Lemley Yarling Management Co
309 W Johnson Street Apt 544
Madison, WI 53703
Bud: 312-925-5248
      Kathy: 630-323-8422
|
27 February 2009
Thoughts
The first hour of the last
trading day of February is going to be a real downer as the Treasury has
converted a part of its preferred shares in Citi into common equity giving the
U.S. a 35% stake in the company at $3.25 per share. On the news Citi slumped to
$1.50 and the rest of the markets sold off. Adding to the gloom Preliminary 4th
quarter GDP was announced at down 6.2% which is bad in anyone’s book. Other
rear view mirror statistics while we were gone had jobless claims jumping to
680,000 and new home sales down for the umpteenth month in a row.
Stocks jumped higher on Tuesday
and then gave the gains back on Wednesday and Thursday and are looking at new
lows on the major measures this morning.
Dell announced lower earnings but
they were more positive than expected.
Many talking heads have declared
Obama in trouble and his administration a failure. Sic transit Gloria. It
transits a lot faster these days in the myopic minds of media mavens.
*****
Paul Krugman likes the priorities
and openness of Obama’s first ten year budget. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/opinion/27krugman.html?_r=1
*****
On Tuesday we
switched GE to Cisco and Intel. CSCO and INTC have less gain potential (double
plus versus quadruple or more over the next few years) than GE. We didn’t like
the GE dividend (will they or won’t they cut) soap opera. We also worry that
the short sellers are in control of the shares.
On Thursday we
switched HAIN and United Foods to American Express. Both had losses that were
less than the percentage drop in AXP over the same holding period.
Today we switched
Disney at a loss to equal shares of Dell and SPDR Financial. Both the buys are
down greater percents than the loss we have in Disney and Dell’s report last
night was fine with us.
*****
From Diane Swonk:
Friday, February 27, 2009 - 8:25 a.m.
Economy Plummeted in the Fourth Quarter
In what shouldn't have been a surprise, the government
revised the drop in overall economic growth in the fourth quarter from -3.8% to
-6.2%. Bigger losses than initially reported in both exports and consumer
spending were the primary reasons for the downward revision. This underscored
how global the weakness we are seeing today truly is.
Separately, President Obama released his budget, which
includes a more realistic accounting of spending than we have seen in much of
this decade, and some controversial and difficult solutions to what will be even
worse deficits now that we have thrown the worst recession of the post-WW II
period into the mix.
Eventually, spending will have to be cut and taxes will
have to be raised. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE OUTCOME REGARDLESS OF WHO WAS
ELECTED PRESIDENT. Frankly, if we could have "afforded" the 2003 tax
cut, and if it had accomplished what it was supposed to - trigger capital
formation and investment instead of increasing second home purchases by the
wealthy - we wouldn't have had to raise taxes as much today.
Some of the greatest concern has arisen from limiting the
tax deductibility of million dollar mortgages. These criticisms of Obama's
plans are probably the most ill thought out. Why should someone who can afford
a million dollar mortgage get a tax subsidy from tax payers, when that capital
could be better deployed by investing in our capital stock? Indeed, we will
eventually gain more by cutting corporate tax rates and eliminating
disincentives to act in our collective interests than cutting income taxes for
a very small percentage of the population. In an ideal world, which doesn't
exist, we would be spurring investment via lower corporate taxes instead of
consumption, so that we could both regain our global competitiveness and repay
our debts to the rest of the world.
Bottom Line: The reality of the economy getting worse
before it gets better is worse than the expectation. We are in the thick of it
now. The good news is that there is a bottom, and once we hit it, we will be
able to clearly see how far we need to climb to get out of this. Wear you
hiking boots; it will be a long climb.
*****
GE cut its dividend by 2/3rds today and will
retain $9 billion annually in capital from the cut. That makes the stock
interesting again because capital is what GE needs right now.
*****
Citi has 5 billion shares outstanding and 1.7 billion of its shares
or almost 34% of the outstanding shares have traded today. We would speculate
that there are a lot of speculators speculating.
*****
Oil ended at $44.50 down 70 pennies
and Gold was down $2 at $940. European markets closed 2% lower and Asian
markets were mixed.
*****
We sold AEO
for a scratch profit/loss.
*****
The S&P 500 finished its
worst February ever with another down day and down 11% for the month and at an
11 year low.
The DJIA closed down 115 at 7068.
The S&P 500 dropped 17 to 735 and the NAZZ lost 15 to 1378. The S&P has
more financials than the DJIA which is the reason for the greater drop
today.
Breadth was 2/1 negative and
volume was active because of the trading in the dollar stocks C and BAC.
The bears have been in control for five months and are
looking to make it six in a row. Keep the faith, we are. We own good stocks and we are improving
our positions with the sell off.
*****
26 February 2009
Model Portfolio Update
25 February 2009
Model Portfolio Update
24 February 2009
Model Portfolio Update
23 February 2009
Thoughts
We will be traveling
this week and so our next post will be Friday night. The Model portfolio will
be updated daily.
*****
Everyone is talking their book.
So when you read that George Soros says the banks are bankrupt be aware that he
is probably short the banks. Also Nouriel Rubini is not involved in trading
stocks but in giving speeches for big bucks. Folks who want to hear that the sky is falling because they are short
the market or don’t like the way Obama is handling the banking crisis or
whatever are willing to pay to hear someone confirm this point of views. And we
are long the markets so we of course will give the bullish case. But we have
the pendulum on our side on a value basis if not a timing basis.
*****
The major stocks markets have
been down for five months in a row and with Saturday being the end of the month
will be down six months in row. That is a long time without any kind of rally
that lasts longer that a few days.
*****
Asian markets were mostly higher
overnight as are European bourse indexes but no bulls are breaking out the
champagne. We understand the Obama folks wanting to make policy without being
manhandled by market mavens; but is it too much to ask
for the SEC to restore the uptick rule. Short sellers say it doesn’t matter while
we think it does. But if it doesn’t matter then what is the problem with
restoring it?
*****
Stocks opened higher out of the
gate but are back in negative territory after one hour of trading as the bears
remain in control.
*****
Fed Flash
Diane Swonk, Chief Economist, Mesirow Financial
Monday, February 23, 2009 - 8:30 a.m.
The Government Jointly Shores Up Bank Capital
This morning, the Treasury, FDIC,
OCC, OTS, and the Federal Reserve issued a joint statement announcing that,
effective Wednesday, February 25, 2009, they will improve and modify existing
flows of funds to shore up the quality of bank capital ratios.
The goal is to create an
additional backstop against the cyclical losses that are mounting on top of the
structural losses associated with poor mortgage underwriting on bank balance
sheets.
The initial push will be to lure
private funds into the banking system. Ultimately, however, the neediest banks
will be offered the opportunity to issue preferred shares to the government.
Then, if push comes to shove and the banks can't raise enough capital, they
could convert those shares into common shares. This is de facto
nationalization.
Separately, any bank that has
already received TARP funds in a different form may convert that capital to
preferred shares, if it is necessary to shore up their capital ratios now that
cyclical defaults are on the upswing.
The "test" case is, of
course, Citi, which is currently seeking additional capital infusions from the
government, and may be the first to convert its preferred shares to common
stock. That could make them wholly owned by the U.S. government.
The hope is that all of these
capital infusions will not only shore up the financial system, but allow banks
that are "too big to fail" to quickly restructure. This is ultimately
what needs to be done, albeit a sorry state of affairs.
A Silver Lining: Loans are
becoming much more profitable and better priced to handle the increased risks
associated with a recession. The institutions that survive this will walk away
with a sizeable increase in market share and profits.
*****
European stocks closed lower.
Gold was down and Oil lost a couple of dollars.
