retirement interruptus: That Was The Week That Was

January ended up 2.3%, the best performance since 2007. Led by the energy sector (ahem, Egyptian crisis gave it a boost), stocks shrugged off revolt and discontent as investors realized Egypt was and is not a major trading partner, has no natural resources and the Suez Canal remained open. A pop in the price of crude was more reactionary than permanent. Exxon and Alcoa lead the closing day of January.
MarketWatch reports Wall Street will get a crack at another good week. The correction of 166 points had come and gone, according to Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners.
In ‘Getting Technical’, Michael Kahn writes for Barrons.com that the price of food commodities are rising across the board from wheat to coffee. The oil crisis in 2008 saw commodity prices spike as a traders got greedy. Still corn is 16% under 2008 prices with soybeans, wheat, oats and rice lagging but ready (according to Kahn’s charts) to break out. Kahn hastens to add that there is resistance but if a break-out occurs prices could increase by 30% in a matter of months. And, a just completed study in the U.K. concluded that the price of food will soar by 50% by 2050 and could push 1oo million people into hunger.
General Electric, yes, the company traders love to hate, back in the news as the stock is recommended by Argus Research Company as a Buy from Hold. The company that builds every things from jet engines to finance factoring and has been ignored by The Street, is back. It doesn’t hurt to have the President appoint the CEO of GE to head the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. In 2011 the new mantra is: What’s good for GE is good for America.
O.k., sports fans, mark March 3, 2011 as the beginning of the end for professional football this season. Negotiations between the NFL and players do not look positive and may just kill the season. ' (The Commish said, ‘We’ll have a contract.’
Markets last Tuesday went gangbusters as across the board all indices closed at their highest level since June, 2008. Crude fell while gold was up. Auto sales were all up when all expectations were for negative sales but investors ignored gains with the admonition that while gains were better than 2009 they were lowest since 1993. Sob, it’s- what’ve- you –done- for- me -lately-syndrome. Excellent read in this week’s BusinessWeek about Ford and its new CEO.
ADM Archer Daniels Midland beat estimates and the food processing giant surged 6%.
Emerging Markets drove gains for Tupperware as homemakers in Indonesia and South Africa are increasing the use of the ‘burpable’ containers. TUP up 15% Tuesday last. (alliteration?)
Good News as the manufacturing index was UP, much stronger than anticipated. Economists had projected a reading of 58.4 and instead the index rose to 60.8.
In the El Grande Game called ‘Get Rich Off The Life Insurance Company’s’, is played when old poops buy humongous insurance polices, let them marinate for 2 years, past the contestable period, and then sell them to strangers for a mountain of cash. The old poops are now turning on those fast talking swells that got them into the deal in the first place. They are claiming, what old poops always claim, diminished capacity and not understanding the consequences. It seems a lot of seniors are stuck with their policies as there are no buyers. Seniors who bought into the selling their life insurance policy are now suing life insurance agents for talking them into the buying and then selling life policy scam. But it’s really all coming down to investors not wanting to risk capital if the insured, whom they’re buying the policy from, isn’t knocking on Death’s door. Insured’s, on the other hand, wanting to boogie with the boodle while the boogie’s still good, and want return of premium and damages. I’ll keep you posted.
Markets on hold Wednesday as digesting rioting and unrest in the Middle East. Low volume except for Tuesday as reported by Art Cashin on CNBC and Director of Floor Operations for UBS Financial.
A word from a Bear, Richard Russell of Dow Theory Letters wrote recently, ‘I’m changing my position on the stock market…I believe the Dow is being seen as a hedge against the dollar.’ He goes on to write that he believes the Dow is acting as a currency hedge.
CEO Ellen Kullman leading DuPont into the 21st FOOD century. Barrons.com reported that the chemical giant has a knack for changing with the times. It produced gunpowder for the Civil War, paint for early automobiles and Teflon and Corian for the modern kitchens. Now, reports Barrons’ reporter Erin Arvedlund, the company is poised to provide food for a hungry world. The company has a bid (likely to get) for one of the largest producers of food ingredients, Danisco. The company does everything from making products that keep bread fresh to helping people lose weight. The iconic chemical company, DuPont, is becoming a powerhouse in agriculture.
Shoppers are Back! I predicted that when folks ran out of tidy-whities, clothes for kids and necessities they’d be back and back they were in January. Retail analyst Jharonne Martis reports her top retail pick is Limited Brands which is parent company to Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works had an astonishing 6.7% gain for January. (Okay, so one person’s tidy-whitey is different from another’s.)
From ‘It Ain’t Gonna Happen’ –WSJ reported China has linked with a tiny unprofitable California company to bid for U.S. defense contracts. They may make our socks but not our guns.
Bad Day last Thursday for 2 of the nation’s biggest and most respected banks. J.P. Morgan Chase has been sued by the Trustee liquidating the Madoff investment firm and searching for assets. Trustees allege that the bank ignored the possibility of Madoff running a Ponzi scam and earned hundreds of millions of dollars from its relationship with Madoff. And –Bank of New York Mellon used a foreign exchange system called ‘Charlie’ to create fake trades and overcharge Virginia pension funds by at least $20 million, according to Virginia court records. In a separate whistle blower case in Florida the AG alleges the bank overcharged Florida pension funds for foreign-exchange transactions.
Alive and doing very well, thank you…
General Motors is expected to post a one billion dollar profit for the 4th quarter 2010 compared to a $3.4 billion loss for the same period in 2009. While costs are rising the health and profitability of the autos is spilling over to suppliers. Suppliers are looking to 2011 with enthusiasm.
Baseball, apple pie and Bernie Madoff? According to Irving Picard, trustee appointed to hunt for the missing Madoff billions, the NY Mets were the beneficiary of $300 million in other people’s money (OPM). The Met’s owners cry, ‘Foul ball! How were we supposed to know when Madoff even fooled government regulators?’ The owners are looking to sell the franchise.
For the week- Markets ended higher. Copper extended it’s run with broker and analyst at FuturePath Trading commenting, ‘ At the moment we’re gunning for $5 copper.’