The thing that amazes me now is not the op. He's made his outlandish, idiotic statements before & will likely continue to do so. He gets the desired result - attention. Look at all of the responses to this thread! All giving him exactly what he wants, needs, craves .... attention. What is truly amazing is why people continue to feed this troll - giving him exactly what he needs - especially when the ignore function is very appropriate...& available.... & easy.... & ..... Me - I'm just hoping Baron finishes the modifications he committed to over here. Then, those of us who do place trolls & idiots on ignore won't have to wade through their threads on the ET homepage.... R
Today they are up no one is talking about citi anymore. Kudlow said the citi news is way overblown, and he's been right for the past five years. He also predicts a big end of year rally.
What happened to the CITI and meril? No more headlines about subprrimes and credit? Does this mean the meldown crisis is over? Already? What happened to the doom and gloom? No more?
I still hold the belief that there was and is no credit or liquidity crunch as absurd as it may seem to some people. I can't picture the investments banks and funds just thowing up their hands and saying "we've got no more money. We're broke" There is tons of liquidity. Many more M&As to come. There is still tons of credit. Why is MA doing so well? Why are the creditcard companies turning record profits? Why are the mortgage companies still around? They didn;t go out of business. You can still get a home loan, a business, loan, and rack up tons of credit card debt. The notion of such a crunch was created to scare people into selling so the 'big money' can buy up knowing they have tons of liquidity. It is in their best financial interest to scare people so they can buy at a discounted price.
I'll make this as simple as I can for you. Subprime programs are GONE. They constituted a good portion of the mortgage business. Therefore, home sales going foward are going to suck. Things on down the retail line will suffer accordingly because of that fact. People with straight up 750 credit are really having to go through hoops to get bought. This isn't changing in the foreseeable future. The crap on firms books haven't been fully disclosed either, this is WHY no one will buy the existing paper. I know these things from firsthand knowledge, not somebody told somebody. View the market accordingly.
The big boys aren't going to say "we have no more money", but they are going to be much more selective in how they use it. They already are. By the way, MA doesn't issue credit cards, they process the transactions- they make money every time their card is swiped, the issuing banks are the ones collecting (or not collecting) the payments. The reason they're doing so well is because transaction volumes are through the roof. People have switched from using a cash out mortgage or home equity loan to using their credit cards to spend money they don't have.
Dow closes 13,042. That's 242 points from the "I'll ask Baron to delete my account if the Dow hits 12,800" promise. Do you plan on honoring your promise to us, Stock Trad3r?
Looks like it's going to be a Black Christmas and that may be the beginning of the end?? http://www.forbes.com/home/markets/...etail-markets-equity-cx_ml_1109markets19.html Retailers' October sales have investors shaking in their boots before the holidays. Target (nyse: TGT - news - people )'s October sales for stores open more than a year beat its recently reduced forecast, but investors still weren't thrilled. The Minneapolis-based company reported on Thursday that its October comparable-store sales rose 4.1%, while net sales increased 9.7% to $4.45 million from $4.05 million in October of 2006. Several weeks ago, Target reduced its October forecast to a growth range of 2% to 4% from 3% to 5%. The company attributed the decrease to slow sales in the first half of the month. However, Target was able to beat its forecast on increased traffic and customer spending in the last week of the period, led by stronger demand for health care products, consumables and electronics. Sales of jewelry, apparel and seasonal products like blankets and heaters remained low. Target's stock slumped $1.94, or 3.3%, to $56.78 in Friday midday trading. Banc of America Securities analyst David Strasser blames the "increasingly challenging macroeconomic headwinds" for slow traffic in Target. Like Target, Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people )'s October sales fell below expectations, rising only .4%. The company has been slashing prices since September trying to lure in holiday shoppers, but has suffered weakness in apparel and home goods, as shoppers haven't bitten the discount bait. Wal-Mart's stock slid 56 cents, or 1.3%, to $43.06 on Friday. Gregory Melich of Bear Stearns blames unseasonable weather, the weak housing market and sky-high gas prices for the retail dip. "With inventor levels rising and sales growth slowing, we expect to see a highly promotional retailing environment this holiday season," said Melich. "Retailers with more discretionary and seasonal goods in their mix generally had a tough time driving sales," said Bear Stearns analyst Christine Augustine of October's retail woes. Other retail companies suffered on Friday too. Costco Wholesale (nasdaq: COST - news - people ) lost 68 cents, or 1%, to $65.90. BJ's Wholesale Club (nyse: BJ - news - people ) fell 46 cents, or 1.4%, to $33.23. Big Lots (nyse: BIG - news - people ) dropped 26 cents, or 1.2%, to $20.91, and Dollar Tree (nasdaq: DLTR - news - people ) plunged $2.47, or 7.8%, to $29.22 in Friday midday trading. (See: Retailers: A Red October) The Associated Press contributed to this article.