Oil is hitting new highs on a constant basis.  Hovering around $105 a barrel for about a week now, the large oil companies must be jumping up and down...

But is the joyful jumping justified? 

To be perfectly honest - I dont thinks so.  If you look at the balance sheets of the big time oil giants you will see that they are flooded with cash.  And we have all heard that cash is king and the more cash the better.

Well tons of cash could be good and it could be bad.  It all depends on the length of time that the cash has been on the books.  If the cash if coming in quicker than these companies can invest it, then it is a good thing.

However, if the cash has been sitting on the books for months, one has to wonder if these companies are having problems finding areas to invest in and if management really knows what to do.

They shou ... Read More »

Verizon Wireless announced today that it is going to offer an unlimited voice plan for $139.99 a month.  This raised the hairs on all the wireless giant’s necks, as all hell broke lose during trading today – sending shares of AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon through the floor - losing 5.6%, 2.6% and 6.2% respectively.

Fears of a pricing war have started to run wild.  Now that a company has decided to break wireless “gentleman’s agreement” – ... Read More »

Stocks shot up today when Warren Buffet announced an offer to reinsure $800 billion in municipal debt.  This offer was extended to three top bond insurers:  FGIC Corp, MBIA Inc and Ambac Financial Group.  It was a bold move – and I’ll tell you why…

Along with the $800 billion comes a 50 percent premium charge on top of what the bond insurers are already receiving from the d ... Read More »

Market Summary

The markets traded slightly higher today – but not by much.  Homebuilders and retail rose on expectations that there will be more interest rate cuts, as insurers and banks took a nosedive as woes of the mortgage market crisis resurfaced.  Word on the street is that there’ll be another interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s next meeting on March 18^th.

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The Dow took another hit on a light-volume Friday, while some positive news from technology companies lifted the Nasdaq. After substantial losses earlier in the week, investors appeared to be cautious going into the weekend.

Financial stocks were a drag on the Dow and S&P 500. American Express fell 1.50 to 44.95. Amazon.com rose 2.56 to 73.50 after announcing plans for a $1 billion stock buyback. Energy stocks rallied as crude oil gained more than $3 per barrel. OPEC officials said they would consider reducing production to keep the price of oil above $80.

McDonald's and Coca-Cola gave the Dow some support. McDonald's gained 1.17 to 55.63 after January sales were higher than expected. Coke was up 80 cents at 59.25 on a brokerage upgrade.

The Dow closed down 64.87 at 12,182.13. NYSE volume totaled 1.45 billion shares. The S& ... Read More »