*****
The DJIA lost 250 to 7115. The
S&P 500 was down 26 to 743 and the NAZZ tanked 55 to 1388. Volume was
active and Breadth was 4/1 negative.
The DOW and S&P have dropped
10% over the last 6 trading session.
We reiterate what we wrote on
Friday:
This market is the buying opportunity of
this decade. The drop in 2002 and 2003 was more related to the tech bubble
bursting and most of those stocks have never recovered. The stocks that are
being decimated now will recover much as they did in prior decades. Banks are
not obsolete and neither are retailers. Some will disappear but the industry
will remain. The fall of 1974 was the buying opportunity of the 1970s. The
summer of 1982 was the buying opportunity of the 1980s. The fall of 1990 was
the buying opportunity of the 1990s and the bottom on October 9th, November 20th
2007 and the past five weeks have again presented a great buying opportunity.
Traders
are predicting another 15% drop in the S&P 500. That 15% is 120 points
which if measured from the top of 1500 in the S&P 500 in October 2007 would
be a 7% drop. (100 divided by 1500 instead of 120 divided by 780). We don’t
want to shuff off the pain that such a drop would cause us and all investors.
We surely wish we had waited until yesterday to begin investing but if we had
we would be fully invested as we are today. This recession is painful as is the
drop in the value of our accounts. the stocks we own are going to survive and
prosper whenever this bloodletting is over and the accounts will return to values
higher that the old highs of 2007. Of that we are sure; it is the timing that
is in question.
Why
are we sure? Autos are selling at a rate that would take 27 years to replace
the current existing autos on the road. Many autos will need replacement in the
next five years. Homes are selling at a rate that is much lower that population
growth and no new apartments are being built. Retailers are going to go out of
business (not ours) which will make the surviving retailers profitable and when
the economy recovers much more profitable. Banks will consolidate and the
surviving banks will prosper. It is not bad that banks have gone back requiring
10% down and a financial statement from borrowers before the loan is made. It
is not bad that folks are saving and not spending. The profligate spending and
no money down home buying is was caused the excesses
that are now being painfully redressed.
We
would like to end the pain but the Market has its own timetable. Moreover the
Market is swinging the pendulum back from 20 years of outsized returns and that
swing will take more time.
As
in the past, when our stocks recover we will look back and not care whether we
paid $12 or $9 for a stock that is fairly priced at $30.
We
don’t plan on selling our home which is worth 2/3rd of what it was a few years
ago, and we don’t plan on abandoning a fully invested posture. The Market is
down over 50% from highs and may go down another 10% or more before the carnage
is over but the Market is closer by far to its nadir than the talking heads and
media mavens suggest. The stocks we own have had all the excess wrung out of
them and now it is just the folk who can’t stand the pain (we understand but
will not join) and short sellers who are pushing the envelope and prices lower
for the last few dollars of gain.
*****
20 February 2009
Thoughts
This market is the
buying opportunity of this decade. The drop in 2002 and 2003 was more related
to the tech bubble bursting and most of those stocks have never recovered. The
stocks that are being decimated now will recover much as they did in prior decades.
Banks are not obsolete and neither are retailers. Some will disappear but the
industry will remain. The fall of 1974 was the buying
opportunity of the 1970s. The summer of 1982 was the buying opportunity of the
1980s. The fall of 1990 was the buying opportunity of the 1990s and the bottom
on October 9th , November 20th 2007 and the past five
weeks have again presented a great buying opportunity.
Traders are predicting another 15% drop in the S&P
500. That 15% is 120 points which if measured from the top of 1500 in the
S&P 500 in October 2007 would be a 7% drop. (100 divided by 1500 instead of
120 divided by 780). We don’t want to shuff off the pain that such a drop would
cause us and all investors. We surely wish we had waited until yesterday to begin
investing but if we had we would be fully invested as we are today. This
recession is painful as is the drop in the value of our accounts. the stocks we
own are going to survive and prosper whenever this bloodletting is over and the
accounts will return to values higher that the old highs of 2007. Of that we
are sure; it is the timing that is in question.
Why are we sure? Autos are selling at a rate that would
take 27 years to replace the current existing autos on the road. Many autos
will need replacement in the next five years. Homes are selling at a rate that
is much lower that population growth and no new apartments are being built.
Retailers are going to go out of business (not ours) which will make the
surviving retailers profitable and when the economy recovers much more
profitable. Banks will consolidate and the surviving banks will prosper. It is
not bad that banks have gone back requiring 10% down and a financial statement
from borrowers before the loan is made. It is not bad that folks are saving and
not spending. The profligate spending and no money down home buying is was caused the excesses that are now being painfully redressed.
We would like to end the pain but the Market has its own
timetable. Moreover the Market is swinging the pendulum back from 20 years of
outsized returns and that swing will take more time.
As in the past, when our stocks recover we will look back
and not care whether we paid $12 or $9 for a stock that is fairly priced at
$30.
We don’t plan on selling our home which is worth 2/3rd
of what it was a few years ago, and we don’t plan on abandoning a fully
invested posture. The Market is down over 50% from highs and may go down
another 10% or more before the carnage is over but the Market is closer by far
to its nadir than the talking heads and media mavens suggest. The stocks we own
have had all the excess wrung out of them and now it is just the folk who can’t
stand the pain (we understand but will not join) and short sellers who are
pushing the envelope and prices lower for the last few dollars of gain.
The price corrections with forward p/e estimates: J Crew ($50 to $10) p/e 10; GE ($50 to $9) p/e 9, JPM ($54 to $19) p/e 10; Intel ($28 to $12) p/e 12; Cisco ($35 to $15) p/e 12, SPDR Financial ( $37 to $7); Old Second Bank ($38 to $7) p/e 10, Wintrust ($50 to $10) p/e 10; Disney($36 to $18) p/e 12; Nokia ($28 to $10) p/e 10; Dell ($50 to $8)p/e 10; Ann Taylor ( $30 to $5) p/e 10, Williams Sonoma ( $40 to $8) p/e loss; Nordstrom ($58 to $12) p/e15 ;Harman( $140 to $10) p/e 10; Hain and United Foods ($36 to $14) p/e 15 ; International Paper, Goodyear and Alcoa ($40 plus to $6)p/e loss.
IP, Goodyear, and
Alcoa are the only companies with significant debt and we own all
three in small accounts.
In December 1974, after 18 months of pain in which the
markets dropped 60%, the ‘Old stockbroker’
bought 100 shares of every stock on the NYSE selling below $5 per share. He
had not owned any stocks in his own account since the Crash of 1929. Over the
next three years he tripled the money he invested and left more on the table.
The SPDR Financial allows us to
purchase 86 decimated financial stocks in one security. 10% of the ETF is JP
Morgan, which will survive plus 30 banks and 56 other financial companies in
the lending, life and casualty insurance and brokers. We get diversification
and the reality that even if 25% of the ETF disappears and the other 75% double
over the next five years we will make money. We don’t think anywhere near 25%
will disappear and we think more than 50% will at least triple over the next
five years. We were trade the XLF in the high $20s in September 2008.
The uncertainly now is how much lower the Market goes
before it stabilizes and for that action there is no answer. The collapse of
1973-74 occurred over 18 months and the present downturn is 16 months and
counting so there may be few months more of gut wrenching erosion of value. But
then again, there may not. The stocks we own are great values at current levels
and that is why we own them now. We will let the smart guys/gals buy the bottom. Or rather smart guy/gal since only
one person does.
*****
Today is a triple witching day
and the talking heads and writing gurus are all predicting lower prices. Asian
markets were lower overnight and European bourse indexes are lower at midday.
Stocks in the U.S. are going to open lower and in truth the market does seem to
want to go lower. Gold is over $1000 and Oil is down to $37.
