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Category Archives: Wall Street

WILL THE WALL FALL…..AGAIN?

Maybe Occupy Wall Street is right. Maybe initial fault is with Wall Street for setting a standard.  A standard that, if accepted would force business to become so selfish, the entire global economy would suffer.

Who said that standard had to be the acceptable standard?  I guess all of business reverts to this standard.

The premise for the standard is, in example, a company profits $10 million, why not $12.5 million?  If reached, why not $15 million?  The cycle continues over, and over.  There is never an end.  Being continually profitable at the same level isn’t good enough, and earns mediocre grades.

Every year, the above example is right around $10million profit.  The company had taken many years of growth to achieve that profit plateau.  You can count on that company every year but, that isn’t good enough.

Each year, Wall Street is looking for growth.  No plateau is good enough.  Comparative earnings is a key factor in any arithmetic for the stock to fundamentally achieve an upward trend.  Coming in at $9 million net profit following a year of 10 is unacceptable, and the company is held in contempt.

To continually earn more, a company has to go somewhere to reach an earnings increase, not only year after year but, it is scrutinized quarter to quarter.

So, what does the successful company do to achieve Wall Street’s expectations?  Increase the price of their product or, service.  Raid payroll.  Raiding payroll begins at the bottom, up.  By the time the top is reached, the compensation is still more than liveable.

Those earning the comfort for the top must sacrifice.  The rising price spiral is now out of reach for many workers just trying to get by. 

Those at the top receive a penalty in that they now pay more for a service or, goods to compensate for those no longer able to purchase as they once did.

Less sold at a bigger profit for each.  It becomes harder to make the Wall Street expectations or, at minimum no different than before.  Just as difficult but, in the process someone goes down.

Perhaps a plateau of earnings, each quarter, each year shows stability.  Strength.  There is profit to be had, and plenty of it.  So what if one quarter the company profits $4 million, the next 3 followed by, 3.9 then, 3.25, and finally 4.5.  What if that’s achieved without the price increases or,  the payroll cutbacks?

Maybe Wall Street takes itself way too seriously with a boatload of mathematical indicators, and calculations beyond the necessity of figuring the profitability of a company.

Even then, private business has adapted the same criteria for success.  Continually upward or, it’s not good enough.

The most successful businesses are before anything else, innovative.  How do we take our product or, service, and stretch it down a new street?  The focus is on forward not, on how to raid the existing company, and the employees responsible for the existing profit.

What if, Wall Street frowned on price increases, and payroll raids?  What if, only successful innovation scored points?  We would be at an unmatched economy motivated by, more successful people buying more products, and services.

We have come to accept these configurations as a way of life, and look where most of us are because of it.  This is unacceptable! 

The current path, by the numbers, is unsuccessful.  Wall Street is on a losing streak.

A ‘Wall-Fall’ is possible for this, and many other reasons.

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PRE-MARKETS UP, ABANDON PLANS

Stocks

Image by shareski via Flickr

From a draft, earlier this morning.

Today was the day but, just as the weather wasn’t occasionally right for a space shuttle, the indicators on the pre-markets are showing me a buying visit to the markets may not be in my best interest.

I was planning on a return trip but, would rather catch some buys on the way down.  With that in mind, I am fully cognizant of some of the recent market days sporting uncalled for sharp reversals just, because….

Today might or, might not be the right day.  I’m off from work, and in between errands can keep posted on any reversals.

Another way to pick up on some buys in a market of uncertainty is to place ‘limit’ buys, and wait for the market to come to me.

The pre-markets are all on the upswing as of now so, a buying trip is not necessarily today’s best course of action.

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Posted by on November 28, 2011 in Stock Market, Wall Street

 

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DIVIDENDS, DIVIDENDS & DIVIDENDS

In my heart of hearts, I know there are some unscrupulous characters on Wall Street.  I also know there are some good people on Wall Street just working through their day.

I have a 401k through my employer.  How do I hedge against the unscrupulous characters who want to break the 401k & IRA plans of working people just to maintain the comfortable status they enjoy in our society?

There is one way to get them with their own game.  Invest in the stock market.  That’s what I do with my 401k, invest. 

I bought 3 new Exchange Traded Funds, yesterday.  They all pay dividends.  Each has a long payout record.  One has been criticized on how they derive a dividend with naysayers questioning the sustainability of the dividend.  History speaks for itself as each has sustained for a reasonable time period.

In an abstract way, I figure I am getting something extra from Wall Street with these stocks that pay a monthly dividend for an accelerated reinvestment accumulation.

This does not negate the wrong doing of many upper income employees on Wall Street who take advantage of people trading in several hundred share lots just to etch out a retirement.   

They take advantage because they can.  It’s legal because they paid for it to be legal.                        

