Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Stock Tips & News

Top News

Zacks.com - 37 minutes ago

The Automatic Data Processing (ADP - Snapshot Report) employment survey was much weaker than expected in May. It shows that private sector employment rose by just 38000, far below consensus expectations for a 170000 increase.

As consumers delay, May auto sales slow

Los Angeles Times - 3 hours ago

As gas prices have risen, so have car prices, and some car buyers have 'put their decision on hold,' an analyst says. GM sees US sales dip 1% in May.

Was That the End of the Energy and Materials Move?

Seeking Alpha - 6 minutes ago

“The river where you set your foot is gone – those waters giving way to this, now this.” - Heraclitus Markets are a funny thing. One minute it looks like the end of the world for commodities ...

Companies scramble to raise capital

CNNMoney - 2 minutes ago

By Ken Sweet, contributing writer June 1, 2011: 1:53 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Shareholders in major US companies are rushing to sell their own stakes, trying to cash out ahead of what many ...

US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-Wall St falls as manufacturing slows

Reuters - 32 minutes ago

NEW YORK, June 1 (Reuters) - US stocks extended losses on Wednesday after a survey showed a sharp slowdown in US manufacturing activity in May, adding to fears the economic recovery was faltering.

Euro dollar exchange rate continues to follow the S&P 500

Euro Exchange Rate News - a minute ago

The Euro continues to track the S&P 500 as domestic developments – namely the Euro Zone debt crisis – spill over into overall risk appetite. Meanwhile the US Dollar's role as the go-to safe haven ...

Manufacturing growth slowest since Sept 2009: ISM

Reuters - 32 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The pace of growth in the manufacturing sector slowed more than expected to its lowest level in more than 1-1/2 years, according to an industry report released on Wednesday.

How a Greek farce could delight the dollar

CNNMoney - an hour ago

By Colin Barr June 1, 2011: 6:37 AM ET In the latest example of a world gone mad, some strategists are now making the case that buying the dollar is a can't-miss bet.

Indian shares end higher on global cues; RComm leads

Reuters - 7 minutes ago

BANGALORE, June 1 (Reuters) - Indian shares rose for a second straight session on Wednesday as investors returned to buy select stocks after the recent sell-off, with hopes of progress on bailout ...

30 Hottest Companies in Renewable Chemicals candidate pro...

Biofuels Digest - 3 minutes ago

OPXBIO is a Colorado-based company using its proprietary, leading EDGE™ (Efficiency Directed Genome Engineering) technology to manufacture renewable bio-based chemicals and fuels that are lower ...

As Wages Rise in China, Trading Companies Face Higher Costs

By KEITH BRADSHER (NYT)

The rising labor costs for companies that supply Chinese goods to the West may result in higher consumer prices.

.E.C. Case Stands Out Because It Stands AloneHouse refuses to raise debt ceiling
The House rejected a plan to raise the limit on government borrowing, setting the stage for a contentious debate over debt reduction.
(By Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane)

By LOUISE STORY and GRETCHEN MORGENSON

How just one employee of Goldman Sachs came to represent mortgage-securities fraud has raised questions about the government's thoroughness in investigating Wall Street.

Graphic: Tracking Financial Crisis Cases
Video: Lone Prosecution
Another Insider Trading Trial Is Set to Begin
By PETER LATTMAN
Winifred Jiau will go on trial on charges that she helped pass secret information to her hedge fund clients.
Sales Tactics on Implants Raise Doubts

By BARRY MEIER

Because there is no independent study on which implants work best or last longest, doctors may be swayed by sales tactics.
• More Business News »

Oil climbs above $102 in Europe as traders eye weaker US dollar, Middle East turmoil Oil prices climbed above $102 a barrel Tuesday as talk of more financial aid for Greece helped weaken the U.S. dollar and traders worried about turmoil in Libya and the Middle East.
( Associated Press Associated Press , AP)
Asian markets higher amid post-earthquake Japan signs of recovery, Wall Street gains BANGKOK — Asian stock markets posted muted gains Wednesday as investors weighed an easing of severe supply shortages in Japan against the prospect of more weak U.S. economic indicators.( Associated Press Associated Press , AP)
Australia's economy shrinks 1.2 percent in March quarter due to flood and cyclone disasters CANBERRA, Australia — Unprecedented flooding and storms that hit key exports such as coal and iron ore caused Australia’s economy to shrink by 1.2 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of 2010, government data showed Wednesday.
( Associated Press Associated Press , AP)
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt thinks lack of response to Facebook was his biggest mistake SAN FRANCISCO — If he had a another chance, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt would have pressed the Internet search leader to focus more on mounting a challenge to Facebook while he was still running the company. ( Associated Press Associated Press , AP)
On iCloud, Baby ( by TechCrunch.com , TechCrunch.com)

