equities

As the economy hits stall speed, it is only to be expected that corporate default rates are set to rise. In fact, they have risen already, doubling since 2007.Through last week, 42 companies, all but one based in the U.S., have defaulted,…

The USSA is now taking form. As the housing debacle turns nasty, politicians and regulators are looking to turn away from the free markets toward I don't know what. And that ain't good.First, there is the Dodd bailout bill that passed the…

David Tice of the Prudent Bear has sold out to Federated Investors. I caught this via Paul Kedrosky's site Infectious Greed. Federated Investors Inc., the Pittsburgh-based investment management firm, said Tuesday it has reached a…

The bear is growling and things are looking grim. Hold on for dear life. Today is going to be ugly. Let's just hope we don't start seeing folks lining up at their local ATM just in case.Where are my gun and kruggerands?

Back in 1973 when the market was going to hell in a hand basket, one London market guru offered this cheery advice:"You will need to invest in three things to survive next year's economy: Cans of food, piles of gold krugerrands and a…

Super-bear Jeremy Grantham had something positive to say for once. Well actually it's only a friend of Jeremy Grantham, oh well. But it IS positive -- sort of. "The good news, provided you are by now heavily liquid, is that there are…

Last night after the market closed I listened to a Bloomberg on the Money podcast with guest Louise Yamada, a well-known technical analyst. A lot of people in the fundamentals crowd stay away from looking at technicals, but in a market…

The old adage goes that on a Parents Day, a class of children brought their parents in to school. A few parents got up in front of the class to explain what they did for a living. One woman was a firefighter. One man was a baseball player.…

How many AAA companies do you know of that have seen 80% declines in their market value?Two that I can think of:Fannie Mae (FNM)and Freddie Mac (FRE)

Zeitenwende, a German-language blog from Switzerland I subscribe to made a very good point this past holiday weekend after the Dow reached bear territory. U.S. investors had lost 20% on the Dow, but European investors would have lost much…