Thread: Fivetears Account Talk

My Allocation Combined Return Rates for October 2005 - (2.33)%
My Allocation Combined Return Rates for November 2005 - 4.71%
My Allocation Combined Return Rates for December 2005 - 2.14%

Made a NICE 'ALL IN" call for a timed Thurday - Friday hand of "Texas Hold'em" in the "I" Fund. Sweet chunk of change. Sure wish I could have been "all in" for the Monday - Tuesday hand though. There will be another day or two for certain before February. I'm sure we'll find it.

Thanks tsptalk.com Board & Members

I Like it

My Goal - find & snag up 2% a month for 2006.

Looking ahead to next week, investors are expected to closely watch December's retail sales figures and the Producer Price Index, both due next Friday, for more clues about the economy's strength.

Oh no. Not the dreaded one star.

NEW YORK (Reuters)
U.S. stocks could rally on corporate earnings reports Monday and Tuesday.

Earnings for companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index are expected to have risen 13.9 percent from a year ago, according to Reuters Estimates. But with key inflation data also on tap and a handful of Fed officials lined up for speaking engagements, investors could tread with some degree of caution.

If, in any way, corporate earnings disappoint, that could take away this new year's early winning streak

A lot of investors are going to be looking for the effect of higher energy costs on profits because crude has quietly crept up above $60 a barrel.

INFLATION DATA, OUTLOOKS KEY

"I think we'll have a positive week," said Peter Cardillo, chief market analyst and chief strategist at SW Bach and Co.

"Generally, we are going to see earnings OK and the market would respond to good earnings, and more so to what the companies say about their outlook," he added.

On the economic data front, investors face the release of November trade data on Thursday, and the following day the December producer price index and monthly retail sales.

Economists polled by Reuters expect the PPI to show prices at the factory gate to have risen by 0.2 percent in December following a drop of 0.7 percent in November.

Excluding the volatile food and energy prices, economists also expect a 0.2 percent rise versus a gain of 0.1 percent in the prior month.

"Next week's retail sales numbers and inflation numbers are going to be some key statistics to give us a little bit more input into where the Fed stands," said Barry Hyman, equity market strategist at Ehrenkrantz, King, Nussbaum.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Confidence in the U.S. economy eased slightly in January with some concern over rising home heating costs and still-strong gasoline prices.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks slipped Tuesday after the Federal Reserve boosted a key short-term interest rate by a quarter-percentage point as expected, and said more rate hikes may be needed.

Stocks were also set for a weak open Wednesday, following disappointing quarterly results from Google after the close of trade -- which sent Nasdaq and S&P futures lower.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index (down 5.12 to 1,280.08, Charts) lost 0.4 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average (down 35.06 to 10,864.86, Charts) lost 0.3 percent. The Nasdaq composite (down 0.96 to 2,305.82, Charts) ended just below unchanged.

The three major gauges had see-sawed on both sides of the unchanged line following the 2:15 p.m. ET Fed announcement, as investors attempted to digest the implications of the news and statement.

However, the tone turned more negative just before the close, as Wall Street geared up for Google.

After the close, the Web leader reported quarterly earnings that met revenue forecasts but missed earnings expectations. (Full Story).

Shares fell over 13 percent in extended-hours trade and weighed on other tech stocks, including Yahoo! (Research) and eBay (Research).

“It’s disappointing, but not entirely surprising,” said Donald Selkin, director of research at Joseph Stevens, noting that many bellwether tech companies have issued disappointing results or forecasts for the last quarter of 2005, including Yahoo!, Intel and Motorola.

In addition, Google stock has surged more than 400 percent since its debut as a public company in the summer of 2004, which both raised expectations for the company’s earnings potential to lofty levels and made the stock ripe for some profit taking, Selkin noted.

“The open tomorrow is going to be bad,” Selkin added. “But the market will digest this and if the jobs report Friday is decent, maybe we can finish up the week on the upside.”

The January jobs report is due Friday. Ahead of that, investors will take in readings on construction spending and manufacturing Wednesday morning. Wednesday also brings earnings from Boeing (Research) and Time Warner (Research).

On an up note, the S&P 500 ended January in the plus column, which could be a good harbinger for the year, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac.

For the month, the S&P 500 added 2.6 percent, the Dow 30 added 1.4 percent and the Nasdaq composite added 4.5 percent.

Fed boosts rates
Fed policy makers met Tuesday, led for the last time by Chairman Alan Greenspan. As expected, the central bankers opted to boost the Fed funds rate, an overnight bank lending rate, by a quarter-percentage point to 4.5 percent, the 14th consecutive rate hike since June 2004. (Full story.)

In its statement, the Fed acknowledged the strength of the economy, despite challenges, and said that "some further policy firming may be needed to keep the risks to the attainment of both sustainable economic growth and price stability roughly in balance."

Although the statement was the most moderate it's been in months, it left the door open for more rate hikes, a factor that no doubt disappointed the most bullish stock investors, but wasn't particularly a shocker.

Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital, said that the changes to the statement were minimal, which was perhaps surprising, as a more pronounced change would have given new chairman Ben Bernanke maximum flexibility when he takes over in February.

“I think we're left with the presumption that they will probably raise by another quarter-percentage point in March,” Stanley said.

However, “the market had already priced in a 75 or 80 percent chance of a hike in March and the statement is consistent with that,” Stanley added. “So the reaction you're seeing in both stock and bond markets is muted.”

Treasury prices ended modestly higher, recovering some after falling on the Fed news. The yield on the 10-year note fell to 4.52 percent from 4.53 percent late Monday.

In currency trading, the dollar fell versus the euro and the yen.

Investors also took in reports on consumer confidence and manufacturing in the Midwest area.

The January Consumer Confidence index jumped to 106.3, topping estimates and bouncing back from December's reading.

The January Chicago PMI, which measures manufacturing, fell to 58.5, below forecasts and last month's read. Nonetheless, anything over 50 signals expansion in the sector.

Glad Big Daddy Bush Sr. called his Saudi buddies and got that oil down 2 bucks. We're gonna need it since those drunk Oil Tanker Captains are STILL scaring everyone by running those sludge haulers aground in Alaska. They need to put a Hummingbird Fish Finder on those bigazzed tubs of crud! They're on sale at WALMART for $470.00. A 4-year old can find bottom with one of 'em. GEEZE! My Big Block Chevy is addicted to fossil fuel! It's so YUMMY!

I... Can't... Get... No! G... Fund... Action!
'Cause I'm I.
........'Cause I'm I.
................'Cause I'm I.
........................'Cause I'm I.
I CAN'T GET NO!

I'm 100% I Fund.

Fivetears,

Any body ever compare you to Audey Murphy - you hero of the I fund. What courage you display - hold that bunker. Keep the faith.

Dennis

Originally Posted by Birchtree

Fivetears,

Any body ever compare you to Audey Murphy - you hero of the I fund. What courage you display - hold that bunker. Keep the faith.

Dennis

No Dennis; not Audey. He had class. I have on occasion been compared to the crazy redneck knucklehead in the midst of the mosh pit though, and the I-Fund is rapidly becoming one. I haven't figured out who's all headlining this chaos yet, but I'll stick around for the show.