Laggards Lead Stocks Up

JANUARY 31, 2008: Stocks rallied strongly today on good volume but today’s strength came from the beaten down retailers, home builders, and financial stocks. The laggards are not the kind of stocks that can lead a sustained rally. Mastercard was up 10% on strong earnings. Amazon.com beat earnings and sales expectations and sold off in the morning but recovered later in the day. Google missed expectations and was down $35 in after-hours trading. The Nasdaq is down 9% for the month of January. Stimulus packages, multiple rate cuts, bail-outs, etc. have failed to change the direction of the markets, which is now decidedly down. Counter-trend rallies during corrections are by no means a signal to jump back in the markets. Bear market rallies can be sharp to the upside and come back down even faster. It’s best to wait for a ‘follow-through’ day before committing money to the long side of stocks. More info at www.goldenticker.com

Here’s a sign of the times. A company that helps you just “walk away” from your home and mortgage payments. I understand that business is booming. Click on the above image to go to their site. You won’t believe what you see.

The Inevitable Collapse of the US Dollar – A “must see” video.

Peter Schiff has been a voice of reason for many years and now many of his dire predictions are materializing.

Nasdaq enters “bear” territory.

JANUARY 22, 2008: The Nasdaq officially ventured into ‘Bear Market’ territory today when it was down over 20% from it’s October 31st peak. It closed down 2% today after being down as much as 5.1%. Mining, Medical, and Metals stocks were weakest today. Stocks were in trouble as Hong Kong lost 8.6%, Shanghai dropped 7.2%, and the Nikkei swooned 5.6% yesterday. Fearing a ‘free fall’ this morning, the Fed dropped it’s funds rate by 3/4%, the most since 1984. This was also the first inter-meeting cut since 9/11. After the bell Apple missed revenues numbers and was trading down in the mid $130’s in after-hours trading.

The Stock Market Will Crash Tomorrow-Jan. 22, 08

Monsanto “derails” and finally succumbs to the correction.

For awhile I thought Monsanto and other fertilizer stocks would avoid this steep market correction, but this week they were all taken out to the “woodshed.” As with all bear markets, they eventually take everything down with them.

Sage investing advice from the beach.

Thought you could all use a break from the downer markets and the cold of winter. This is from “Wallstrip” and the always lovely Lindsey Campbell.

Suntech crashes in heavy volume.

Solar stocks which were the darlings of 2007 have not been treated too well in 08. Suntech shows how brutal selloff’s can be.

“Put” Options show exteme fear in the markets today.

Nasdaq pulls back to long-term support levels.