I stick my tongue out at  you!   Well okay, not my tongue but, a tongue by, proxy makes my point!   

 
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Posted by on October 28, 2011 in Stock Market, Wall Street

 

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RANDOM AMUSES

What happens when you put up two evenly matched teams in a contest, two teams that scratch out wins, two teams capable of high run production but, don’t always get it?  You get the Cards & Rangers squared off in a close game number one of the 2011 World Series.

The Cardinals got a pair on the board in the 4th but, Texas answered with their only 2 runs of the game in the 5th, and we had a brand new ball game.  The Cardinals got the deciding run in the 6th.

The final stats for the first meeting of a best of 7 shows the Cardinals with 3 runs. 6 hits. no errors.  Texas came up one short with an almost identical stat of 2-6-0.

Game 2 scheduled in St. Louis, tonight at 805pm – et.

Took in a penny spec-stock, yesterday.  Have made a profit so far.  Most everything on the Bulletin Board is easily  subject to big changes based on sneezes, hiccups, and wind direction.  As I watch the ticker, TBBC is down on the day, so far but, still up from my original buy price.   Please try not to sneeze.:-)

 

 
 

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ONE LOLLIPOP, PLEASE

It is killing me!  I can’t help, myself.  I prefer a big risk for a large reward so, I buy lottery tickets.  I also take on too many penny stocks as specs.

Yes, I have an open limit order on a spec-penny, today.  I’m ashamed.  So ashamed, I’m not going to even mention names.

This is not the way to play Wall Street, and it isn’t the right thing to do within a retirement account.

I took a big chance once before with Jammin Java (JAMN,) and rewarded very well.  Bought it for 53 cents, and sold for $5.00, and change. The stock has since gone to the fifty level……fifty cents.

On the other hand, I’ve taken on others, several times over with nothing to show for it.  Yet, here I sit, knowing I’ve got it all wrong on the very slight chance the stock could move like Jammin Java.  There is nothing but a company story to be told, and nothing solid to back it up.

These stocks are on the hunt for not just someone sailing on the ‘good ship lollipop’ but, a true sucker!

If I happen to get lucky with this one, I’ll name names, and retract parts of this post.

Paragraph three stands alone as a single sentence, and will never be retracted under any circumstances.  It is the only, logical, reasonable, coherent statement in this entire post.

 
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Posted by on October 19, 2011 in Stock Market, Wall Street

 

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OCCUPYING WALL STREET

For all the wrong reasons, and all the wrong targets, Occupy Wall Street continues.  I applaud them, however.  They represent a movement that is saying the country is dysfunctional with an obvious bias toward one income class over another.

Wall Street is not the target.  Wall Street is a symptom.

The movement symbolizes the distrust, frustration, and all out anger of many citizens of the United States.  ’Occupy’ began here but, it is now a global movement, and echoes the discontent of the world’s working populace.  Note several bookmarks to the right showing videos from around the globe.

We have a dysfunctional government specifically interested in maintaining $upport from the rich.   CONgress does not want to lose campaign $upport.  There is the target, there’s the reason, there is the dysfunction.  CONgress!

As long as there are laws permitting lobbyists to influence our lawmakers, you will find those bringing campaign dollar$ to the table will have a voice.  You will receive a polite thank you for writing to your CONgressman or, SINator.

Call your Representative’s office to make an appointment.  I did, and was advised when we could meet but, only for ten minutes.  It sounded as though I was expected to thank them profusely as if it was a rare privilege for me to sneak ten minutes out of their busy schedule.  No thanks.  See, I have to work, and if he cares to see me, I have an hour to spare outside my working hours.  I will require approximately an hour.

One of the big problems is, we joke about politics but, it’s not funny.  We have an attitude of some sort of undeserved reverence for the members of CONgress.  In return, they have an heir of disdain for the public with full knowledge of our twisted reverence.

The attitude must be reversed.  They must learn that they are to revere us, with the utmost respect.

Many of the rich admit taking full advantage of their income class via a biased tax code with many loopholes provided by, CONgress.  The Cowards of CONgress maintain the loopholes as campaign $support rolls in by, the truckload.  In return, any time, anyone in the upper echelon income class cares to meet with their Representative they need only drop by for as long as they’d like.

State Representatives are no better as they wrote the Right To Work Laws which really would be more aptly named Right to Employ & Unemploy in your state.  Those laws usually allow employers to legally abuse employees.

Occupy Wall Street brings the symptoms to the surface, and that’s a good thing!

 
 

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UP IS UP, AND DOWN IS UP

Wall Street has lots of dollars for some small investors.  Even on a field that is filled with holes, and bumps to tilt the bias from small investors to the largest share lot traders.  The map around the field is readily available to large share lot investors because by today’s rules, they get to draw the map.

