Friday, February 02, 2007

Sell on News

CLRK has had nothing but good news recently. Yesterday was no exception. Forbes placed it on their 25 fastest growing companies list for the second year in a row. Initially up the stock then tanked by three dollars into the $17 range and subsequently managed to recover some ground to finish down only $1.46. We’ll jut have to wait and see what happens with its earnings next week.

The January jobs report came out this morning and was weaker than expected. The report showed that 111,000 jobs were added to the US economy versus a forecast of 150,000. This caused both futures and bond prices to rise. Now, normally a weaker jobs report would be a bad thing. So why is Wall Street so happy? Well since the economy is strong, the Feds biggest concern has been inflation. If the Fed thinks there is inflation then they will be looking to raise rates. However if the economy shows signs of slowing or weakening, the inflation fears subside and the Fed must now look to an appropriate time to start gradually lowering rates to try for Greenspan’s famous soft landing. So today, the market looks poised to charge ahead on a weaker jobs report.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

All Signs Look Up

The day after the Fed held rates steady the market look like they could be in for a good day. Google posted earning three times greater than a year ago beating forecasts. Dell announced that Michael Dell would be back in the CEO post. Dell said his company needed to execute better. Starbucks and Royal Dutch Shell both posted improved earnings.

Oil is hovering around the $58 per barrel range after recent comments from OPEC.

In economic news, incomes rose 0.5 percent in December and spending by individuals rose 0.7 percent, both in line with economist’s forecasts.