Saturday, January 31, 2009

News round-up 01/31/2009

Barron's Feb 2, 2009, pg. 8, Up & Down Wall Street, Randall Forsyth notes that in response to President Obama's indignation at bonuses (something being echoed by most people I hear), it's actually the massive bonuses in the good years that create bubbles and a subsequent bust. Executives take unsustainable short-term short-cuts to boost bonuses in good years. The problems that may cause in the longer-term will just be somebody else's problems.

Barron's Feb 2, 2009, pg. 12, Streetwise, Michael Santoli notes how unwanted DOW Financials are Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and American Express. Also noted money-fund assets are at a historically high proportion of stock-market value, "the fuel is there to move the market fast and far." Also noted micro caps are very cleam now. No sense in buying a random smattering of the stocks; chapter 11 is waiting for some. This could be a good place for an actively managed fund?