Month: January 2011

Fed Keeps Pedal to the Metal as Egypt Unrest Weighs on Markets

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Stocks swaggered through the first four days of the past week with their usual devil-may-care attitude, then tripped into the final three hours on Friday amid scenes of civil unrest in Egypt. At the final count, the Dow Jones Industrials closed down Friday by 1.4%, theS&P 500 fell 1.8%, theNasdaq fell 2.5% and the Russell 2000small-caps sank 2.5%.

For the week, the Dow was only down 0.4%, though, while the S&P was off 0.5%, the Nasdaq was flat and the Russell 2000 small-caps were actually up 0.3%.
Click Here to see how the unrest in Egypt will drive the markets…

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A Rescue Plan for the U.S. Economy

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Money Morning Executive Editor William Patalon III, Fitz-Gerald took the time to outline that eight-point rescue plan for the U.S. economy. In that plan, the changes Fitz-Gerald calls for include:
• Cuts in federal spending.
• Pension reforms at all levels.
• A halt to weak-dollar policies.
• And a realization by Washington that it’s time to take China much more seriously.
In Part I of this interview, which appeared yesterday (Thursday), Fitz-Gerald assessed the health of the U.S. and global economies, provided his outlook for the U.S. stock market and for commodity prices, and even offered an investment strategy for 2011.

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Best Investments For 2011

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The U.S. recovery will continue this year, and U.S. stocks will continue to advance, though investors can expect whipsaw trading patterns and must beware of the point when the U.S. Federal Reserve ends the cheap-money mindset that’s fueling the advances, says Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald.

But uncertainty also brings opportunity, and Fitz-Gerald sees tremendous profit potential for those who are willing to remain invested – and who have the courage to make opportune choices. Commodities of all types, so-called “BEE” (Big Emerging Economy) markets and the stocks of companies that derive a major portion of their sales from these fast-growing overseas economies should be on everyone’s investment menu.

And don’t ignore multinational stocks from your own backyard: While it might surprise many investors to discover this, many U.S.-based companies are major players abroad, Fitz-Gerald says.

“I see the markets generally rising until mid-2011, which is when the reality of stimulus spending, the looming budget battle and fiscal follies set in.

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Wheat Trading

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Wheat is the second-largest commodities crop in the world, behind only corn. Wheat is one of the world’s most important cereal crops grown for human consumption. Investing in wheat futures allows traders to participate in the agricultural markets without holding a physical market position. Investing in wheat futures also provides growers with a risk management tool to protect the price of their expected purchase or sale of physical grain. The United States is one of the world’s largest wheat producing countries. Japan is one of the largest importers of wheat in the world, with imports originating from Australia, Canada, and the United States. Exportable wheat supplies are also available from Argentina, Europe, Ukraine and other areas of the world, depending on crop situations. This makes wheat a truly global market and allows traders to enter into a global environment to create a broad trading strategy using wheat alone or in combination with other grains.

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WikiLeaks Handed Data on Secret Swiss Bank Accounts

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Swiss whistle-blower Rudolf Elmer — the former chief operating officer of the Cayman Islands subsidiary for Swiss bank Julius Baer — handed the discs to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at a press conference in London. The data relate to offshore bank accounts allegedly held by individuals and companies from across the world, including the U.S., U.K. and Germany, and covers 1990 to 2009.

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