Though I am not a professional, I have some rules that I have set up for me.  They are sometimes hard to follow because, I become frustrated.  A down market can put a spell on my trading mind that tells me to panic, take a loss, and immediately sell in to it.

So the first rule evolved.  Don’t trade anything at the opening bell.  Wait for the smoke to clear, watch for trends & reversals after the first half hour.

Trade with calm.  In order to do this, I establish the maximum downside I will take from a stock as I purchase it, and know the math.  The entire portfolio is on Stop-Limit Sell.  I know the maximum possible loss to occur without panic, ahead of time.

When the market’s down, I’ll enjoy the opportunity.  I’ll focus on my shopping list, and pick up some bargains rather than making panic stricken sells. There is the possibility I could pick up on a stock I may like but, just sold.   Possibly even at a less expensive cost.  I’ll re-buy.

When the market’s up, I’ll choose a place to sell, and be happy for the profit.

In conclusion:  Up is already up but, down is also up even when it’s down.

Investing requires due diligence and/or consultation with a professional.  It is possible to lose your entire investment.

 

 

 

 

 
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Posted by on October 10, 2011 in Stock Market, Wall Street

 

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LIGHTNING FAST STOCK TRADES SCRUTINIZED

Those of us who attempt to maintain our retirement 401-ks, and IRAs have known for a long time as smaller investors, we don’t have a level playing field.  Haven’t for years as high speed computerized trades have been the market manipulators.

It is not the trades of 100, 500, and even 1000 share lots that have a real effect on the market.  It is the hundreds of thousands of share lots being traded at a moment’s notice by, ETFs & other Funds.  For several years, they’ve made the trades that manipulate prices so much in a split second, your retirement could live or, die at their discretion.

This morning, I saw a headline on the CNBC web page regarding legislators scrutinizing the playing field for those bumps with an intent to level it off.

The cynic in me awakens here as I don’t believe these regulators are stupid but, then again, I don’t know them.

Why, now?  Let me theorize.  A Hedge Fund Mgr. with plenty of money supports his Congresswoman with plenty of re-election money each time she runs.  She, in turn wanting only to oblige him assures him his electronic trading future with high end terabytes is solid.  Each time a bill comes along to level the playing field, there’s an attachment to ban light bulbs on the same bill.

It has come to the point where the pressure’s on.  Too many are aware of what’s going on.  The public is often too slow to demand what they want from their legislators, and the legislators are beholding to others with more money.  Therefore, CONgress is even slower to respond.  That’s why it has taken until now to begin the process.

The problem is evident, and has been evident for a long time but, don’t expect a level playing field any time soon.  There will be one hearing after another, passing from one committee to another possibly lasting months depending on who owes who.  Nobody’s really in a hurry, and campaign funds are drastically needed.

High speed, high share trading will continue for now without many speeding tickets issued.

 

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NuPathe MIGRAINE SOLUTION TEST RESULTS

Just after I closed out my last post, and took a night time jog through dreamland, I woke up this morning to a press release regarding the NuPathe (PATH) solution for migraine headaches.

Contrary to the post below, I put in a buy for 400 shares in addition to my current holdings.

The stock is currently up over 10%, and I expect it will follow a few market hiccups throughout the day.

None the less, long term NuPathe may have found a signature product to springboard their business to a new high.

This is not a recommendation as any investment requires due diligence and/or advice from a professional.  It is possible to lose your entire investment.

NuPathe is listed on NASDAQ as: PATH

 
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Posted by on October 3, 2011 in Stock Market, Wall Street

 

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THINKING OUT LOUD SOFTLY

I am thinking out loud softly as I write.

Perhaps I need to take the approach to my stock portfolio when I discovered VM Ware (VMW) back when it was $40/sh.  That was the one I sold at $65/sh.  I am aware of where it is now but, I don’t regret selling VMW when I did.  Who would regret that kind of profit?

Maybe it’s time to sell off the whole portfolio of medium to small cap companies, accept the losses, and start trading with less shares of medium/large cap companies and/or funds.  Take some time looking for another VM Ware, accept some profit, and move on.

For me, it feels ‘rich’ to deal in 500 share lots and more but,  it doesn’t feel that rich when you attach  dollar amounts to those shares, and the grand total isn’t so grand.

There’s plenty of time to consider this whole scenario as this market will swing crazily through a day, reversing on a hiccup.

It may feel ‘rich’ buying five hundred shares of a company at $15/sh but, not if it’s only worth $10/sh because of hiccups the following week.

It is possible I might be feeling better about all of it if the grand total was literally, well……..grand.

 
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Posted by on October 2, 2011 in Stock Market, Uncategorized, Wall Street

 

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