Gold well supported by fundamentals but a small correction is on the cards - Melek

This year, selling in May and going away might not be the best strategy for the gold market as there are some rather important macroeconomic events occuring over the next few months that will have a bearing on the metal

China setting the pace for iron ore

Though China continues to import a huge volume of iron ore every year, 619 million tonnes last year, the country is now zeroing in on increasing domestic ore output to guard against reliance on global mining firms. Tuesday , 31 May 2011

U.S. debt train could drive gold higher and higher

Continued concerns about the debt crisis in Europe have given gold prices a lift but, it is important to keep an eye on what is happening both in Asia and the US Tuesday , 31 May 2011

Medium- and long-term outlook for commodities still good - Xstrata

Xstrata CEO, Mick Davis told an Australian mining conference Wednesday that the group remains confident in the medium- and long-term outlook for commodities Wednesday , 01 Jun 2011

As the focus shifts from the US dollar to the euro, gold continues to advance

While debt problems remain a concern in the U.S., for now the focus has shifted to the Euro zone all of which remains a good thing for gold Tuesday , 31 May 2011

Greece, US debt and their impact on commodity markets

Investec's Michael Power takes us through the impact of the end of QE2, the continuing escalation of the euro zone's problems the rise of Indian and Chinese coal demand

Video: Answering Chinese Questions on Currency
Is the yuan or the dollar a safer investment for Chinese citizens? Is China's economy headed for a hard landing?
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/?p=13851?mod=djemChinaRTR_t

Chinese Fuel Vancouver Home Boom
A fresh wave of Chinese buyers, coupled with Canada's already frothy home prices, has vaulted Vancouver into the ranks of the world's most unaffordable real-estate markets.
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/?p=13850?mod=djemChinaRTR_t

Louis Vuitton's Intrepid Effort to Court China's Tourists
Louis Vuitton is making a pitch to consumers in a spot no Western brand has ventured before: the National Museum of China.
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/?p=13845?mod=djemChinaRTR_t

India's GDP Growth Slows to 7.8%

India's economy grew 7.8% year-on-year in January-March, its slowest pace in five quarters, but still robustly enough for the central bank to likely continue tightening monetary policy to control inflation.

Back to Work: How to Find the Best Flexible Jobs

A mother of four returning to the workforce writes The Juggle blog with a common question: How can she find companies hiring part-time professionals with flexible work arrangements? She is picking a good time to look; employment of temporary workers is up.

The Daily Crux

Trader alert: The May correction in stocks could be over
"The S&P 500 has gained enough over the past four trading days to break the short-term downtrend..."
Top investment strategist: Forget commodities and currencies... Buy these instead
"The underlying idea is simple, as good ideas typically are..."

Casey Research: "Things could get much worse, much quicker than most think"
The best opinion piece you'll read this week...
HFN

US Stock Futures Dip Ahead of Economic Data

ABC News - 5 minutes ago

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer US stock futures are slightly lower ahead of updates on the health of the job market and manufacturing industry. Economic reports have often been discouraging since ...

Facebook rides LinkedIn wave to new high on SharesPost

Business Insider - 7 minutes ago

The timing is certainly interesting: it's the first SharesPost auction of Facebook shares following the successful LinkedIn IPO. Unlike previous notifications by SharesPost, no indication was ...

Housing prices still falling, may be near the bottom

Cincinnati Business Courier - 48 minutes ago

Economists say the long decline in housing prices may be nearing the end, but not immediately, New York Times reported. In 20 large cities, prices fell 0.8 percent in March from the previous month, according to the Standard & Poor's

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Benjamin Graham Was A Crappy Hedge Fund Manager

Jack Bogle, the outspoken godfather of index funds and passive investing strategies, didn't approve of a recent Wall Street Journal article defending hedge funds.

