"France remains the fifth economic power in the world, the fourth in terms of foreign investment. It's one of the best places for technology, for trade," Fabius said, answering a question about whether France remains a friendly place for business.It seems to me that if you have to say your country is business friendly, then maybe you need to reevaluate your definition of friendly. To be fair, though, it appears that France has been backtracking on some of its tax increases on wealthy individuals and business. But that doesn't make them business friendly exactly. It seems kind of like kids, who will do just enough to keep their parents from getting mad and saying no when the kids want to do something, but nothing more. I don't call that friendly. But then, maybe this is the future of the world. No real incentive to take the risk of starting a business, no incentive to innovate. So, no matter how much you love business, it just won't be there.
The memo attacks France's increasing labor costs and minimal investment in research and development. It notes that France has the "second-shortest working year" in the European Union and its tax load is "the highest within the euro zone."This makes me wonder just how long France will remain the "fifth economic power in the world," etc. as was stated in the previous article.
Galaris said amateur investors sometimes spend all their free cash on their purchases and then have to scramble to pay the fees. If real estate turns south again, that could leave a lot of investors in dire financial condition for their golden years.Nah. This time it's different. Perhaps one of the most troubling lines in this article is this one:
"Our average client has retirement accounts of about $150,000 and is looking to buy one or two properties," he said. "After 2008, they didn't trust Wall Street. They wanted hard assets."They didn't trust Wall Street? Okay, they never should trust Wall Street. Everyone there is out to get as much of your money as they can. But, seriously, didn't these people hear about the collapse in real estate?
"People don't realize that this is serious business," said New Jersey attorney Rubin Sinins.Yeah, there's nothing serious about a few hundred million bucks. It's all just for fun.
It was the highest level since July 2007.It sounds good, but take a look at this chart of the S&P 500. See those three big peaks near the end? See that middle peak? That's July 2007. Whee!
"We're riding a self-fulfilling prophecy of momentum. There's no fundamental reason for today's move, other than the continued easing by the Fed and momentum," said Paul Radeke, vice president at Minneapolis-based KDV Wealth Management.Yep. And, just so everyone knows, this is exactly how bubbles start. No, I don't think the stock market is exactly in a bubble per se, just a bit overvalued. I do think there is the potential for the stock market to turn into a bubble. And I do think there is the potential for a significant reversal. But to in order for the stock market to be a "bubble" I'd have to see some higher valuations than what I'm seeing. Sure, there are some stocks that probably are in bubble status (AMZN comes to mind), but overall, no. Maybe a better way to put it is we are in the early stages of bubble formation.
Growth-orientated stocks were among the day's biggest advancers, with large-cap bank stocks leading the way."Growth-orientated?" You know, I've had to force myself to at least try to be tolerant of bad grammar, but I have to draw the line when it comes to professions which require writing skills. Try "growth-oriented."
Specifically, the analysis shows equity risk premium, or the excess return that investors expect to get from stocks versus a risk-free asset, has never been lower. Of course, part of this calculation is based upon the fact that interest rates are historically low, but Baker says there's more to it than that.This article, and the associated Fed study, probably deserve way more than a mention on my news post, so be watching for it. This is exactly the kind of reasoning that causes asset price bubbles. On the surface, the reasoning sounds good, but it's backwards. The equity risk premium being low actually means investors aren't recognizing the risk in stocks. They believe, as I pointed out in another post, that "stock markets are becoming safer," when in fact, stock markets are just as risky as always. And another way to see it is this: when the equity risk premium starts to rise, what do people suppose will happen to stock prices? They will fall. So, why is the Fed publishing such nonsense?
"Clearly the Fed's motive is to put money back into equities. 401(k)s will be higher, people will feel like they've got more assets and will be spending more money," he says. "I think it's interesting that the Fed is coming out and actually using some propaganda to try and get money into stocks."So, while investors have been putting more money into stocks, apparently (much like the Morgan Stanley analyst talking about Harley-Davidson above) they're not doing it fast enough for the Fed. So, the Fed fabricates a ridiculous line of reasoning about risk premia capitalizing on most people's confusion over required return versus expected return and, voila, mission accomplished. People feel richer, spend more money, and hopefully with all that extra money being spent, corporate profits increase and it turns out that there is no stock market crash; instead earnings rise quickly enough to meet the excessive expectations that are priced into the market. Kind of like the federal government's apparent attempt to lower potential GDP in an attempt to close the recessionary gap, rather than raise GDP. It will certainly be interesting to see how this all works out.
