Race To The Bottom

This shouldn’t surprise anyone, hat tip The Big Picture.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-31/bonds-beating-u-s-stocks-over-30-years-for-first-time-since-19th-century.html

Glass Houses

The SEC threatens to sanction FINRA, the political fallout here could be very significant.

http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20111030/REG/310309968/-1/INIssueAlert01

Failure To Launch

JP Morgan and Citi call in sick, dogs don’t bark at parked cars.

http://blogs.wsj.com/overheard/2011/10/28/j-p-morgans-dimon-lets-bofa-dance-alone/?mod=yahoo_hs

Early Bird Special

VC? All the cool kids are doing it. If you’re over 40, you’re over the hill.

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/10/13/is-there-an-age-bias-in-venture-capital/

Negative ROI

Harvard Business grads still heading to Wall St? May need to schedule some time with the guidance counselor.  

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45030885/

Blind Leading The Blind

Fact, it will cost you $75 to close an IRA account at Bank of America. What’s the mystery here?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-26/-incensed-moynihan-fights-bofa-critics-with-main-street-appeal.html?cmpid=yhoo

Occupy This

Elizabeth Warren sends the political establishment to DEFCON 1, why is she so scary?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/10/24/elizabeth-warren-i-created-occupy-wall-street.html

Fool In The Rain

The Volcker Rule again points out the flawed wirehouse business model, clients should be paying close attention.

http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20111023/REG/310239957/-1/INIssueAlert01

Old And In The Way

The Class of 2015 has a very different perspective than you do. Also, 40 is not old.

http://www.businessinsider.com/beloit-mindset-what-college-kids-think-of-the-world-2011-10

Zombie Attack

Is Bank of America going out of business?

http://blogs.reuters.com/christopher-whalen/2011/10/19/is-bank-of-america-preparing-for-a-chapter-11/

Paradise Lost

Financial Sense puts some boots on the ground with the Occupiers, is anyone listening?

http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/chris-martenson/2011/10/14/occupy-wall-street-what-is-really-going-on

Dead Battery

More tax dollars wasted on a bad business model. We’ve seen this movie before.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204346104576637061152676584.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

Risky Business

Investment News reminds us “Buy and Hope” is not an investment strategy.

http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20111016/REG/310169990/-1/INIssueAlert01

Stranger In A Strange Land

Iran plot against the Saudi Ambassador visiting the U.S. goes nowhere. This isn’t over.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/10/13/worst_plot_ever

Wake Up Call

The bond market is telling us something is wrong, another recession now a distinct possibility.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-11/bonds-showing-60-chance-of-recession-with-bernanke-behind-curve-for-bofa.html

Train In Vain

Banks continue taking heavy fire over Dodd-Frank, the kids are alright.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/44800021/

Market Sentiment Snapshot from Google Trends -keyword "Recession"

I think the following chart, from Google Trends is very interesting.  As seen below I keyed in the word “recession” in Google Trends to try and tap into investor sentiment through the means most people use now, the internet.  Interestingly enough as we see below during the depths of the credit crisis and market plunge of ’08 that bottomed in ’09 the word recession was actively and consistently search for.  Subsequently as the market improved and things got better the amount of searching for the word “recession” tapered off dramatically. 

Remember investors, generally speaking, are reactive and not proactive, thus searches tend to peak during extreme periods of panic/interest.  That said we think given the amount of sell-off the market has recently endured there are a relatively low amount of searches for the word recession.  This suggests to us investor complacency/apathy which isn’t something we correlate (from a sentiment perspective) with a solid market trough. 

Please note: The letters on the chart below represent highly read news stories and aren’t paramount to the point we are trying to make.

GM Gets On Board

GM endorses split-cycle technology, Scuderi firmly in the driver’s seat.

http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2011/10/06/general-motors-backs-split-cycle-engines/

Boomerang, by Michael Lewis

Kyle Bass hits the mark, again.

http://www.businessinsider.com/new-michael-lewis-book-kyle-bass-has-big-role-as-a-europe-superbear-2011-10

Last Call

This just in, Wall Street firms likely cutting staff. Damn shame about that Titanic.   

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/these-wall-street-firms-are-about-to-start-firing-people-like-crazy.html/

On The Defensive

UBS feeling the heat, another reminder the model is broken.

http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20111002/REG/310029971/-1/INIssueAlert01