*****
We continue to reposition and refine our holdings as the
market is in the bottoming process and so we
sold our AT&T for a $2 loss and re-purchased the same number of shares of
JP Morgan and also added shares of GE to some accounts with the excess cash.
Both stocks are at 12 year lows and will survive. The dividend payouts are 7%
and 10% respectively and they may cut them in half in the next six months. But
our guess is that the Market would cheer no jeer such a move.
*****
Citi is back to its 1990 low.
*****
European shares fell sharply,
hitting lows not seen since the beginning of the Gulf War, with banks the worst
performers. London's FTSE fell 3.2%.
*****
The banks were all over the place
today as were the major measures. The DJIA was down 200 most of the day rallied
to even in the contra hour and then sold off into the close. Oil ended at
$39.28 and Gold topped $1000 and closed at $995.
*****
The DJIA closed down 100 at 7265.
The S&P 500 lost 9 to 770 and the NAZZ dropped 2 to 1440.
Breadth was 3/1 negative and new
lows exceeded 1000 which is a large jump from a few days ago.
Volumes were heavier at 10
billion than it has been but today was an expiration day. And Bank America
traded 800 million shares and Citi traded 600 million. That is a lot of shares
but at $3 and $1 respectively, not a lot of money.
The bears continue to
growl; but not for long.
*****
19 February 2009
Thoughts
The million talking heads on
CNBC are upset with Obama’s stimulus plan and mortgage rescue plan as are most
of the market bears. They all say the plan is a giveaway of their hard earned dollars and those reactions
suggest that the plans can’t be all bad.
*****
Last night after the close Hewlett Packard reported lower but in
line earnings. The shares are trading 10% lower this morning as the CEO
suggested that this year will be difficult. Sprint lost 1.3 million subscribers in the latest quarter and CBS cut its’ dividend by 75% but
earnings were in line.
*****
Whole Foods reported 20 pennies earnings
for the quarter which was 5 pennies more than analysts had predicted and the
share price is up 30% in the early going. We are going to take the one day 30%
move – WFMI made a similar move in January before backing off. We are buying an
equal number of shares of the SPDR
Financial (XLF) and half the number of shares in Dell which is making a 12 year
low today on the Hewlett Packard slower computer sales news. We are paying
$8.15 today. Dell has $4 per share in cash and sells at 5 times cash flow and 20%
of sales (market value $10 billion/ sales $55 billion). Michel Dell spent $100
million in September of last year buying Dell shares at $20. We are buying
ahead of earning’s on the 26th so we may endure some short term
pain.
WFMI jumped $3 today so Dell
could drop to $2 on the shares we bought today with the WFMI sale money and we
would be where we were yesterday.
*****
Asian markets were mildly higher
overnight and European bourse indexes are mixed at midday. Gold is off $2 in
the early going and Oil has a $35 handle.
*****
Geenspan
earns million of dollars in speaking and consulting fees as business leaders
seek his advice. Why?
From
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Greenspan's years of running the
Federal Reserve, from August 1987 to January 2006, were a time of economic
glory. On July 16, 2003, for example, when such other figures as Warren Buffett
and George Soros were warning of the dangers of derivatives, Greenspan told the
Senate Banking Committee, according to a transcript of the session:
"What we have found over the years in the marketplace is that
derivatives have been an extraordinarily useful vehicle to transfer risk from
those who shouldn't be taking it to those who are willing to and are capable of
doing so. Prior to the advent of derivatives on a large scale, we did not have
that capability. And we often had, for example, financial institutions, like
banks, taking on undue risk and running into real, serious problems....
"The vast increase in the size of the over-the-counter derivatives
markets is the result of the market finding them a very useful vehicle. And the
question is, should these be regulated? Well, indeed,
for the United States, they are obviously regulated to the extent that banks,
being the crucial creators of these derivatives, are regulated by the banking
agencies, but not beyond that. And the reason why we think it would be a
mistake to go beyond that degree of regulation is that these derivative
transactions are transactions amongst professionals. And the institutions which
are involved have very considerable what we call counterparty surveillance, where,
for example, one major bank will know far more about its customer, whether it's
a bank or something else, than we could conceivably know as regulators. In a
sense, this counterparty surveillance has become the crucial element which has
created stability in that particular system."
*****
Meredith Whitney, the bank
analyst guru, is setting up her company in March. That guarantees that she
won’t change her sell opinion on banks until after that time.
*****
UBS did not admit or deny guilt when it agreed to pay $870 million
to settle a case brought by the Justice Department and the SEC that alleged
that UBS had helped over 50,000 customers avoid at least $300 million in U.S.
taxes. Now UBS says it will vigorously defend against the IRS finding out who
the clients were. Why then did the SEC and Justice settle the case? By the way the case was settled for a billion
less than analysts thought it would be settled. Same old same old.
*****
European bourse indexes closed lower. Gold was down $2 to $975 and Oil
Jumped $4 to $38.79.
*****
This is an interesting commentary from realmoney.com. Not all
technicians read the same picture in the same way.
Technical Analysis
All Eyes on the Dow
By Harry
Schiller
RealMoney.com Contributor
2/19/2009 3:17 PM EST
URL: http://www.thestreet.com/p/rmoney/technicalanalysis/10464949.html
Who cares about the Dow? Well, for a change, I do -- but not for the
same reasons that most investors do.
As you know, most investors have had a longtime love affair with the
Dow Jones Industrials. Why? Beats me. After all, it's just 30 stocks, and it's
a list that gets modified every once in a while. Typically the list gets
revised to better reflect the changing economy (that's code for "go up
more"). As for the looming change, I wouldn't be surprised to see them do
away with all the financials (Citigroup (C) , B of A
(BAC) , American Express (AXP) ) and the autos (GM (GM) ), as these market
sectors are fast becoming relics of the past.
In any case, the Dow and only the Dow has recently been flirting
with its November lows. For the past two sessions the Dow has managed to close
just marginally above its Nov. 20 multiyear closing low. That day, Nov. 20, the
Dow closed at 7552.29. Despite lower intraday lows each of the past three
sessions (including today), the Dow hasn't closed below this level. On
Wednesday, the Dow closed at 7552.60, just pennies above its prior low.
Yesterday it was nip and tuck as the Dow was below 7552 after 4:00 p.m. EST but
somehow managed a higher close by about 3 points, again avoiding the stigma of
a new multiyear closing low.
Apparently, everyone is watching this important level. Of course, from my perspective, closing
levels especially in the Dow mean very little, unless of course they mark the
bottoms of downside gaps or the tops of upside gaps. Otherwise, I haven't
found them to be of any interest or usefulness, despite the obsession the media
has with them.
Instead, for me, it's all about
intraday highs and lows, and the intraday low in the Dow (that even CNBC
has begun to acknowledge!) is at the 7449 level. That's the level I'm watching.
But unlike many of my bullish cohorts, I am hoping it breaks. Not because I am
bearish; to the contrary, because I am becoming increasingly bullish, and one
missing ingredient from my perspective is the break by this widely watched
index of its Nov. 21 multiyear lows. If it breaks, it could be headed for its October 2002 lows at the 7200
level. Maybe that will do it for a while.
Such a break -- when it inevitably occurs -- will at least initially be
accompanied by a host of momentum divergences, as the number of new lows will
be nowhere near readings seen at the October or November lows, and oscillator
readings likely won't be nearly as oversold. In addition, I expect to see a
bunch of inter-market non-confirmations, as the Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq 100
(NDX) and S&P (cash and futures) and Russell 2000 will be nowhere near
their comparable November lows.
Speaking of the more important S&P, the SPX has now collapsed
through the bottom of its triangle and in the process has finally filled its
Nov. 24 gap ... and then some. The 800 level, which had been support is now
resistance.
