Author Archive

• The Straw Man Deflection, and the Parties are Over
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | January 22nd, 2010 at 7:57 am

  

  For the last 30 months the citizenry of our country has been victimized by a set of economic events. Only the most senior members of our society have experienced anything approaching its equal. Spanning two nearly diametrically opposed administrations it has brought us to the very brink of economic disaster, and there is still the chance that we plunge into the abyss.

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• Would you buy California Debt?
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | January 18th, 2010 at 12:03 pm

  

  I asked a fellow investor, and a gentleman I have great respect for, if he would invest in California Debt and if so in what timeframe. He replied that he would not. I am going to attempt to make the opposite case.

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• The International Traders Expo
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | January 7th, 2010 at 7:48 am

  

  From Feb 14th through the 17th the International Traders Expo will be at the Marriot Marquis in New York City. I will be participating along with many of the StockTwits professionals in the Top StockTwits Traders’ Strategy Talk. Monday Feb 15th from 8-9am

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• Legal V. Moral
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | January 5th, 2010 at 11:18 am

  

  I read an in the Washington Post yesterday and was appalled at the following comment by Weatherford Corporate Group Vice President Mark Stanley. First the Article: Use of Potentially Harmful Chemicals Kept Secret Under Law. Now the Quote: Mark Stanley, group vice president for Weatherford’s pumping and chemical services, said in a statement that the company made public all the information legally required.

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• Did Abu Dhabi get it’s Moneys Worth?
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | December 17th, 2009 at 10:16 am

  

  The sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi cheered markets by extending a $10 billion bailout to Dubai, enabling its fellow emirate to avoid an embarrassing slide into default by troubled state-owned property developer Nakheel. The move by the oil-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates ended three weeks of market turmoil following Dubai’s request to freeze payments on $26 billion in debt held by state-owned conglomerate Dubai World, Nakheel’s parent.

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• Enough of the Goldman Bashing
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | December 11th, 2009 at 8:04 am

  

  Yesterday Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein issued a statement describing the compensation packages for the companies thirty highest paid executives. They will be paid entirely in company stock with added provisions of a five year hold time and conditions for clawbacks (these allow for the shares to be taken back if the executive behaves in a manner contrary to the well being of the company or its clients).

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• Insider Trading and the SEC
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | December 10th, 2009 at 8:08 am

  

  An article in todays Wall Street Journal describes the SEC investigation of some firms allegedly trading on “illegally shared confidential information”. Apparently unscrupulous Hedge Fund guys were meeting with Industry mucky mucks over some drinks and wouldn’t you know it, faster than you can say In Vino Veritas, coming away with information that allowed them to trade ahead of the herd. This sort of thing gets the now re-invigorated SEC’s knickers in a twist.

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• The Old Guard Ushers in The New Paradigm in Finance Journalism
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | December 7th, 2009 at 8:00 am

  

  I am from the last of the pre-techie generation, and can remember our family’s first color TV, the first PC, the first walkman, and I remember thinking “who needs a cell phone”. I still get the Wall St. Journal, and Investors Business Daily delivered to my home. Younger readers are probably envisioning the Joad family, the Flintstones, or whatever their generation uses as representations of the prehistoric. This said, it has become obvious even to a luddite such as myself that the print versions of these venerable publications are going the way of the blacksmith. What may be less obvious is the online versions of these entities is following closely behind.

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• Mr. Bernanke goes to Washington, and has my Sympathies
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | December 4th, 2009 at 8:13 am

  

  Our Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is up for another term. President Obama has reappointed him but Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has placed a hold on the appointment and now Mr. Bernanke has to go before the Senate Finance Committee. Now I have said before that I am not a big fan of Mr. Bernanke and feel he shares a major part of the responsibility for the economic crisis. I also have said that in my opinion the only thing worse than the FED as currently constituted making the economic policy decisions would be if the congress gets involved in making them. But that is not what I wish to focus on in this post.

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• My take on the future of Dubai
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | November 29th, 2009 at 11:06 pm

  

  The news has been full of the events in Dubai over the last 4 days, and its effects on the markets here in the states and abroad. I believe for several reasons which I will expand upon today is that Dubai World will be bailed out and the long term ramifications of this event will be less catastrophic than has been stated in the press. In fact I think it will be minimal and we have a buying opportunity in several sectors on the dip we experienced Friday.

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• Why we bailed out the Banks
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | November 24th, 2009 at 8:27 am

  

  When the economy cratered last year there was much blame to spread around and myriad causes to be analyzed. When Secretary Paulson, in a condition of abject panic, went to congress with the request for emergency funding to rescue the economy he spoke of a stimulus package. Nobody can deny that one of the main causes of the overall crisis was in the housing market, and the related mortgage backed securities market. This stimulus package was allegedly going to recharge the credit market, stimulate the housing market and provide a safety net for the economy. It is debatable that any of these actually occurred as a result of the stimulus package.

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• Congress Looks at Reforming Fed
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | November 23rd, 2009 at 8:32 am

  

  While I have been a supporter of the Federal Reserve returning to it’s original mandate the thought of Congress moving rapidly and legislating change in the current heated atmosphere is disconcerting. The odds of the Congress addressing the Feds key problems and implementing the correct solutions seems lower than the Fed itself policing it’s activities in a manner that best serves the public interest.

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• Mr. Geithner’s “Deeply” Held Belief
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | November 11th, 2009 at 2:46 pm

  

  Mr Geithner, speaking to reporters in Japan yesterday made several statements in which he espoused his belief in a strong dollar policy.

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• A “Manhattan Project” for Energy Independence
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | November 10th, 2009 at 10:50 am

  

  The United States produces 10% of the world’s petroleum and consumes 24% or roughly 20 Million Barrels per Day (MMbd). The Energy Information Agency (EIA) estimates we import 13.5 MMbd. Today oil is around $80 a barrel (bbl). World Production of Oil is approximately 85MMbd.

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• Is There a Trade War Between China and the U.S.?
  Aiki14 Market Sense, Jim Gobetz | November 9th, 2009 at 8:31 am

  

  Recent policy decisions by the Obama administration imposing duties on certain goods imported from the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and the actions of the PRC in response to these duties have resulted in a straining of the relationship between the two countries.

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