Value-added for the American investing public? YOU be the judge…
Comments »WYNN Takes Home The Trophy
Chivo takes home the $1000 prize in iBC’s 3rd annual final four tournament. Click here for story
Comments »JP Morgan’s Smaller Cap Darlings
Capacity Utilization: Prior 77%, Market Expects 77.4%, Actual 77.4%
Brent-WTI Spread Passes $14 Per Barrel
Brent is now trading at a 13% premium to WTI.
Comments »Chinese GDP Comes in Better Than Expected
Flash: Google prelim $8.08 vs $8.10 Thomson Reuters consensus; revs $6.54 bln vs $6.32 bln Thomson Reuters consensus
The stock is down nearly $30.
Comments »Business Inventories: Prior 0.9%, Market Expects 0.8%, Actual +0.5%
Kraton Performance Polymers (NYSE:KRA): Raise Estimates
Oppenheimer is out very positive on Kraton Performance Polymers (NYSE:KRA) raising their price target to a whopping $67 (prev. $50) while reiterating Outperform rating on the name. Click here for story
Comments »Syrian Government Acting with Impunity
Eyewitness reports they are arresting all men over the age of 15 in Banyas, Syria. NATO warplanes have not been spotted over Syria yet, despite the intentional executions of peaceful protesters.
Comments »New POMO Schedule
FED STORY
Comments »Goldman says commodity prices could destroy demand. DUH!
Apple’s Assault on the Living Room and Video Is Coming
Asia Slides; Futures Plummet
Asia is down 1.25%+ and S&P futs are now down 8
Comments »Is Volatility Broken? Normalcy Bias and Abnormal Variance
The financial markets have endured a flock of geopolitical “black swans”including the devastating earthquake and nuclear crisis in Japan, widespreadrevolution and violence in the Middle East and North Africa, and escalation of theEuropean sovereign debt crisis. Incredibly domestic markets shrugged aside fearfrom each transformational event as stocks registered their best first quarter in overa decade led by a recovery in corporate earnings and job growth. The absence of sustained price volatility despite several global shock events is interpreted as abullish omen by many investors. In regard to geopolitical risk it feels like volatilityshould be perched above 30%, but surprisingly, after increasing in mid-March, theVIX index registered its second largest drop in history (and the third longest) falling-40.86%over seven days and ending the month below historic averages.
The passive mood of spot volatility is masking a dramatic revolution in the structure and behavior of the volatilitycurve that has wide-ranging ramifications for anyone who trades variance or uses portfolio insurance. The timing of recentvolatility distortions has coincided with the implementation of the Federal Reserve’s second quantitative easing programand is likely an unintended consequence of loose monetary policy.
In an increasingly volatile world many investors are talking about how to protect their portfolios against the black swanevent. What may be more relevant is to explore the psychology of a market that fears the black swan but refuses toacknowledge its presence upon arrival. In behavioral psychology this is called a “normalcy bias” and the concept provides aframework to understand the current volatility market.
Read the rest here.
Extremely Graphic Video of Syrian Massacre
[YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH5v_yV5-KA&sns=em 616 500]
Comments »NIKKEI Smashed On Open
Due to the worsening crisis at Fukushima, Japanese stocks are plunging, now down 1.4%.
Comments »Flash: Procter & Gamble Ups Dividend
declares 9% quarterly dividend increase from $0.4818 to $0.525 per share
Comments »Alcoa Beats on Earnings, Misses on Revenues
Today’s Winners/Losers
No. Ticker % Change
1 GLBC 60.41
2 AMMD 31.89
3 OSBC 19.05
4 CT 15.89
5 IDI 15.22
6 WH 13.60
7 JRJC 11.66
8 LVLT 11.46
9 HRZ 11.43
10 MILL 10.65
11 EFII 10.54
12 IDIX 10.52
13 UDRL 9.01
14 AFFX 8.66
15 TXCC 8.05
16 GENE 7.91
17 DTO 7.71
18 CYTK 7.64
19 LDL 7.61
20 BIIB 7.25
21 SIMO 6.93
22 SIFY 6.87
23 SCO 6.67
24 TBUS 6.54
25 ABMD 6.27
26 DUST 6.15
———————————-
No. Ticker % Change
1 CYH -34.76
2 QUIK -18.07
3 CIGX -16.38
4 OSN -15.16
5 STVI -15.10
6 KAD -13.33
7 ANO -12.59
8 BDCO -12.32
9 PZG -12.31
10 WPRT -11.85
11 CFW -10.51
12 IRE -10.39
13 TDSC -10.30
14 PUDA -10.00
15 GFRE -9.72
16 AIB -9.62
17 ENMD -9.60
18 TGC -9.57
19 TRGL -9.47
20 KRY -9.36
21 SCEI -9.30
22 EXK -9.05
23 COCO -8.98
24 LEI -8.89
25 FXEN -8.76