I was a buyer earlier this week as that gap was filled, just increasing
my exposure up to about 50% to 60% levels. But note that the intraday low of
741 in the cash remains well below current levels. Maybe that level will hold
even if the Dow has its October 2002 lows in its sights at the 7200 level.
In the very short term, the S&P futures still seem to be directing
the action, as this morning's sharp rebound off yesterday's new multi-month
closing low of 779.50 was apparently the target for the midday pullback, which
so far has bottomed a fraction of a point above that gap at 780.30.
The futures have now bounced off that level, leaving a gap of a
fraction of a point from 779.50 to 780.30 -- the only downside gap going back
over the past 10 years.
The action in the relatively stronger NASDAQ indices is even more
encouraging, as the NDX still hasn't come close to filling its Jan. 21 gap at
the 1137 level.
Then there are the indicators, which are also beginning to line up on
the bullish side of the ledger. Yesterday's fully oversold reading in the
McClellan Oscillator at -220 is what I look for when I want to add to bullish
positions.
And now, with all the hand-wringing about the (already apparently
failed) stimulus programs and the miserable economy, it looks like many recent
bulls have begun to shun the market. Put/call ratios have heated up, and the
VIX has rebounded a bit. All of this is encouraging from my contrarian
perspective.
I like the market here and am already holding long positions, but I'm a
buyer of the Dow at new lows and will be adding further to my positions in the
S&P, the NDX and even the financials once I see the non-confirmations at
new Dow lows that I am expecting.
*****
Money honey Maria had Maudlin
Meredith on her closing hour show on CNBC again today and Meredith repeated her
death knell for banks mantra which
we are sure encouraged a few more traders to short financials and send the
markets lower into the close. We may as well get the bottoming process over and
these last hour drops are pushing the markets there.
At the bell the DJIA was down 90
at 7466. The S&P 500 drooped 10 to 780 and the NAZZ lost 25 to 1440.
Breadth was 2/1 negative at the
close and volume was moderate.
The bears are on a roll.
*****
18 February 2009
Thoughts
Asian markets we mixed overnight
as are European bourse indexes at midday. Gold is off $10 and Oil has a $35
handle. U.S. futures suggest a flat to slightly better opening.
*****
GM says it needs another $2
billion to hopefully survive.
*****
We don’t have the courage to stay with BankAmerica and so we sold it at a loss
and bought the SPDR Financial (XLF) down about the same percentage
since we bought our last BAC tranche. The SPDR Financial spreads our risk while
sacrificing the huge gain on the upside that we would get if BAC survives. But
XLF’s upside is assured over time.
*****
We also eliminated Schwab
for a scratch loss.
*****
Cramer ahs a mortgage plan that
is similar to ours except that we would set the interest rate at 6% and make
the term 50 years. Geithner and his friends are
bureaucrats that don’t understand how the real world works.
My Mortgage Plan
By Jim Cramer
RealMoney Columnist
2/18/2009 10:52 AM EST
URL: http://www.thestreet.com/p/rmoney/jimcramerblog/10464534.html
$75 billion for mortgages? Hysterical. Solves nothing. You
want a plan? I have one, courtesy of my friend Matt Horween, who works closely
with me every day and keeps me honest. Here goes:
First, we have to cut the principal of the mortgage. It is
a hopeless issue without that, and an interest rate modification is a pure
loser. The new mortgage should be given for 80% of the appraised value; the
government can hire an army of appraisers, as we need to put people to work
anyway. That's the level where most people would be able to stay in their
homes. That's the virtuous circle with a drying up of new and old supply.
Second, the government has to offer 4% mortgages to everyone,
so there is no moral hazard and so people can stay in their homes, which must
happen if we are going to have house price appreciation. This 4% mortgage
should be fixed for 40 years. Anyone who is in an owner-occupied home should be
able to refinance at that rate, too.
Third, the servicers for the mortgage bonds, the CDOs, who
are holding the whole system hostage, must modify the principal, too. They have
fought this tooth and nail. Their resistance is stupid. Why?, because they
aren't going to get paid without modification of principal for any of the
2005-2007 vintages, and they are clogging the system.
Fourth, banks that modify mortgages must be given a chance
to make the money back. You do that with an override certificate. That would
allow the banks to recover the full price of the old mortgage for any time in
the next 50 years. Anything over the original mortgage goes to the homeowner.
No home equity or second mortgage can be placed on the property without first
paying off the override certificate.
Fifth, construct the override certificate as an asset in
full value. That means they will not be dinged by the regulators for the
potential loss that comes from changing the principal of the loan. This would
save all of the banks from insolvency. The CDO holders get the same override
certificate.
This plan has NO SPONSORSHIP whatsoever, but it will work.
It is the only one I have heard that has a real solution, and it has little
immediate cash outlay and does not forgive debt permanently, so it will fly with
Congress. Even with the Republicans. No one who has an existing mortgage -- 90%
of which are current -- would fight this plan. The banks would be able to get
through this without nationalization. The housing supply pool would be reduced
dramatically. The foreclosures would drop dramatically. There would be no
points, and closing costs would be normal.
I have been ahead of the game on this housing issue for
some time, right back to when I said in August 2007 that if the Fed
didn't cut rates, buy mortgage paper and lower rates we would have a dramatic
decrease in what I saw was a huge surge of foreclosures.
That didn't happen in time.
Now we have come to this modification of principal. It
offers more to the banks and the mortgage servicers while keeping the
homeowners in their homes and not breaking the Treasury bank. It is the best I
could come up with and it makes much more sense than the nonsense I see Obama
offering.
I will stay on this case and campaign for this plan
endlessly, including behind the scenes with the FDIC.
It can work.
Heaven knows, we need solutions. This one's mine and my
friend Matt's, and it will have the support of all involved.
*****
We have been hitting our heads against the wall trying to
own bank stocks in this market. We know they have value but... That but is so
large and unknowable that we are surrendering. We are selling the Large Bank ETF (KBE) we bought
yesterday for a 40 pennies loss (the NCR we sold yesterday to buy the KBE is
down 40 pennies) and placing the funds in Cisco.
We have wanted to repurchase Cisco
and the switch improves quality. Cisco is a survivor and will lead in the next
bull run - whenever - and is priced at 12 times earnings which is historically
a great buy point.
Our sale of the Bank ETF leaves us with a very large
diversified financial holding in the Financial
ETF (XLF). We will rely on it to eventually recover al the losses we have
sustained in the last few months trying to own bank stocks.
*****
Meredith (death to all banks) Whitney is leaving Oppenheimer to start her own
firm. Whitney is the analyst who has correctly predicted the decimation of the
banks stocks. Beware hubris.
*****
Oil ended at $34.54 and Gold
gained to $980 after begin lower in morning trading. European bourse indexes
closed mixed small.
*****
The DJIA gained 3 to 7555. The
S&P 500 was down 1 at 788 and the NAZZ dropped 3 to 1468.
Breadth was 2/1 negative and
volume was moderate.
The bears remain in control.
*****
17 February 2009
Thoughts
Stocks are down around the world
by 2% and more as the global credit crisis has traders negative. With $4
trillion sitting in money market funds we presume that most investors are on
the sidelines or fully invested as we are. Asian and European markets were down
on Monday and are 2% lower in Tuesday trading.
Major market measures are down 2%
in the first hour of trading in the U.S. Our guru suggests that if the S&P
500 doesn’t recapture 800 by nightfall –it is at 795 currently- that a break in
a triangle formation projects to a downside of 670. That is not a pleasant
thought but we own good stocks and have decided that we aren’t nimble enough
and the markets are too volatile to try and trade around the inevitable bottom
forming.
Our philosophy has never been buy and hold. We moved in and out of
cash for the past three years as conditions warranted. We were nervous about
the markets and said so many times. But at the October and November lows we
decided to buy stocks. For the last three months we have been purchasing stocks
and refining positions. We own these stocks at 60% to 80 % discounts from their
highs of the last five years and near or at their lows of the last ten years.