In particular, he took issue with the author's reference to Benjamin Graham, the legendary Columbia finance professor who literally wrote the book on Security Analysis and mentored Warren Buffett.

Bogle wrote a letter to the editor. Here's an excerpt: Citing Benjamin Graham as the first "hedged fund" operator is an especially unfortunate example. "The trick," Mr. Rice writes, was Graham's "clever way to make money . . . whether it [the market] continued to rise, or started to fall." ...

Proposal for New Hedge Fund Fee Structure: 1% + 33% of Alpha

By The Big Picture

One of my pet peeves is the way that insiders -- whether corporate CEOs, hedge fund managers, or elected politicos -- capture compensation (or credit) for normal cyclical gains they had little or nothing to do with.

This is the approach favored by the Crony Capitalists — those people pretending to be free market participants, and who merely pretend to be creating value. They are taking credit for structural successes that would have occurred with or without them. What they are actually doing is capturing value, not creating it — and then transferring it from its true owners (shareholders/investors) to themselves.

This is wrong; it is legalized theft.

If you want to see a good example of how CEOs transfer shareholder wealth to themselves, a good place to start is Roger Lowenstein’s 2004 book, Origins of the Crash: The Great Bubble and Its Undoing. The section on CEO compensation is astounding; these guys were essentially getting wildly overcompensated for being CEOs during a bull market. The prime example was the CEO of Heinz, who gave himself (with the tacit approval of his Board of~~Crony~~ Directors) a $90 million bonus. And this was back in the early 1990s, when $90 million was real money.

Why Do You Want To Be A Hedge Fund Investor?

www.ritholtz.com

Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs Asset Management announced that it would launch a new mutual fund that — apparently — will bring the joy of hedge fund investing to the masses. For as little as $1,000, the Multi-Manager Alternatives Fund (GMAMX) allows mom-and-pop investors to put their life savings into some of Wall Street’s riskiest and most expensive products. This “fund of funds” will, according to its prospectus, let investors gain exposure to the trading strategies of hedge funds...

Public pensions fare well with hedge funds

Big public pension funds reaped strong returns from their hedge fund portfolios in 2012, with most of them handily surpassing their own benchmarks and well-used industry indexes. The hedge fund portfolios, for the most part, achieved close to what chief investment officers wanted, despite a 1,500-basis-point difference between the best and worst performers, according toPensions & Investments' analysis of the returns of 19 hedge fund portfolios from 17 U.S. public retirement plans with aggregate hedge fund assets of $60.7 billion.

Daniel Loeb surfing to the top of the hedge fund charts again

Something must be in the water over at 399 Park Avenue, where Daniel Loeb's hedge fund Third Point is headquartered. His Third Point Ultra fund has already gained 12.42 percent this year through the 13th of March, according to data from HSBC’s Private Bank.

The portfolio added 3.3 percent alone between March 1 and March 13. By comparison, hedge funds have returned about 4 percent year-to-date, according to HSBC.

The roughly $1.7 billion Ultra portfolio is a levered version of the firm’s flagship Offshore fund, which manages about $5.7 billion and has gained 8.5 percent over the same period. ...

CHART: Hedge Fund Gold Allocation Falls

After taking a cursory look at the recent 13-Fs filed by hedge funds, it became apparent that hedge funds were scaling back their exposures to gold. George Soros was among the big names that unloaded his position. According to Goldman Sachs' new Hedge Fund Trend Monitor report, hedge funds in aggregate scaled back big time.

Despite low turnover, hedge funds notably reduced holdings of underperforming long-time favorites Apple and gold while raising allocations to rallying Financials. For the first time in three years AAPL was not the top stock in our VIP list, instead ranking as the third most frequent top-10 holding... Continue to read.

10 Publicly Traded Hedge Funds That Pay a Dividend
Investing in publicly traded hedge funds is a great way for an investor to see returns through capital appreciation and dividend payments in the financial sector. When it comes to investing, many think of the process as a choice between growth and value stocks; you’re either taking on risk in search of capital appreciation, or you’re seeking out stable sources of current income through dividend payments. Luckily, Wall Street has many investment options and investors don’t have to make a clear-cut choice between capital gains and dividends. There are a lot of misunderstandings about dividend stocks out there; make sure you’re investing for the right reasons, check out 5 Common Misconceptions About Dividend Investing. ... Continue.

