All of the leading European stock indexes have been declining since the opening bell rang at the New York Stock Exchange. Fear is starting to spread in the market as many investors are expecting some European countries to need another bailout. The Institute for International Finance warned that a disorderly default by Greece would likely force Italy and Spain to seek financial aid. Portugal and Ireland have also been rumored to need a second bailout and everyone is now wondering where…

This morning, the problems in the European Union are starting to surface once again. Recently, all of the major stock indexes have been floating higher steadily each and every day on extremely light volume. Often, stock rallies that lack volume and conviction can lead to sharp sell off days. At this time, there are reports that Greece may have to default and this could trigger a domino effect in many European credit default swaps (CDS). A credit default swap is basically an insurance…

If you happen to be in a diversified retirement fund you probably finished 2011 basically flat. Many of the popular hedge fund managers also underperformed the S&P 500 Index last year. This tells us that it must be tough out there if the so-called smartest people around cannot beat the market. It really seems that the only people who can make money in this type of environment are the savvy traders who play these up and down moves. This market has not been an easy endeavor for the…

A couple of weeks ago the European Central Bank (ECB) created a new lending facility to the banks in Europe. The European banks could borrow capital from the ECB at 1.00 percent for up to three years. Since the program began there have been over 523 banks that have taken advantage of the lending facility. Many traders and investors expect this to help the stock markets in the European Union, however, the charts on these indexes still look very ugly.



The iShares…

It is still amazing how the stock market reacts to all of the news coming out of Europe. The reaction from all of the Greek news is somewhat comical. Why in God's earth would the Greek government not default? It is absolutely in their best interest to simply go bankrupt. They have milked the European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the American tax payer who is the largest contributor to the IMF for all they can. If the Greek government goes bankrupt at…

It is still amazing at how people get so excited about a stock market rally that occurs when the value of the U.S. Dollar declines. Are people crazy or what? When the U.S. Dollar Index declines the cost of goods that people need to live becomes more expensive, Just look at the price increase in oil since October 4, 2011, on that day oil was trading below $76.00 a barrel. Today the price of WTI oil reached $93.74 a barrel. Heating oil will be needed very soon as winter comes upon us…