MaoXian.com -- Archive > November 8, 2004

The Daily Zinger

IPIX took off at 11:51 this morning... what do you need to catch these things? A good scanner, fast fingers, and I would argue the experience implied by a yarmulke-sized bald spot, which some of us lucky studs sport.

IPIX, 1-min. Chart

Posted at 17:45, GMT

Stocks to Watch -- Monday, November 8

Posted at 14:15, GMT

Wall Street Journal Online Free this Week

"The Wall Street Journal Online, usually for subscribers only, will open its doors for the November 8 - 12 workweek. The company has several advertisers to sponsor the free days of access, largely aimed at attracting new subscribers. Dow Jones says over 90 percent of the people who signed up for trial Online Journal subscriptions have become paying members. The company charges $79 for an annual subscription. Subscribers to the print journal pay $39 a year. The last time the Journal offered a free week's access was in 1997."

Online subscriptions for the WSJ have stalled at around 700,000, so they're making a drive for new subscribers. Take advantage of this free week!

Posted at 14:00, GMT

Keep an Eye on STLD

Steel Dynamics looks kind of interesting to me here. Initial risk is about $1.30, but if price falls back to the major swing low around $29.50 then the reward to risk makes sense. (Disclaimer)

STLD, Daily Chart

Posted at 8:45, GMT

Best and Worst Performing Large-Cap Stocks (last 4 weeks)

Every Monday I feature a stock scan from my universe of Large-Cap stocks. Last Monday I listed the best and worst performers over the last 12 weeks; today I'm posting the list of the best and worst performers over the last 4 weeks.

Best:

Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL)
Up ~80% {airline}
Apple Computer Inc (AAPL)
Up ~40% {personal computers and peripherals}
ADC Telecommunications Inc (ADCT)
Up ~28% {netowrking equipment}
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)
Up ~27% {semiconductor manufacturer}
TXU Corp (TXU)
Up ~26% {power production; electricity, natural gas}

Worst:

Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc (MMC)
Down ~40% {risk and insurance services}
Aon Corp (AOC)
Down ~27% {risk and insurance brokerage services}
Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC)
Down ~19% {diversified financial services}
Merck & Co Inc (MRK)
Down ~14% {pharmaceutical products}
Avery Dennison Corp (AVY)
Down ~13% {pressure-sensitive adhesives and materials}

Posted at 8:35, GMT

Chart of the Day -- US Dollar and Euro, Weekly Charts

Contrarians are looking for the Dollar to bottom here. Calling a bottom in the Dollar is another way of calling a top in both the Euro and Gold. What leads people to call tops and bottoms? Vanity. Try to resist the temptation to look oh-so-smart. Ignore the siren song of the countertrend.

US Dollar futures (top), Euro futures (bottom), Weekly Charts

Posted at 8:25, GMT

Sentiment Update for the Week Ending November 5, 2004

Last week the market rallied to a new high on the year. The market is up about 9.5% from the August buy and about 2.5% from the February buy. I don't anticipate the sentiment indicators will give any more spots to get long this year, but I'll keep my eyes open.

(Last week's Sentiment Update)

Vanguard Total Stock Market VIPERs, Weekly Chart

Posted at 8:15, GMT

Evil but Effective

Why They Won, by Thomas Frank:

"Like many such movements, this long-running conservative revolt is rife with contradictions. It is an uprising of the common people whose long-term economic effect has been to shower riches upon the already wealthy and degrade the lives of the very people who are rising up. It is a reaction against mass culture that refuses to call into question the basic institutions of corporate America that make mass culture what it is. It is a revolution that plans to overthrow the aristocrats by cutting their taxes.

Still, the power of the conservative rebellion is undeniable. It presents a way of talking about life in which we are all victims of a haughty overclass - 'liberals' - that makes our movies, publishes our newspapers, teaches our children, and hands down judgments from the bench. These liberals generally tell us how to go about our lives, without any consideration for our values or traditions.

The culture wars, in other words, are a way of framing the ever-powerful subject of social class. They are a way for Republicans to speak on behalf of the forgotten man without causing any problems for their core big-business constituency."

Posted at 7:55, GMT

Courting Primitivism

Rove's Revenge, by Maureen Dowd:

"W.'s presidency rushes backward, stifling possibilities, stirring intolerance, confusing church with state, blowing off the world, replacing science with religion, and facts with faith. We're entering another dark age, more creationist than cutting edge, more premodern than postmodern. Instead of leading America to an exciting new reality, the Bushies cocoon in a scary, paranoid, regressive reality. Their new health care plan will probably be a return to leeches.

America has always had strains of isolationism, nativism, chauvinism, puritanism and religious fanaticism. But most of our leaders, even our devout presidents, have tried to keep these impulses under control. Not this crew. They don't call to our better angels; they summon our nasty devils."

God bless you, Maureen.

Posted at 7:45, GMT

Big Media is in Big Trouble

To Slog or to Blog: Is the Future of Media in the Blog?, by David Kirkpatrick:

"Sites like Electoral-vote.com, with its intense analysis of the differences between polling methodologies, demonstrated how intrinsically biased and ultimately uninteresting the conventional media approach is."

Posted at 7:35, GMT

For Cat's Sake

Yesterday we went to a double feature at the Curzon movie house in Soho: Scarlet Street followed by The Postman Always Rings Twice. (Unlike Marilyn Monroe, Lana Turner gives me hot pants.) I can't think of a better way to spend a drizzly Sunday afternoon.

Selection of Greatest Film Noir Films

Posted at 7:25, GMT

Lock and Load

Hedge Funds' Glitter Fades (but Not for Investors), by Riva Atlas:

"Investors in Eton Park, the $3 billion hedge fund recently started by Mr. Mindich, the former Goldman Sachs executive, had to waive the right to withdraw any of the their money for as long as three and a half years, according to a person briefed on the fund. The $3 billion hedge fund Mr. Icahn is raising also requires investors to lock up their money for three years."

Posted at 7:15, GMT

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