Place in investing

The term "value" can be highly subjective when it comes to investing. In the world of options trading some of that determination can be increased in its authority, if we see a situation, which sports relative value when comparing one contract to other surrounding contracts. Typically, traders using calculated values from a trading platform of their choice will simply notice the implied volatility of the contract, either a call or put, in question, is priced differently than other nearby options.
An alternative means to recognizing this kind of value can be accomplished by lining up synthetic markets. This is a useful exercise for traders looking to remain sharp and reliant on their own mental facilities and a skill, which still has a place in investing, despite all the whiz-bang technology out there.
Hypothetically, let's consider a call market in conjunction with stock to form a synthetic put and compare it to the pricing of a real listed put contract. When the call is examined as part of this

The strategy is inconclusive

The Royal Bank of Scotland has added the first exchange traded note to its "Trendpilot" ETN family that ventures abroad.
RBS China Trendpilot ETN (TCHI) — like RBS' six other ETNs — tracks its underlying index when it's trading above the 100-day simple moving average. If the index falls below that key line for three days straight, it switches to tracking three-month U.S. Treasury bills. TCHI will switch back to tracking the BNY Mellon China Select ADR Total Return Index when it trades at or above the 100-day for three consecutive days.
The note aims to capture most of the upside when the index is rising and avoid most of the downside when it's falling. RBS touts that its ETNs let you apply an actively managed strategy without

The stock has now fallen

Wall Street ended mixed Friday after the major indexes faded heading into the close. Bellwether tech stock Apple (AAPL) sank 2%, ending just above its 50-day line.
The Nasdaq turned a 0.9% gain earlier in the day into a 0.2% loss, wrapping up the third straight down week for the tech-heavy index.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average both snapped two-week losing streaks despite slipping from earlier highs. The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, slicing an earlier 0.8% gain, while the Dow climbed 0.5%, easing off a 0.7% intraday rise. Turnover was higher on the NYSE, but lower on the Nasdaq.
Despite the market's pullback, some leaders continued to hold strong.
Firearms maker Sturm Ruger (RGR) rose more than 3% to close near its session high. It's now 14% past a 46.78 buy point from a flat base cleared March 22. That lift was in reaction to news that the

Returning to business

If anyone mentions the just-released 3.5% U.S. third quarter GDP growth, just throw this chart in their face. Cash for Clunkers clearly distorted the U.S. economic figures in an unsustainable fashion.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), motor vehicle output spiked a seasonally-adjusted 157.6% quarter on quarter. This is completely unprecedented. Vehicle output is clearly going off a cliff next quarter. The question will be how low can the blue line below go.

Positive territory for the year

Below is an updated snapshot of 2012 equity market returns for 78 countries around the world.  Of the 78 countries shown, 64 are in positive territory for the year, while 14 are in the red.  The average YTD percentage change for all countries shown is 7.11%.  Of the G7 countries, Japan, Germany and the US are outperforming the overall average.
Four of the G7 countries are significantly underperforming the average.  The UK and Canada are currently up just over 1% year to date, France is up just 0.93%, and Italy is down 4.84%.  Spain has been the worst of any country in 2012 with a year to date decline of 15.36%.

Many issues surrounding strip-malls

In what can be seen as a good sign, strip-mall vacancy has fallen for the first time in seven years. Despite the positive news, Reis states that it is too early to claim that this is a rebound. As you may know, this area of real estate was battered by the housing crisis and the subsequent recession.
Senior economist for Reis, Ryan Severino spoke on the topic:

Vacancies finally began to fall during the first quarter, declining by 10 bps. This is the first 

Balance was revised

Analysts predicted that the trade deficit would narrow to $51.8 billion in February from $52.6 billion in January.
Statistics released last month indicated that the trade deficit had significantly expanded in January to its widest since 2008.
Last month's trade balance was revised narrower only slightly, to $52.5 billion.
While many see a widening trade deficit as a negative sign, historically an expanding trade deficit has been found to correlate directly with a rising GDP.
From the Census Bureau:

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that total February exports of $181.2 billion and imports of $227.2 

Returning to business

CHART OF THE DAY: Cash-For-Clunkers MASSIVELY Distorted GDP

If anyone mentions the just-released 3.5% U.S. third quarter GDP growth, just throw this chart in their face. Cash for Clunkers clearly distorted the U.S. economic figures in an unsustainable fashion.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), motor vehicle output spiked a seasonally-adjusted 157.6% quarter on quarter. This is completely unprecedented. Vehicle output is clearly going off a cliff next quarter. The question will be how low can the blue line below go.

The spread of fear in the market

Whether you approve of his style or not, Karl Denninger cuts through the BS and says it like it is. The corruption and self-dealing in these bailouts is disgraceful. One must wonder whether there is any integrity left in government or our financial system. You and I and all other taxpayers are bailing these crooks out instead of sending them to jail.

More Arrogation Of Power?

Bloomberg has an interesting story up on the AIG derivative “payoff” mess I’ve repeatedly written about:

Beginning late in the week of Nov. 3, the New York Fed, led by President Timothy Geithner, took over negotiations with the banks from AIG, together with the Treasury Department and Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s Federal Reserve. Geithner’s team circulated a draft term sheet outlining how the New York Fed wanted to deal with the swaps — insurance-like contracts that backed soured collateralized-debt obligations.

Actual price of the metal can go

I have been a big fan of using gold and silver positions to protect against the deterioration in the specifically the dollar and all fiat currencies in general.
There are several ways one can invest in precious metals. The first is to actually take physical possession of the metal. You buy bullion bars or coins. A second way is to invest in mining stocks. A third way is to invest in ETF’s like GLD or SLV that track the underlying metals. Each offers its own particular advanatages and disadvantages.
Buying the metal is the safest method because you have physical possession. It is also somewhat clumsy, involves storage problems and reduces your ability to get in or out of the market quickly. Mining stocks afford ease of in/out of the market, but expose one to major market moves and risks/events particular to the mining company itself. In up or down moves in the underlying metal, mining stocks often move multiples of the metal itself. ETFs offer the advantages of quick in/out

Expansive influence of speculative finance

Doug Noland’s latest post regarding “The Newest Abnormal” tracks many of the past buzzwords applied to the economy. Past terminology applied to economics and markets shows up in hindsight to be little more than post-crises rationalization at best. At worst, it was a form of Madison Avenue spin to entice unwary investors back into markets.
He details some of the history of this “marketing” and concludes that, despite clever phrases, we are still trying to blow bubbles. Here are a couple of excerpts from his piece:

The “miracles” were – without exception – belatedly recognized as Bubbles.
I’m thinking more “The Newest Abnormal”.  To be sure, there have been some popped Bubbles.  But we remain trapped in the same old Bubble-inciting paradigm of activist central banking and government intervention.  I have expounded the view that a “government finance Bubble” emerged with the bursting of the Wall Street/mortgage finance Bubble.  I would argue that Bubble dynamics have taken firm hold in China, throughout Asia, and in the “developing” economies more generally.
The New Normal implies more monetary order, while the Newest Abnormal suggests unrelenting Monetary Disorder.  The proponents of the New Normal would tend to view extreme government intervention as a stabilizing force