Posts Tagged ‘long-term interest rates’
Can’t Beat the Profits of Big-time Market Traders? Join Them
By Michael Lombardi, MBA for Profit Confidential
As an individual investor, at a certain point, you really need to wonder whether the market is rigged, or, at the very least, if we stand a chance against the big players in the market.
Here are some startling examples…
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE/GS) is the fifth largest U.S. bank measured by assets. Just like individual investors buy and sell stocks, options, currencies and other securities, Goldman has a trading division. In fact, Goldman makes half of its revenue from trading.
In the first quarter of 2011, Goldman traders lost money on only one day of trading. There were 62 trading days in the first quarter and Goldman lost money on only one of those days. You can say they had a 98% success rate at trading.
How can Goldman have such a success rate at trading? Well, they are not alone. Morgan Stanley (NYSE/MS) only lost money on three trading days in the first quarter of 2011. And the profits are staggering. Morgan Stanley made more than $100 million per day trading on 10 days in first quarter. Goldman generated $100 million on half of the 62 trading days in the first quarter of 2011.
Hence, when reading the SEC filings that reveal these mind-boggling numbers, a small investor like me can’t get away from the question: “How can we ever compete and win against the traders at these institutions?”
First, we need to understand that these traders are playing with big money; their risk is well over $100 million daily. They get in a position, they get out. As individual investors, we cannot move that quickly. … Read More
Interest Rates: Why They Have to Rise
By Michael Lombardi, MBA for Profit Confidential
A company would have been bankrupt years ago if it was run like the U.S. government. Why do I say that? Because companies cannot go on forever just borrowing money while losing money on operations! But that is exactly what our governments do.
What has conservatives like me
The Worst Performing
Investment of 2011 Will Be…
Welcome to My 2011 Interest
Rate Forecast Issue
By Michael Lombardi, MBA for Profit Confidential
If there is one investment to avoid in 2011, it will be bonds. Why? Simply because interest rates are headed higher in 2011.
No, we won’t see a spike in short-term interest rates. The Fed will not let that happen. But the Fed cannot control long-term interest rates.
Will We See Gains in January?
By George Leong, B.Comm. for Profit Confidential
As we enter the last two weeks of January, it looks like we could see positive gains in the month. This is important as historically what happens in January helps to influence and foreshadow how stocks behave going forward. A positive January can point to gains and it’s the opposite when the month is down. But, unlike how 2009 ended, technology is lagging both the DOW and S&P 500. On the plus side, small-cap stocks are faring well, up nearly two percent so far in two weeks.
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