Hedge Funds Love These 3 Outperforming Semiconductor Stocks ...
Do you like to follow the buying trends of smart money investors? We ran a screen to find semiconductor stocks currently in favor by hedge fund managers. We began by screening the semiconductor industry for stocks that are rallying above their 20-day, 50-day, and 200-day moving averages, indicating that these stocks have strong upward momentum.
We then screened for those with bullish sentiment from institutional investors, with significant net institutional purchases over the last quarter representing at least 5% of share float. ... Continue.

10 REITs Absolutely Adored By Hedge Funds
After identifying the most popular stocks among hedge funds (see our full Top 10 here) according to their third-quarter 13F filings, we have decided to break down the top 10 REIT stocks that hedge funds love. The REIT industry, notably specialized REITs in hospitality and healthcare, should see positive growth from a rise in job growth and expansion due to freeing up of the credit markets. Our list includes 400 hedge funds and prominent investors that are required by the SEC to disclose their public equity holdings quarterly. In descending order, we have outlined the most-loved REIT stocks based on the aggregate number of funds owning each. ...Continue.

Apple Stock Hit by Panic Selling: 'Someone Yelled Fire'(Yahoo) Forget the "fiscal cliff." The real panic on Wall Street is over Apple's stock. Nearly every mutual and hedge fund has piled into Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during its spectacular rise over the past few years. Now, these same funds are scrambling for the exits as the stock goes through an equally spectacular decline. Apple plunged to a six-month low Thursday as funds rushed to take profits on the stock before it's too late. Shares are now off 25 percent since late September-shortly after the iPhone 5 launch and a month before the iPad Mini introduction. The stock, once up 74 percent on the year, is still up 30 percent for 2012. That's why Wall Street is getting out while it can. ...

Billionaire George Soros’s Latest Stock Picks (InsiderMonkey) George Soros is best known for the fortune he made shorting the British pound in 1992, but he currently invests a considerable amount of money in equities and so is required to report many of his long positions in 13F filings. We’ve gone through the 13F for the third quarter of the year and compared Soros’s holdings at the end of September to three months earlier. Read on for our impression of his moves and compare them to what he's bought and sold before. AIG. American International Group, Inc. (NYSE::AIG) became Soros’s largest 13F equity holding during the third quarter with a position of over 15 million shares being reported in the filing. A number of value investors have been getting into the insurer over the course of the year, and at a P/B ratio of 0.5 it certainly looks cheap compared to the book value of its equity. We also like its earnings multiples- it trades at 9 times forward earnings estimates- and revenue was up strongly in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2011. Fellow billionaire Dan Loeb had initiated a position during the second quarter of 2012 and we think that it still looks like a good buy for investors. ...

Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers still facing issues as tough year nears an end (BizJournals) In late 2011, Jim Rogers seemed almost golden. He was about to close his last big merger deal. He was poised to take a corporate chairmanship tailored to his penchants for energy policy and reshaping the utility-business model. He was ready to bask in the spotlight of a national convention he’d helped bring to Charlotte. But by late 2012, it’s evident things have not gone so well. “It has been a year of challenges,” the Duke Energy Corp. chief executive concedes. “Nothing in life is perfect.” Dan Fogel, associate director of the Wake Forest University Business School’s Center for Energy, ...

Argo unveils emerging markets hedge fund (InvestmentWeek) Argo Group has launched an emerging markets hedge fund investing in bonds and currencies from a universe of over 40 emerging market countries. The Argo Local Markets fund aims to hold between 20 and 30 positions and has been launched with an initial $7m of seed capital. It will offer investors weekly liquidity and has a mandate to take on moderate leverage. Argo chief executive Kyriakos Rialas said: "The case for investing in emerging markets is compelling. ...

Argentina's President Is Making Great Political Theater Out Of Paul Singer Seizing The Country's Naval Ship(BusinessInsider) Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is turning her feud with hedge fund manager Paul Singer into a political rallying cry in Argentina. The President has refused to pay Singer's firm Elliott Management the $1.3 billion it owes the fund after it defaulted in 2010. de Kirchner says it's because Singer was given multiple chances (in 2005 and 2010) to restructure, like other hedge funds did, and take a haircut to recoup at least a portion of their losses. Singer, needless to say, did not. Instead, he decided to capture one of Argentina's naval vessels as collateral, and got Ghana to give him an order to detain the ARA Libertad last month. ...

