One of the things that talking heads keep repeating is that increased health care costs are one of the reasons causing employers to avoid adding new hires.  This is reported to be especially important for smaller companies. It certainly is true that small business is seeing much less indication of recovery.  The NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business) survey is much more pessimistic than the ISM (Institute for Supply Management) as shown in the following graph: The NFIB survey covers small businesses, while the ISM surveys large companies.  A quote from the 5-Min. Forecast: “The persistence of Index readings below 90 is unprecedented in...
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The simple answer is yes and that is one major reason why I am not gambling on the news tomorrow.  Technical analysis helps identify trends to help guide investment decisions but, TA should never be the sole tool used in making those decisions.  Fundamentals play a role even though not much of a role in this year’s market.  News and market sentiment are playing an even more critical role this year.  The news combined with the market sentiment is creating significant volatility that we continue to see.  This is a very news-driven market and Friday should prove that to...
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The bulls were looking for a reason to buy at these low levels and yesterday provided that oversold opportunity. China PMI came in slightly better than expected and that was a big relief to most concerned over the continuous soft data we have seen recently. The bulls gapped-up on this news only to see better-than-expected ISM index numbers, which fueled another leg up on the day. The bulls were able to shrug off the terrible ADP employment numbers as well, which was encouraging. Estimates were for an increase of 13,000 (actually a wide range of estimates that were even...
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While the bears didn’t gain any ground today, the bulls couldn’t get anything going either. With consumer confidence coming in slightly better than expected (yet not a strong number), the bulls tried to make a move north. Unfortunately, they quickly lost steam and we traded in a tight range all day long before ending the day about even. We had strong volume Tuesday, not typical for this historically slow season. I mostly attribute it to short covering and many longs anxious to sell into any strength rather than a bullish accumulation day. It felt like very little was happening...
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Looking at the metals market I believe we’re going to be running into some major resistance soon for a couple of reasons. I share a different opinion than most that these markets are going to explode to the upside and below I’ll explain my reasons. I do believe the bull market in gold/silver will continue, just with a fairly deep correction to stir the pot and shake out any weak hands, as well as give new traders/investors a chance to get on board this bull train. I’m not suggesting to take action at this time and position yourself on...
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Back on Wednesday, a poster on the SatwavesPro forum brought up the issue of Howard Stern and his contract negotiations. “HillBilly” as he known stated that would cancel his subscriptions and sell his stock if Sirius XM did not re-sign Howard Stern. I set off on a mission to show him exactly why it would make no difference if Howard Stern remained at Sirius...
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Once again, if you listened to the mainstream media, you were left yesterday feeling as though a recovery in auto sales was nothing more than a pipe dream. Last month as sales exceeded those in the previous year, the media changed the way auto sales were reported and focused all of its attention on the month over month numbers which promoted weakness in the auto industry....
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By now you’ve heard it said by several analysts that it makes no difference whether Sirius XM re-signs Howard Stern or not. Most of them however know little about Stern except that his compensation package seems extraordinarily high. I would venture a guess that they do not know or understand what Stern’s $500 million package includes, nor are they considering the breakeven point that Sirius...
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I was asked a few days ago for my perspective on potential suitors for Sirius XM Radio. This is not surprising in the wake of the 3PAR (NYSE: PAR) bidding war between Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ) & Dell (NASDAQ: DELL). The talk of the street these days is all about mergers and acquisitions, centered specifically on the mountains of cash that are accruing on the...
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How can you tell if a company is growing? CNBC recently began asking its guests whether or not they were hiring at the present time. There may be turmoil in the markets and the economic outlook may remain uncertain, but at Sirius XM Radio growth seems to be accelerating. A look at the job listings tells the tale. There are 111 positions posted at...
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I received an email yesterday which politelty suggested I write at least one article a day specific to Sirius XM Radio. One of the advantages however to converting to a subscription based format rather than ad based model, is that I can focus on quality of content rather than quantity. There are enough Sirius XM sites out there which fill the quantity void, which publish redundant and...
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