My mother called me this morning.  “I’ve been worried about you.  Are you okay?”, she asked.
I told her that I was fine; that you only lose when you sell.  Which got me thinking…What rules should investors employ in this market?

You only lose when you sell.  The same fundamental reasons for investing in the first place [...]

All right, perhaps panic is too strong a word, but my goodness, it certainly does feel like one. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5% today and is now down 30% since January 1. The S&P 500 is down 33.7% year to date and the NASDAQ is off 35.6%. This is indeed a bear market, but there is nothing rational about it whatsoever.

The sell off appears to be about nervousness investors are feeling about the future, the global economy, the bailout, corporate earnings. I try to keep a cool head, but the Dow is down 800 points in two days and even I wonder where it’s going to end. Then I remember what Warren Buffet said…

I’m surprised there has not yet been a run on my bank.  The way that Bush, Paulson and Congressional Leaders are reacting to the liquidity angst on Wall Street would make you think there’s no money left, and we only have days or perhaps hours to get our money safely out of the hands of [...]

On Sunday I shared some initial thoughts about the Fed take-over of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If you read it, you know I’m not exactly happy about the outcome.  My friend Bithead shared some great thoughts Monday, and I don’t disagree that something needed to be done.   He and I both agree [...]

Today US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced plans for the new Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to take Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae into conservatorship.   The power to do this was provided in HR 3221 which was passed in July.
The move includes replacement of the CEO of both organizations, and an infusion of about $200 [...]

It’s odd how Retail Sales could have the nerve to be up when everyone knows it should be down.  How does it do that?
Simple, really, higher prices where demand is not going to retreat quickly.  Gasoline.  And the stuff that uses it.
The problem is that the only really meaningful measure of Retail Sales (year-to-year) is [...]

According to the WSJ, on fears that the US will experience a recession (perhaps due to the possibility of Ron Paul getting elected president), the major Asian indexes fell anywhere from 4-8%.
Evidently Bush’s stimulus package did not impress. Let’s hope this doesn’t create a circular reaction event (US Markets drop, Asian Markets drop, lather, [...]