Tom Steyer New Investments
FARALLON CAPITAL Hedge fund billionaire into politics (DailyDemocrat) Hedge-fund billionaire Tom Steyer staked millions of his own money to take on big oil and then to close a corporate-tax loophole costing California $1 billion a year -- and won both times. Ever heard of him? Don't worry, you will. With his latest behind-the-scenes win at the polls as the man who stared down big business by standing up for Proposition 39, this Stanford MBA and top Obama fundraiser has become an out-of-nowhere big-time political player in California. So what does Tom Steyer want now? "I am an enormous lover of California and to the extent that I see something wrong, I will be involved in trying to fix it," Steyer, 55, said Monday. "What form that takes, I don't have a fixed idea." ...

This Hedge Fund Returned Nearly 25% Last Quarter
Artis Capital Management was a top performing hedge fund during the third quarter. Coming in with the fourth best Q3 performance, the fund’s picks had a weighted average return of 25.5% during the first half of the year, and returned 24.6% for the third quarter, boosting the fund’s year to date performance to 56.4%. Artis Capital was founded in 2001 and is a San Francisco-based hedge fund with a focus on public technology companies. ... Read more.

More ETFs Play Hedge Fund Copycat
What if you could emulate the actions of the most successful hedge fund managers for a fraction of what they cost? Two ETFs that debuted this summer are trying to do that by using public filings to replicate their portfolios. And a third, which launched early this month, promises to add another hedge fund dimension to ETF copycats by adopting what its sponsor calls the only true market-neutral strategy in the lot. Researchers have been trying to emulate hedge fund strategies since the 1990s ... Read more

BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupé.

BMW and Pininfarina are two of the most tradition-swathed names in the motoring world. Each is a byword for cutting-edge technology, style, dynamics and aesthetics. With the BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupé, the two

time-honoured companies are unveiling the outcome of their first collaboration at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2013. The BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupé is a one-off and represents the exclusive interpretation of a luxurious BMW Coupé as seen through the eyes of Pininfarina.

...

All Time Record Gold Transactions Reported By LBMA

The precious metals have been weak again in May with gold falling 4.4% despite this weeks’ recovery. Silver is down 7% and platinum by 2.6%. Palladium has recovered from recent weakness and those who accumulated on weakness are set for the best month since November after it surged 6.6% in May.

Weakness in gold and silver is leading to robust demand internationally as store of value buyers accumulate gold and silver on this dip. This is particularly the case in Asia where premiums remain robust and supply demand imbalances remain. ...

6 Tips to Work From Home Successfully

The future of work is the work itself, not where and when the work takes place. Workplace flexibility programs are already catching on and will soon become standardized as more millennials enter the workplace. All workers, not just millennials,want freedom and flexibility and some are even quitting their jobs to becoming freelancers in order to gain that freedom. oDesk.com has 3.3 million registered freelancers, and Intuit predicts that by 2020, 40% of Americans will be freelancers. When it comes to working from home, 13.4 million people (9.4% of all American workers) work from home at least one day per week compared to just 9.2 million in 1997 according to one Census Bureau.

Today's top Green Energy Good News

Russia is funding research into powering its airplanes with solar energy. The airline industry is being hurt by high fuel prices, and solar-powered planes would not only be cheaper but also would remove a major source of carbon pollution that contributes to global warming.

Texas is set to double its wind energy generation from 60 gigawatts to 120 gigawatts in 2013.

Britain has made substantial investments in wind energy and its technology. British PM David Cameron is touting his country’s green expertise on his trip to India to promote trade with that country. ... Continue.

High-Dividend ETFs with Reasonable Valuations

Investors have picked over the ETF universe in search of any kind of yield in an extremely low-rate market for bonds. As a result, ETFs tracking many traditional high-yield sectors have been bid up to expensive levels, but there are still places investors can go for income without paying nosebleed valuations. “Unfortunately, valuations [for dividends, high-yield junk bonds, MLPs, and REITs] are approaching sky high levels in many instances as more investors fall in love with these products ... Continue.