We don’t think it is possible to try and trade in and out of these positions as
the markets bottom here or 15% lower. We don’t like having surrendered 25% to 30%
of our hard earned gains with more to come on a temporary basis but we know
that when the markets begin to recover the stocks we own will perform with a
much higher upside beta than the markets as a whole.
*****
Trump Entertainment is in bankruptcy for the third time in fifteen
years. Of course The Donald resigned as CEO before the filing and stands
willing to help.
http://norris.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/chapter-33-is-here/?hp
*****
The Major Bank ETF
made a new all time low this morning and is down 20% in the last week. We
switched NCR at a 7% loss in that
same time period to the KBE (Major
Bank ETF).
*****
GM’s possible bankruptcy, lousy
economic news, a greater slowdown than expected in Japan and credit problems
for banks worldwide are all reasons given for today’s ugly action.
*****
Of the 26 companies that reported
earnings this morning 85% (22) reported positive earnings for the quarter. It
is that way every day and yet the market and traders are acting as if 85% of
them were reporting losses for the quarter.
*****
European bourse indexes closed 2%
and more lower. Gold was up $28 at $970 while Oil lost over $2 to close at $35.
*****
The DJIA lost 300 to close at
7550. The S&P 500 was down 38 at 790 and the NAZZ dropped 60 to 1470.
Breadth was 10/1 negative as was
down versus up volume on the NYSE and volume was active.
The bears remain in control.
*****
13 February 2009
The markets are
closed Monday to honor all our great and less than great presidents.
Thoughts
Happy Friday the
13th.
On Friday August 13, 1982 the
DJIA bottomed and on the next Monday the recovery bull market of the mid 1980s
began. We profited from that bear market and the ones in 1974, 1990, and 2002
and we will this one too.
*****
Asian markets were up 2% and
European bourse indexes are better by 1% at midday. Oil has a $34 handle and
Gold is down at $940.
*****
We placed the money we raised form yesterday’s sales into
Nokia which is yielding over 4% and
is down more than 50% from its 12 month high and selling at the lowest level in
15 years. NOK has $30 billion in cash on hand.
*****
We switched CBS
at a loss ahead of earnings next week to the SPDR Financial (XLF) in a 1 for 2 exchanges. Our theme continues to
be to stay fully invested but to move to cash rich companies with little or no
debt. We think CBS has great potential but so does the XLF and we don’t know
what Sumner Redstone will wind up doing with CBS which he controls. He is past
the age at which he should be controlling it and he has problems with other
companies he controls that are having trouble meeting their debt service.
*****
We are opening a new position in Schwab (SCHW) and selling shares in NCR for the cash where needed. We would like to add to the SCHW
position as conditions warrant. We traded- too quickly- the stock profitably a
few years ago and it is has returned to and investable
level again.
*****
Oil ended at $38.20 up over $4 on
storage issues for the front month contract. Gold was down $7 at $940. European
bourse indexes closed higher.
*****
The DJIA dropped 80 in the last three minutes to end at
7850. The S&P 500 dropped 6 at 828 and the NAZZ was off 5 at 1536.
Breadth was 5/4 negative and
volume was moderate.
The bears won the week.
*****
12 February 2009
Today is Lincoln’s
birthday, tomorrow is Friday the 13th and Monday is President’s Day and the
markets are closed as is this website.
Thoughts
Now that the Stimulus Bill is
ready to be passed the talking heads have declared it too little and not
targeted. And so it goes. Markets remain in a funk and not even positive retail
sales of up1% were enough to turn U.S. futures.
Asian markets were lower by 2%
overnight and European bourse indexes are doing no better at midday. The NYT
had a no big surprise story on the bursting of the oil bubble building boom in
Dubai and this morning Oil has a $35 handle while Gold is down a few dollars in
the early going after yesterday’s $20 jump higher.
*****
From WSJ: Retail sales unexpectedly rose 1% in January from the
previous month. However, the solid increase seemed to be a correction for
plunges during the holidays rather than the start of a recovery in consumer
spending. Retail sales were 9.7% below year-earlier levels.
Separately, jobless claims fell in the latest week, but remained near
quarter-century highs above 600,000. Meanwhile, total jobless claims lasting
more than one week hit a fresh record, inching closer to the five-million mark.
*****
An analyst at Piper Jaffrey upped
Ann Taylor today with the shares at
$6 to a buy from hold. Since that same analyst dropped it from add buy to a hold
back in April of 2008 when the shares were at $23 the renewed buy
recommendation ahs generated interest on a down day for the markets. One at a
time.
*****
Oil closed at $33.87 down over
$2. Gold was up $5 at $950. European bourse indexes closed down 2%.
*****
We sold Chico’s
and Talbots for small profits. We are reducing our
Retailers to one in each category and we are going with ANN in the women’s retail area. We sold Ford, Fifth Third and Health Management for losses to get rid
of junk stocks. Our psyche won’t handle any bankruptcies and by the time these
three stocks move we will have no regrets since our other issues will have
moved higher.
*****
The big boys and girls sure had
fun today. For us, not so much. Programs and short selling pushed the DJIA down
200 in the first two hours of trading and then buying cut the drop in half
before more programs at midday again pushed the DJIA down 200 going into the
final hour. Rumors of mortgage relief and buy programs and short covering then
pulled the DJIA back up to only down 7 on the day.
At the close the DJIA was 7931,
the S&P 500 was up 1 at 835 and the NAZZ was up 11 at 1541. The S&P 500
had been down over 24 pints (3%) during the day.
Breadth was 2/1 negative on the
NYSE and 5/4 bad on the NAZZ at the close and volume was active.
Confusion won the day as both bulls and bears probably
suffered losses.
*****
11 February 2009
Thoughts
Asian markets were lower over
night as are European markets at midday. US futures are flat pre-opening and
Oil has a $37 handle while Gold is up $12.
*****
Geithner’s speech was universally
panned as being skimpy on detail but some influential gurus are talking up the
basics of the plan this morning and saying the broad outline makes sense. Time
will tell.
*****
China’s exports were down 17% in
January.
*****
European markets finished mixed, though strength in drug-company shares
helped offset sharp declines in bank stocks.
*****
Stock traders were expecting specifics
from Geithner’s speech yesterday and didn’t get them. That gave bears who had
covered last week in anticipation of the speech the opportunity to use
leveraged short selling to panic long traders and what few investors who are
left into pulling buy orders. The flow of selling orders pushed stocks lower
and fed on itself.
The good news is that the bad
news is probably all out there. Expectations have been crushed and so when the
new TARP details are finally announced the markets may be able to rally.
*****
Oil ended at $36.23 down $1.26 on
increased inventory news. Gold was $942 up $28.
*****
The big boys and girls must be
tired from yesterday’s games because there were no programs in the last hour of
trading today. At the bell the DJIA was up 50 at 7940. The S&P 500 gained 6
to 833 and the NAZZ was up 5 at 1530.
Breadth was flat and volume was
moderate.
Today was a tie between the bulls and bears and tomorrow
is tomorrow.
*****
10 February 2009
Thoughts
Asian markets were higher
overnight and European bourse indexes are mixed at midday. US futures are lower
ahead of Geithner’s 10am speech that will reveal all to an anxious trading
community that immediately after the speech will begin worrying about some other
future event.
*****
Banks are down ahead of the speech and we switched The
Gap with a $1 profit to BankAmerica.
We sold BAC at $9.50 for a loss in January and purchased shares at $6.75 before
and then $5.75 after Geithner disappointed the markets.
