Wall Street Pit

JPMorgan (JPM) Only Suffered a Trading Loss – Platt

editor — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:50:02 +0000

Michael Platt of BlueCrest Capital Management spoke with Bloomberg Television’s Stephanie Ruhle and Erik Schatzker today and said that “Greece will never give back” money that has been lent to it by Europe. He also said that a Greek exit from the euro would prompt more departures and that Spanish banks are probably “evergreening” their [...]

The Commencement Address That Won’t Be Given

Robert Reich — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:09:06 +0000

Members of the Class of 2012, As a former secretary of labor and current professor, I feel I owe it to you to tell you the truth about the pieces of parchment you’re picking up today. You’re f*cked. Well, not exactly. But you won’t have it easy. First, you’re going to have a hell of [...]

Options Activity Alert: LOW, CBE, AIG

Caitlin Duffy — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:59:04 +0000

LOW – Lowe’s Companies, Inc. – Shares in Lowe’s were hammered Monday after the home improvement retailer lowered its full-year earnings forecast and reported a smaller-than-expected increase in same-store sales. The stock is currently down 9.7% at $25.72 as of 12:30 p.m. ET following the company’s first-quarter earnings report this morning. Options activity in the [...]

Greece is Not Real (It’s Nominal)

Scott Sumner — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:16:09 +0000

Lots of people believe the structural view of the current global recession; some of them are smarter than me. But everywhere I look I see more and more evidence it’s a nominal shortfall, an AD problem. Or at least 70% is demand-side. I’ve already discussed: The LBJ argument. He was much more a big government [...]

Republican War On Economic Data is Anti-Business and Anti-Growth

Michael Mandel — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:01:58 +0000

The House Republicans appear to be conducting a war on economic data. They seem to think that defunding data collection is all gain and no loss. In fact, the anti-data Republicans are really anti-business and anti-growth. Government spending on economic data collection should be thought of as fully equivalent to investment in long-lasting infrastructure. When [...]

Tax Policy Shocks and the Business Cycle

David Andolfatto — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:42:03 +0000

I have to admit that I never ascribed much importance to the idea of “tax policy shocks” as an important driver of the U.S. postwar business cycle. I thought of such shocks as perhaps playing a supporting role, along the lines of Tax Disturbances and Real Economic Activity in the Postwar United States (Tony Braun, [...]

Can the U.S. Dollar Decline Enough to Keep Markets Up Into the Close?

Nicholas Santiago — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:07:43 +0000

This morning, all of the major stock market indexes are rebounding higher today. It is important to note that all of the major stock market indexes are severely oversold in the near term, therefore, a short term bounce is overdue. The catalyst for the rising stock market is undoubtedly the weaker U.S. Dollar Index. As [...]

JPMorgan (JPM): A Monster That’s Out Of Control

Jacob H. Zamansky — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:02:02 +0000

Like the horror movie where the little monster created in a test tube in the lab grows and grows only to wind up threatening the whole village, the JPMorgan (JPM) “London Whale” trader’s exotic credit derivative bet is now a potential $100 billion liability, according to the Wall Street Journal of last Friday. And the loss [...]

Chicago Fed National Activity Index Rose In April

James Picerno — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:57:45 +0000

A broad reading on economic activity turned higher last month. “Led by improvements in production-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) rose to +0.11 in April from –0.44 in March,” the Chicago Fed reports. Meanwhile, the index’s three-month moving average slipped a bit to -0.06 from March’s +0.02. But that’s still far above [...]

Gold Miners Continue To Shine

Nicholas Santiago — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:49:56 +0000

The leading gold mining stocks have been bouncing higher since May 16, 2012. This morning, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA:GDX) is trading higher by 0.93 cents to $42.55 a share. Short term traders should watch for intra-day resistance around the $43.00, and $43.50 levels. Traders and investors must remember that the GDX is [...]