Market News

[weatherweenie]

Continuing claims ramped up to 6.23 million from 6.14 million. The consensus forecast called for 6.13 million continuing claims as unemployed workers lose their benefits.

 

[Frixxxx]

Galleon Failing

Galleon Preparing to Unwind its Hedge Fund Holdings

Galleon Group is winding down its hedge fund holdings, the company's embattled CEO Raj Rajaratnam said in a statement.


Rajaratnam and six other people were arrested last week for their alleged roles in what authorities said was as insider trading scam in which information was bought and sold to help benefit the funds the company managed.

Story

Hope this isn't the sign of things to come!

 

[coolhand]

http://www.tsptalk.com/mb/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=

 

[weatherweenie]

From tsp.gov

Due to technical difficulties, the Account Transaction site is not available.

 

[FAB1]

From tsp.gov

Due to technical difficulties, the Account Transaction site is not available.

Sweet.

Does this happen often right at the IFT deadline?

Actually I have been trying since early morning to log in to AA
with no success.

 

[mayday]

Sweet.

Does this happen often right at the IFT deadline?

Actually I have been trying since early morning to log in to AA
with no success.

You can always call the Thriftline: 1-877-968-3778 to make your trade.

 

[weatherweenie]

You can always call the Thriftline: 1-877-968-3778 to make your trade.

No you can't. All trading systems are down.

 

[WorkFE]

Moving your money to something safe is considered a Cyber Crime so trading systems have been shut down by the Gov't

 

[malyla]

You can always call the Thriftline: 1-877-968-3778 to make your trade.

Interesting that the phones only started working at 12noon. Any transfers are good at COB Thursday.

 

[mayday]

Interesting that the phones only started working at 12noon. Any transfers are good at COB Thursday.

That's not right. You think that was a plot?

 

[JTH]

That's not right. You think that was a plot?

The website & the phones go down? I guess it's like when the power goes out at a gas station and since they don't know how to count money the old fashioned way, they just close the store...

 

[malyla]

The website & the phones go down? I guess it's like when the power goes out at a gas station and since they don't know how to count money the old fashioned way, they just close the store...

You know, I weep for the American education system. I was in high school when calculators were first introduced, but they were banned in school so that we had to learn the rules for long division and problem solving (a train going west at 50 miles/hour, ....) without a calculator. I was watching the show The Amazing Race 15 (my guilty pleasure show) when a task came up where the contestants had to weigh out $500,000 worth of gold at the current exchange rate which was changing every minute or so. This is a long division problem yet the first group could not work it (ok, it's a tough long division problem when the time constraint is added in), but the second group had a calculator and they could not even figure out that it was a division problem (how many oz of gold given $ and $/oz?). It wasn't until the third group came in and borrowed that calculator and then gave the answer to the second group that two groups successfully completed this task. Crazy and highly entertaining. The third group were professional poker players which requires a good math understanding for hand odds and pot percentages (My second guilty pleasure show is The Main Event No Limit Holdem). Still, that second group had the calculator and still went blank on the simple division problem (simple with a calculator).

The above was my old fogy moment brought to you by nostalgia head cream. Just apply to the forehead with the palm of your hand anytime you feel that the future is doomed.:toung:

 

[James48843]

Just a reminder:

It was on this day eighty years ago, October 28, in 1929, that the New York Stock Exchange lost nearly 13% of it's value in one day ( 11% the day before, and 13% on that day), becoming known as "Black Tuesday".


In honor of the 1929 crash........

 

[Bullitt]

Just some dates in this blog post to be aware of. FYI a "Bradley Date" is a market timing system based on astronomy and cycles. Bold emphasis mine.

October 30th the Fed is planning to curtail QE regarding Treasury auctions.
November 4th is the FOMC meeting most likely to contain discussions of timing for the exit from economic stimulation.
November 7th is the G20 meeting at which BRIC nations will anticipate a cessation of QE and a commitment to establish a currency alternative to the US dollar.

Plus two other interesting events.

1. A Bradley Day
2. Consideration of the DaVinci Ratio

So fasten your seat belts because our long discussed rock and hard place will be reached shortly.

http://jsmineset.com/2009/10/27/when-push-comes-to-shove/

 

[Show-me]

Berskire buying Burlington Northern railroad

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Berks...YXQ-?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

 

[coolhand]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aVW1nX0i4L40

 

[coolhand]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/33607057

 

[cboenews]

CBOE VOLATILITY INDEX (VIX )
One Year After the Financial Crisis:
Where it’s been, where it is now and what it says

• The average level of the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) recently has
  been relatively low – even in October, traditionally the most volatile
  month of the year – compared to late 2008 / early 2009 when markets experienced record volatility.
• In the video below, Ben Londergan, Co-CEO, Group One Trading (designated primary market maker in VIX options), talks about where the
  VIX level stands now versus a year ago, and the significance of the
  spread between actual and implied volatility.
• CBOE Research Paper,“VIX – Fact & Fiction,” highlights the 5 most
  common misconceptions about VIX.
• See video clips from 5 CBOE traders on VIX as the “fear gauge.”

This is a great article (and resource) stocked full of market news. Here is the link:

http://cboenews.com/10-29-2009/

Kate
advocate of cboe

 

[nnuut]

Bank of America’s Bartels Says S&P 500 to Rally on ‘Breakout’

By Lu Wang

Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will gain 8 percent after it jumped to a 15-month high, said Mary Ann Bartels, a Bank of America Corp. technical analyst.
Bartels, who predicted in October that U.S. stocks would plunge, said that call was “premature” and she now expects equity markets to add to the biggest yearly rally since 2003.
“In the near term more gains are likely,” Bartels wrote in a note to clients yesterday.
The advance in the first two days of this year lifted the S&P 500 out of a 3 percent range where trading was confined for most of November and December. The “breakout,” with more stocks rising than falling, suggests the index will climb to as much as 1,230, Bartels said. The S&P yesterday advanced 0.3 percent to 1,136.52, the highest level since October 2008.
New York-based Bartels, ranked second among analysts who study price charts in Institutional Investor magazine’s most recent survey, predicted three months ago that the market might slump as much as 20 percent from its September peak before resuming its gains. Since then, the S&P 500 lost as much as 5.6 percent from an Oct. 19 high, then rallied to complete a 23 percent increase for the year. [more]
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20603037&sid=agG4iLU4yzic

 

[Bullitt]

Christopher Dodd literally sells high.

http://dodd.senate.gov/?q=node/5417