It goes up. It goes down. We’ve seen this volatility before. Here’s the Dow of the last five trading days. Yesterday was gruesome.
Gold — the same five days. Doing what it hasn’t done in a while — going up while the market goes down. Interesting.
The “worries” are (allegedly) Italy (the election) and England (its Moodys downgrade). And our looming Sequestration, which could screw up air travel and bankrupt several states –the latest scare tactics the White House is using on the Republicans to sign a deal.
Earnings are coming in nicely. Sample:
Home Depot posted fourth-quarter earnings of $0.68 per share, ahead of estimates of $0.64 per share. Revenues rose to $18.25 billion, topping expectations of a smaller increase to $17.72 billion. The company also approved a $17 billion share buyback and hiked its shareholder dividend 34 percent.
It’s a good time to go bottom fishing.
We’ve gone through this day-by-day up and down madness before — in recent months. Ultimately it gets resolved (sort of), or at least the fear goes away and stocks move higher. I’m not fearful.
Several readers suggest I’m a great contrarian indicator. When I say buy, sell. When I say sell, buy.
Pick your own poison. To figure the stockmarket from one day to the next is gambling. You cannot win.
Netflix’s P/E is 578.45, according to Fidelity. On this measure it’s absurd to write anything nice about Netflix. But this company is changing an industry — replacing traditional ways to watch movies with its streaming video service. No one else can match what Netflix is doing. It’s 52-week high was $197.62 — 10% above where it is now.
Things you should only buy used. Neat piece from Business Insider. Click here.
Favorite recent New Yorker cartoons.
Thoughts on the weekend’s inconclusive Italian election. Mr. Berlusconi is known for three things: his Italian media empire, his messing-up of the Italian economy and his bunga bunga parties. I google bunga bunga party and got this image. Looks more fun than reading about the Italian economy. That’s Berlusconi being kissed by the two girls on the top left. I don’t know what Russia’s Putin is doing on the bottom right. Being envious that he wasn’t invited?
No fear. I also didn’t get invited. Drat.
Silvio Berlusconi served three times as Prime Minister of Italy from from 1994 to 1995, from 2001 to 2006 and from 2008 to 2011. There’s a chance he may be back for fourth time. There’s time for me to get an invitation, yet.
Harry Newton, who is too old to attend bunga bunga parties, except as a voyeur. Please.
The Comedian Beppe Grillo is the guy who interests me. I’m wondering who would play the Grillo role if such a thing were to happen here. I’m tempted to say that our politicians are all a bunch of clowns anyway, but even out idiots don’t have a thing on the Italians. By the way, you are aware that the solid waste plants in the DC area are quite old and don’t really handle chemicals like those in Viagara and Prozac very well? The chemicals mostly go back into the Potomac. That’s why the politicians in Washington are always both stupid and horney. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/04/italian-political-blogger-sexism-row
Harry
I looked at the Business Insider article. All those things were good. Here is another deal one of my sons found on Craigslist. A vending machine and a guaranteed location. I was skeptical when he told me about this one and I pounded him with questions (the main question being what’s the catch) but as he laid out the deal, I started coming around. The machine was bought new two years ago for $3800. The person is selling it for $1250. According to the seller, the monthly income is $1000/month and it’s location in a business is locked in for twelve months. I have never been on Craigslist, but my son trolls the site a lot for deals. He says it is a good place to find leveraged items like a pawn shop. It does involve a lot of checking on the item and the seller.
Philip