering, but some pillars take longer to collapse then others. PetroChina has just surpassed Exxon in oil production. The Chinese government created PetroChina to serve its geopolitical goal of maximizing the material prosperity of its people. Pumping as much oil as possible is the priority, with capitalistic concepts like [...]

Trade Ideas: AAPL, FORM, TQNT, ZNGA

Antonio Costa — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:45:55 +0000

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – The technical chart shows that the bears are fighting back. The stock managed to climb up above the 20-day SMA late in April after the earnings report but failed. A sharp correction has dropped the stock below its 20-day and 50-day SMAs, and the 600 level. As long as the stock [...]

Greece is Running Out of Time

Tim Duy — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:53:28 +0000

I have repeatedly described myself as a Euroskeptic. The current combination of politics and economics looks likely to at worst doom the Euro to failure, at best to commit the Continent to a deep and long-lasting recession. Moreover, the pace of deterioration in Greece, combined with an economic structure that seems completely at odds with [...]

Dropbox, Google Drive, and the Consumer Price Index

Michael Mandel — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:32:05 +0000

I was looking at the April CPI this morning, and I got to thinking about Dropbox. I use Dropbox literally 25-50 times a day. I’m working on a file on my Apple laptop, save it to the Dropbox folder, and I can be sure that the same file will show up on my PC when [...]