*****
The markets did not like
Geithner’s speech. Neither did we. Geithner was not able to convey that he
and his folks have figured out how to handle the problems. We don’t
like the guy; didn’t before he was nominated; and didn’t more so after we
learned of his tax evading ‘mistakes’. Geithner has been a bureaucrat all his life
and spoke like one today. The economy
will muddle through and the Obamaites are probably throwing enough money into
the system with the stimulus and the trillions of dollars to the banks that the
economy will recover.
*****
The DJIA is down 300 at noon.
*****
Shares of oil producers led sharp
declines in Europe, as investors panned the U.S. government's financial-sector
rescue plan. London's FTSE lost 2.2%.
*****
Oil closed at $37.70 down over
$1.50. Gold gained 425 to $915.
*****
The DJIA lost 382 to 7888. The
S&P lost 42 to 827 and the NAZZ dropped 66 to 1524.
Volume was brisk and breadth was
4/1 negative.
The bears are back in control.
*****
9 February 2009
Thoughts
This week the markets are
concentrating on the Stimulus Plan and the Bank Bailout Plan. Geithner has put
off the Bank Plan till Tuesday so that the Stimulus Plan in the Senate can
receive all the attention. The markets don’t seem too upset by the delay.
*****
Asian markets were higher
overnight and European bourse indexes are mixed at midday. Oil has a $40 handle
and Gold is back down to $900 in the early going.
*****
883 on the S&P 500 is the
next major resistance level and 854 is support. At 9am the S&P 500 is at
868.
*****
The Stimulus Plan is too small.
Worrying about $300 billion when we threw away $1 trillion in Iraq is
ridiculous. Krugman in Monday’s NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/:
February 9, 2009
Op-Ed Columnist
The Destructive Center
By PAUL KRUGMAN
What do you call someone who
eliminates hundreds of thousands of American jobs, deprives millions of
adequate health care and nutrition, undermines schools, but offers a $15,000
bonus to affluent people who flip their houses?
A proud centrist. For that is
what the senators who ended up calling the tune on the stimulus bill just
accomplished.
Even if the original Obama plan —
around $800 billion in stimulus, with a substantial fraction of that total
given over to ineffective tax cuts — had been enacted, it wouldn’t have been
enough to fill the looming hole in the U.S. economy, which the Congressional
Budget Office estimates will amount to $2.9 trillion over the next three years.
Yet the centrists did their best
to make the plan weaker and worse.
One of the best features of the
original plan was aid to cash-strapped state governments, which would have
provided a quick boost to the economy while preserving essential services. But
the centrists insisted on a $40 billion cut in that spending.
The original plan also included
badly needed spending on school construction; $16 billion of that spending was
cut. It included aid to the unemployed, especially help in maintaining health
care — cut. Food stamps — cut. All in all, more than $80 billion was cut from
the plan, with the great bulk of those cuts falling on precisely the measures
that would do the most to reduce the depth and pain of this slump.
On the other hand, the centrists
were apparently just fine with one of the worst provisions in the Senate bill,
a tax credit for home buyers. Dean Baker of the Center for Economic Policy
Research calls this the “flip your house to your brother” provision: it will
cost a lot of money while doing nothing to help the economy.
All in all, the centrists’
insistence on comforting the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted will,
if reflected in the final bill, lead to substantially lower employment and
substantially more suffering.
But how did this happen? I blame
President Obama’s belief that he can transcend the partisan divide — a belief
that warped his economic strategy.
After all, many people expected
Mr. Obama to come out with a really strong stimulus plan, reflecting both the
economy’s dire straits and his own electoral mandate.
Instead, however, he offered a
plan that was clearly both too small and too heavily reliant on tax cuts. Why?
Because he wanted the plan to have broad bipartisan support, and believed that
it would. Not long ago administration strategists were talking about getting 80
or more votes in the Senate.
Mr. Obama’s post partisan
yearnings may also explain why he didn’t do something crucially important:
speak forcefully about how government spending can help support the economy.
Instead, he let conservatives define the debate, waiting until late last week
before finally saying what needed to be said — that increasing spending is the
whole point of the plan.
And Mr. Obama got nothing in
return for his bipartisan outreach. Not one Republican voted for the House
version of the stimulus plan, which was, by the way, better focused than the
original administration proposal.
In the Senate, Republicans
inveighed against “pork” — although the wasteful spending they claimed to have
identified (much of it was fully justified) was a trivial share of the bill’s
total. And they decried the bill’s cost — even as 36 out of 41 Republican
senators voted to replace the Obama plan with $3 trillion, that’s right, $3
trillion in tax cuts over 10 years.
So Mr. Obama was reduced to
bargaining for the votes of those centrists. And the centrists, predictably,
extracted a pound of flesh — not, as far as anyone can tell, based on any
coherent economic argument, but simply to demonstrate their centrist mojo. They
probably would have demanded that $100 billion or so be cut from anything Mr.
Obama proposed; by coming in with such a low initial bid, the president
guaranteed that the final deal would be much too small.
Such are the perils of
negotiating with yourself.
Now, House and Senate negotiators
have to reconcile their versions of the stimulus, and it’s possible that the
final bill will undo the centrists’ worst. And Mr. Obama may be able to come
back for a second round. But this was his best chance to get decisive action,
and it fell short.
So has Mr. Obama learned from
this experience? Early indications aren’t good.
For rather than acknowledge the
failure of his political strategy and the damage to his economic strategy, the
president tried to put a post partisan happy face on the whole thing.
“Democrats and Republicans came together in the Senate and responded
appropriately to the urgency this moment demands,” he declared on Saturday, and
“the scale and scope of this plan is right.”
No, they didn’t, and no, it
isn’t.
*****
We took a small profit in Johnson Controls since we own enough auto exposures with Ford and
Goodyear and Harman. We placed the proceeds in BankAmerica.
*****
On Friday GE dropped on news that they may cut the dividend. This morning:
Shares of General Electric Co.
jumped Monday as investors cheered the possibility the conglomerate may
eventually cut its dividend, adding billions of dollars to its balance sheet,
two analysts said.
*****
European shares posted modest gains, led by financials, as investors
awaited details on the U.S. stimulus package. London's FTSE rose 0.4%.
*****
Oil ended at $39.70 and Gold was
$896.
*****
The DJIA lost 10 to close at
8270. The S&P 500 was up 1 at 870 and the NAZZ gained 1 to 1593.
Volume was punk and breadth was
positive.
The markets spent the day ‘waiting for Geithner’.
*****
6 February 2009
Thoughts
598,000 folks lost jobs in
January. That was within the range of expectations and now traders are focusing
on the stimulus plan to be passed today or Sunday and the bank rescue plan to
be announced Monday. Already the economic talking heads on CNBC have declared
the stimulus plan a failure and we are certain that no one will like the bank
plan either, so many opinions, so little power.
*****
Asian markets were 2% and higher
overnight and European bourse indexes are mildly higher at midday. Oil has a
$40 handle and Gold is $915.
*****
Toyota is going to lose $5 billion this year. While that loss is
dwarfed by the losses at the US big three or - now little three- it does
suggest that the folks at GM and Ford aren’t as stupid as the bright
folks on Wall Street- who have lost more money than they- make them out to be.
It’s the economy, stupid.
*****
Diane Swonk, Chief Economist Mesirow Financial
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 7:45 a.m.
Cutting to the Bone
Payroll employment plummeted another 598,000 in January, in what was one of the
worst months for job loss during the recession. Losses were widespread, which
shouldn't be a surprise given the sheer magnitude of layoff announcements last
month. On one bloody Monday in mid-January alone, some 70,000 layoffs were announced.