Bonds are in trouble at such low yields as the Market becomes safer. It seems to be there will be much more exodus from Bonds for the foreseeable future.I especially love the part about the market becoming safer. If I start seeing a lot of this type of comment, I'll know it's time to sell. Just to be clear, the market never gets safer, except when everyone thinks it's not safe at all. And, what is that about bonds, anyway? I'm not sure where this "exodus" is happening either. I suppose it could be... I'm sure some people have sold out of bonds, but the Fed is busy buying. I don't know why anyone would buy Treasuries now anyway. There are a lot of better investments... of course, those do involve taking risk... oh wait. The market is getting safer every day now!
"If it's nice and warm out, there's more people that are outside mowing the lawn, having picnics, at ballparks, and what do they do? They drink beer," Walsh told “Big Data Download.” He said big brewers already saw lower beer sales in the first quarter of the year.Well, they drink beer and ride motorcycles, actually, although we hope they don't do those at the same time. Anyway, although the article doesn't mention it, the video goes on to say that too hot temperatures can also negatively impact beer sales because people tend to stay indoors with air conditioning, and I guess air conditioning and beer don't go together. I suspect, though, that extreme heat can also put people off from riding motorcycles since you could just get in your air conditioned car. So, as I see it, moderate temperatures in the Spring are much better for beer and motorcycle sales, and at least locally, it looks like temperatures are going to go from cooler than normal to HOT.
Some guys don't understand monetary policy and think he's doing wrong thing.All three of these boil down to the same thing: "My investments are under-performing and it's the Fed's fault." Cuz, you know, it can't be my own fault. I'm that awesome. Of course, then there are the guys that want to point out their own investment results and claim sole responsibility. It's easy to be a genius in today's stock market. In fact, all you have to do to be a genius in today's market is read Benjamin Graham's Intelligent Investor (or at least say you did and know a couple of stock valuation metrics), pick a stock with a decent dividend payout, say something like "I feel like it's gonna go up," (because these days investment analysis is kind of like channeling the spirits), and sit back and wait for the world to name you "stock guru of the month." Make one great call, and suddenly you're a hero. Make enough calls, and your hero status is virtually guaranteed since sooner or later one of those calls will be great. And what that all means is that people either love or hate the Fed, but the people that love the Fed won't admit it. Except for me. I love the Fed. Sometimes.
Others think it's immoral that markets aren't let to clear (meaning, collapse to a point where someone will swoop in and just buy). Others are pissed because they missed the rally so they blame Bernanke as the exogenous factor that made them wrong. Like "if not for this STUPID policy I'd be making money."
A Morgan Stanley analyst started coverage of Harley-Davidson with an "Overweight" rating on Monday, saying that the motorcycle company has managed to transform its business so that its production matches demand better.Perhaps, but I'm still not convinced, which is why I said Harley-Davidson was fairly valued, and I'm sticking to that assessment for now.
"Bonds, they're terrible investments now," Buffett said. "That will change at some point, and when it changes, people could lose a lot of money if they're in long-term bonds."So, I've been saying this for a while... But, now that Mr. Buffett says it, it's news. Hmph. Of course, I'm not sure about the "stocks are reasonably priced" statement. Some are, and some aren't, and overall, I think stocks are a bit overvalued. Maybe we just have a difference of opinion over what constitutes "reasonably priced."
He said stocks, in contrast, are "reasonably priced," though he continues to shy away from sectors such as media, where he cannot reasonably predict who will thrive in the long run.
Sprint offered to buy Clearwire in December for $2.2 billion but satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp announced a counterbid of $2.3 billion in January.I don't really follow any of these stocks, but this line is fascinating. Apparently, an offer of $2.2 billion is BETTER than an offer of $2.3 billion. Perhaps someone out there can explain that logic to me, and then cut me a check for the bad $100 million difference.
Still, some details of the report remained consistent with a slowdown in economic activity. Construction employment fell for the first time since May, while manufacturing payrolls were flat.So, where are the jobs? I hear McDonald's needs some liberal arts grads to flip burgers.
In an interview that aired on " Squawk Box " Friday, the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) chairman and CEO said, "Basically [the Fed] is buying the debt we're creating and to go beyond that is an awfully big number."Yeah, it's a really super duper big number. Now can I have a cookie?
Not surprisingly, he quickly attracted a big following. And as of Friday morning with only two tweets sent, he had over a quarter million followers.Cuz, you know, he's probably gonna tweet about whatever his next investment will be, so that the people following him can get in first.
“The reason for the recall is that the pizza may contain fragments of clear plastic," a statement from Nestlé USA reads. “A small number of consumers reported that they had found small fragments of plastic on the CPK Crispy Thin Crust White pizza.And here I thought plastic was pretty much a regular ingredient in most processed food.
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