Michael Ramirez cartoon
by J ~ April 12th, 2010 
Let me show you something
by J ~ April 11th, 2010I grew up watching In Living Color and one of my favorite skits was Fire Marshall Bill played by Jim Carrey. Fire Marshall Bill always used the catch phase “Let me show you something.” Almost all of his examples after that catch phase were very far-fetched and crazy. They usually ended in disaster.
Well, now I am going to use that patented catch phase. Let me show you something.
Bank Failure #42
by J ~ April 9th, 2010From the FDIC.
#42
Beach First National Bank, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was closed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Bank of North Carolina, Thomasville, North Carolina, to assume all of the deposits of Beach First National Bank.
As of December 31, 2009, Beach First National Bank had approximately $585.1 million in total assets and $516.0 million in total deposits. Bank of North Carolina did not pay the FDIC a premium for the deposits of Beach First National Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Bank of North Carolina agreed to purchase essentially all of the assets.
GLD
by J ~ April 8th, 2010Every time this market looks like it is about to roll-over, we get a nice burst of buying and things become all better. Here is a quick recap of the current market environment from IBD.
The indexes opened lower in mixed volume, sliding nearly 1% in the first 15 minutes of trade. Continued worries over Greece’s fiscal woes and a disappointing jobless claims report weighed on the market.
But by early afternoon, the indexes had erased those losses.
The day’s action was encouraging in the wake of Wednesday’s sell-off. The indexes suffered distribution Wednesday, making it four for the NYSE-tied indexes in the past few weeks.
The Nasdaq is carrying three distribution days, though there are some asterisks. One distribution day for all four indexes was in a quadruple witching session, which routinely inflates volume.
Wednesday’s distribution day for the Nasdaq, which came with a modest 0.2% loss, was also a muddy read.
Some of these Greek concerns are causing a stir in the price of gold. Let’s look at a chart.
Bond Yields
by J ~ April 6th, 2010I do not comment on the treasury market much on this blog. Over the past few days, this market has caught my eye. I am going to show the 12 month charts of the yields on the long end of the curve.
The 10 year note yield is bumping up against the psychological 4.00% level. If this were a stock I would go long, which would equate to higher yields.