Moreover, benchmark revisions, which tend to capture what is going on in small
and mid-sized firms, suggest the losses in 2008 were even greater than
initially reported. Half of the more than 3.6 million jobs lost since the peak
of the cycle in December of 2007, occurred in the last three months of 2008
alone. This also shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who looks in the windows of
the shops on their way to work. "For Lease" signs have replaced the
"50-80%" off signs we saw in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
Unemployment, which is derived from a survey of households instead of large
firms and, as a result, more accurately captures what is really going on in the
economy, surged to 7.6% - its highest level since the 1980s.
What does it all mean? Conditions are getting worse and are unlikely to improve
anytime soon, especially if Congress sits much longer on the stimulus package.
The good news is that approval of a revised and better version of the package
appears to be closer to passing in the Senate. The new package will provide
some tax relief for middle-income families via payroll tax cuts, which will go
into effect almost immediately. The package also has some tax incentives to buy
homes and autos, which could spur some demand in our hardest-hit industries.
Tax cuts for businesses should help mitigate the magnitude of job losses in the
second quarter.
There is little anyone can do at this stage of the game, however, to stop
unemployment from approaching 9% in 2009. The outlook for 2010 and 2011 is
better, with the payoffs to infrastructure investments finally kicking in and
the housing market starting to emerge from its multi-year slump.
The current environment bears an eerie resemblance to that of my youth, growing
up in Detroit, when unemployment in some areas surged above 20%. This isn't as
bad, but that knowledge provides little consolation for those who are already
unemployed, or are experiencing a downturn of this magnitude for the first time
(which is most of us).
All I can say is that we survived it then, and we will survive this. It will
change us, however, and at least for a while, we might focus more on the
intangible rather than tangible gifts we possess. Sitting around the kitchen
table playing Monopoly with my children has never been both so instructive and
so rewarding. As my daughter recently wrote in a poem for class, "Hope may
be disguised and hidden by our tears and grief, but it never really dies."
*****
We added shares of NCR
and Dell to larger accounts.
*****
Oil closed down $1 at $40.10 and
Gold was off $2 at $912. European bourse indexes finished 2% to over 3% higher.
*****
Banks stocks led the rally as the
DJIA gained 215 to 8280. The S&P 500 was up 22 to 868 and the NAZZ jumped
45 to 1592.
Breadth was over 3/1 to the good
on the NYSE and volume was moderate.
The bulls won the week but the bears may only be
hibernating till Monday.
*****
5 February 2009
Thoughts
Traders are trying to break Wells Fargo to the downside today as
rumors swirl that WFC’s commons shares will be wiped out. That ain’t gonna
happen since Warren Buffet owns gazillions of shares of the bank.
Retailers are higher in the early
going even with lousy same store sales numbers. Cisco announced earnings last
night that were a bit better than expected but suggested lower sales in the
present quarter and is pennies lower so there are a few positive signs in the
marketplace.
*****
Asian markets were lower
overnight and European bourse indexes are 25 lower at midday. Gold is up $15 and
Oil has a $40 handle in the early going.
*****
In our larger accounts we traded KBE for a $1 profit and established small dollar positions in seven
stocks for the longer term. Those were Harman,
Johnson Controls, International Paper, NCR, Goodyear, Alcoa and Eastman Kodak. All are on decade and
more lows.
*****
Oil closed at $40.91 up 59
pennies. Gold was up $20 at $920.
*****
European shares ended mixed, as investors weighed bearish earnings
results against an interest-rate cut from the Bank of England. Germany rose
0.4% while London's FTSE ended flat.
*****
And we end the day with the news that Treasury Secretary Geithner will unveil the 'comprehensive'
bank-rescue plan Monday.
*****
The major measures opened
slightly lower and then reversed higher a few hours into the session and
maintained their gains into the close.
The DJIA closed up 105 at 8060.
The S&P 500 gained 14 to 845 and the NAZZ jumped 30 to 1545.
Breadth was 2/1 positive and
volume was moderate.
The bulls are holding 8000 on the DJIA for now.
*****
4 February 2009
Thoughts
Obama’s executive compensation
cap for banks borrowing from the government isn’t onerous since it applies to
only the top five executives and allows them to receive options on shares of
stock in lieu of cash. The executives can’t sell the shares they receive until
Uncle Sam is paid back. And golden parachutes are gone. All those provisions
are fair. Our only regret is that they aren’t requiring the replacement the
CEOs and Boards of Directors who were in charge when the banks made their dumb
decisions.
*****
Asian markets were higher
overnight as are European bourse indexes at midday. Oil has a $41 handle and
Gold is $899 in the early going.
*****
With the unknowns of the bank
bailout we have decided to not hold such a large position in financials. We
acquired the XLF when the JPM and WFC trades blew up. Over the last week realized that we are trying
to make back money lost on an incorrect decision by reinvesting in the same
area. That is a no, no.
We sold 2/3rds of our XLF holding and placed one half of the sale proceeds in the Semiconductor ETF (SMH). It is trading
at $18 down from $40. 25% of the ETF is Intel,
15% in Texas Instruments and 10% is Applied Materials. Semiconductors run
all the new gadgets and there will be more not less gadgets in the future.
We also sold the Bank
ETF and bought Disney down $1 on
the day and 50% from its yearly high as it announced a punk quarter last night.
In keeping with our improving quality theme we switched Ciena to The Gap. The Gap is on its 10 year low priced at ½ revenues and
with $2 billion in cash on hand and a 3% yield.
*****
Gold gained $15 to $907 and Oil
closed at $40.35. European bourse indexes were 1% to 2% and higher on the day.
*****
The DJIA dropped 125 to 7960. The
S&P 500 lost 7 to 833 and the NAZZ lost 1 to 1515.
Breadth was 5/4 negative and
volume was moderate.
The bears reasserted themselves.
*****
3 February 2009
Thoughts
We get mail:
Bud,
Even though our business has slowed, I’m going to attempt
to keep making 401k and profit sharing contributions to the max again this
year. However, it is certainly demoralizing to budget and save for the
contributions, only to see the money disappear in this market.
I’d like you to do this for me, if only for my peace of
mind. Any monies that I contribute for 2009 (and
perhaps thereafter, as determined by events), please park in cash.
I’d rather not invest these reserves
until you are absolutely sure that the bull market has started, even if we
miss the absolute bottom. Then go for it. Good luck for both of us.
Thanks,
XXXXX
We respond:
Dear XXXX
We will do as you request.
We know how you feel. Since
you check the accounts regularly you know that three weeks ago they had almost
recovered to being flat for the last thirteen months. Now they are down
30% for the thirteen months. It is that kind of market.
A relative who is a director of
a foundation that we don't manage called the other day to
ask our opinion on the distribution of his foundations assets.
The stock portion of the
foundation assets were down 45% last year and the overall portfolio was down
25%. The foundation directors wanted to go from a 60% stock/ 40% bond
investment distribution to a 40% stock / 60% bond.
He wanted to know if we
agreed with that idea.
Our comment was that when
the DJIA was at 14000 and bonds were yielding 5% the foundation was comfortable
at 60/40. Now that bonds yield 2% and stocks are half of what they were the
foundation wanted to go 40/60.
That sure didn't make sense to
me.
We were lucky and smart enough
to avoid the 2000 to 2003 pain in the markets and so this current pain is
new to us.
Over the years we have
endured similar wrenching market drops in 1990, 1987 and 1982 and
1974. In those years computers were not pricing portfolios on a minute by
minute or even daily or monthly basis. And so holding stocks was like owing
your home is now. You know the value of your home is down over the
past few years after being higher in the housing bubble. But since you don't
see a daily price and plan on staying in it for a few more years you aren't
worried.
You should deal with the stock
portfolio in the same way.
We were fully in cash in
September 2008 back when we were smart. As share prices dropped to levels we
found attractive we began to invest funds. We weren’t calling a bottom we were
reacting to prices of companies that we follow that we thought had fallen to
attractive prices.
