Ireland in Trouble
Wonderful.
Remember that the PIIGS countries are Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain.
Two down, three to go. Like municipalities (see above) they’re going to continue to have problems in 2011.
Mid-Quarter Update
We’re 1/3 done with the quarter, elections were yesterday, and lots left in the year.
In this week’s video, I give a little update on the quarter and year so far, plus a discussion about why you have to take the comparison of your portfolio to an unmanaged index with a grain of salt.
Listen to my video below to find out more.
QE2
What is it? A scheme by which the money supply is increased and hopefully starve off deflation and boost the economy.
Sorry, I’m not buying it.
CLICK FOR FULL ARTICLE – QE1 FAILED, WHY WILL QE2 WORK
CLICK FOR FULL ARTICLE – FED’S STRATEGY OF GETTING RETAIL INVESTORS INTO STOCKS VIA QE2 WILL FAIL
3rd Quarter Review / 4th Quarter Preview
This week is the 3rd Quarter 2010 review and 4th Quarter preview.
If you go back and rewatch my July video (July Video) I stated I thought the 3rd quarter would be up and it definitely was.
Dow Jones + 10.27% for the 3rd Quarter and S&P + 10.72%. Of course, these are unmanaged indexes.
The markets were way down at the end of the last quarter, so this brings the indexes positive for the year +3.5% for the Dow and +2.3% for the S&P 500.
4th quarter? I think things will continue to be up, but the important thing is to ensure you have the right allocation to equities in case I’m wrong. I think the year will end positive for the equity markets.
Listen to my 4th quarter preview video for more analysis and 4th quarter action items.
Bracing for a Rocky October
Here’s an article summing up my thoughts.
Alternative Funding
This week’s diatribe is about off-balance sheet accounting and alternative financing.
I’ve been approached multiple times in the past month or two about investment opportunities funding some activity outside of the normal funding channels (banks or equity financing).
This leads me to wonder how much lending is happening in our economy this way and if it’s under the radar. I don’t like the sound of it.
Listen to my video below.