We thought the market bottomed
on October 10, 2008. Then we called the market bottom again on November 22,
2008 by committing the rest of our cash. Our accounts actually rallied 35% from
the November 21 lows to the January 8, 2009 high. But then the bottom fell out
over the next three weeks.
Market bottoms are only knowable in the rear view mirror. Buying good
stocks at good prices is not that difficult. Riding out the volatility is the
difficult part. We own good stocks at good prices. And plan to ride out the
volatility.
This too shall pass but probably
not without more short term pain. You aren't planning on spending the money in
the next two years and now is the time to take a
longer term view.
Bud
*****
Asian markets were mixed
overnight and European bourse indexes are higher at midday. Gold and oil are
both flat as the trading day begins.
*****
Nancy Killefer withdrew her candidacy to be the first chief
performance officer for the federal government on Tuesday, saying she didn't
want her bungling of payroll taxes on her household help to become a distraction
for the Obama administration. When Killefer's selection was announced by Obama
on Jan. 7, The Associated Press disclosed that in 2005 the District of Columbia
government had filed a $946.69 tax lien on her home for failure to pay
unemployment compensation tax on household help. Since then, administration
officials have refused to answer questions about the tax error, which she
resolved five months after the lien was filed.
Geithner didn’t pay $35,000 in taxes and penalties and Daschle didn’t
pay $124,000 in taxes and penalties and the woman withdraws for waiting 5
months to pay less than $1000. Are we
missing something here?
*****
Breaking news, Daschle withdraws. Good.
*****
E-mail continued:
Bud,
I appreciate your response and
your thoughts. I’m looking at cutting back my dental schedule within a
year or so, and phasing out over the next few years after that. Looking
at the loss of $700000 since the top in Oct 07 has me a little spooked. I
do have the ability to not tap into retirement savings for the next few years,
so hopefully the financial gods will be kind to us. Thanks.
XXXX
Response continued:
Dear XXXX
You want to be an
aggressive investor and this type action comes with the territory. Even if you
retire in two years and take $100 M a year it doesn't make sense to be
fully invested at the top - which we weren't- but not be fully invested 50%
lower.
At year end 2006
your account was $1,300,000. Assuming you put in $125,000 the next two years
(we don't have the exact amount) that makes $1,425,000. Today after a
35% drop in the markets from January 2007 and 50% from the top in October
2008 your account is valued at $1,100,000. That is a 23% drop from January 2007
which is 50% less than the drop in the S&P 500 from January 2007.
This market drop is
a once in a generation buying opportunity.
No pain no gain. We
will have a gain.
Bud
*****
Not to worry: “in the six years in which the Steelers were in the Super
Bowl, the S&P 500 returned 25% on average.” Capital IQ
*****
We sold JDSU
and TLAB (low priced specs) and in
larger accounts placed the funds in the Bank
ETF (KBE) as major banks
sold off..
*****
Auto makers posted sharply lower U.S. sales for January, putting more
pressure on struggling Detroit companies. GM's
light-vehicle sales dropped 49%, while Ford
was down 40%. Toyota fared slightly
better, with light-vehicle sales down 32%. Chrysler
was down 55%.
*****
Ben Stein has an interesting
comment on gurus:
http://finance.yahoo.com/print/expert/article/yourlife/138279
*****
European shares ended higher, as Vodafone's strong earnings report
sparked gains in telecommunications shares. London's FTSE rose 2.1%.
*****
Oil closed at $40.87 and Gold was
down $7 and $900.
*****
Stocks rallied for no reason
except they have been down for five straight days but banks issues remained
under pressure. At the close the DJIA was up 140 at 8078. The S&P 500 rose
14 to $839 and the NAZZ jumped 21 to 1516.
Breadth was positive and volume
was punk.
The bulls staunched the pain for a day at least.
*****
2 February 2009
Thoughts
Our trip was positive but the
markets were not. January was a real downer and we are glad it is over.
February is beginning as a continuation of January with overseas markets down
about 2% overnight and at midday and US stocks are also 1% lower in early
trading. Gold is at $912 and Oil has a $40 handle.
Everyone in now an expert on how
to restart the economy and save the banks and most are sure that Obama and his
folks don’t know what they are doing. None of the talking head experts ran for
president. And most of the talking heads didn’t see the crisis coming. But
facts have never stopped the media from prognosticating and opinionating.
For our part the Super Bowl was
super for the second year in a row and over the weekend we visited clients and
enjoyed two good basketball games (we won).
During our driving time we reflected on recent market
events. We are not happy with our performance last year even though it bested the
markets by over 20%. Our mantra is always not to lose money and we did
that in accounts last year and the year before.
Lowered revenues and earnings are decimating the share
prices of good quality companies but we are sure that most if not all of the
companies we own will emerge from the current miasma intact and profitable. And
with cash earning nothing and long term Treasuries yielding 3% it would take 6
years to earn back the capital we have lost in the last few months by being
early in our purchasing. The major market measures are down 50% from their
highs and that is a good level at which to won stocks. While we weren’t comfortable owning stocks
over the past three years, when prices began bottoming in October and November
of last year we decided to invest our funds. It now is obvious that we were
early but many of the stocks we own yield 4% and more and the price/earnings
ratios and dividend yields remind us of 1982. And that was a good time to be
buying stoics.
And so we will muddle through. Two years from now we will
look like geniuses; until then, not so sure.
*****
The markets are awaiting a bank
rescue plan and when it didn’t come over the weekend traders sold the opening.
It is going to take time and neither the media nor traders
have any time to spare. We do.
*****
From Yahoo Finance:
The Russian ruble fell 2.6 percent versus the dollar in one day Jan.
29, making its overall drop this week 6.8 percent. The freefall has pushed the
currency to its lowest point since the January 1998 ruble crash. Russia’s
Central Bank announced on Jan. 22 that it was done defending the ruble and set
a lower floor for the currency's fluctuation band of 41 rubles against the
basket -- 55 percent of which is dollars and 45 percent of which is Euros -- that the Central Bank uses to guide its currency moves. But
this limit may soon be breached, in which case the government may once again
widen its trading band given that the currency has been draining between $6-12
billion a week from Russia’s currency reserves until this week.
*****
The savings rate is up to 3.2%
and banks are not making bad loans. The markets are saying that’s bad? We would
rather see the recovery take longer and be on firm legs.
Robert Marcin at realmoney says
it well:
The problem with the economy is too much debt. Let me write that again:
too much debt. We don't solve the problem with more debt. We don't need banks
to lend to overleveraged households to solve the problem. We don't need them to
lend for auto purchases or vacations or condos.
Consumption is too big a part of the economy. It must shrink. Consumers
must repay or have written down trillions in debt. Banks shouldn't lend to most
of the consumers. We don't need a stimulus plan to create consumption where
none demand exists.
We should let the deflation occur, invest in long term infra projects
to temper the recession, and reinforce the government safety net.
We can’t fuel a recovery with debt when we need to de-lever. This is
all about managing the down cycle, not trying to borrow and spend our way out of
it. Why don't the pols and talking heads get that?
*****
We took a $1 per
share profit in YHOO and switched it to GE.
*****
We sold three speculative retailers with oversized debt- Pier One, LIZ, and Pep Boys. Lear, Ford and Health Management have too much debt also, but we are going to hold
them.
*****
Oil ended at $40.51 and Gold was
$908. European bourse indexes ended 2% lower.
*****
Stocks acted like they wanted to
go higher late in the day but couldn’t quite find the buying power to do so. At
the bell the DJIA was down 65 at 7940. The S&P 500 lost 1 to 825 and the
NAZZ jumped 19 to 1495.
Breadth was 5/4 negative on the
NYSE and flat on the NAZZ and volume was punk.
The bears remain in control.
*****
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Summary of Business Continuity Plan
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