Barrow Bits

While I remain a long-term bear, for the short term, the stock market is very oversold and traders can probably make a little money here.  Be nimble and quick but recent sell-off likely has created some good opportunities.

The best income stock around today is Century Tel, Inc. (NYSE-CTL).  Yielding 8.5% with a safe dividend that could even be increased.  A no-brainer and better than any mutual fund that I can think of.

Germany has a well deserved reputation of giving the world dangerous and obnoxious leaders.  History is now repeating itself with the actions of German Chancellor Angela Merkel who single handedly is causing most of the decline in world financial markets.  The ban on short selling is just ludicrous as is her forgetting she is part of the EU.  In sum, she is a fat, stupid, bitch!!

Tomorrow in Denver, Evergreen Energy is scheduled to hold its annual meeting.  In the past, these gatherings have been known to produce hype and distortion about the company's prospects – particularly the notion that K-fool has commercial viability.  I'm confident that Stoner and Company will follow the same path tomorrow, with the added insult of a reverse stock split which will be another slap at long-suffering shareholders.  Hope the SEC is in attendance.

Well I thought EEE's annual meeting was tomorrow but apparently it isn't.  I'm anxiously awaiting the date and will update readers.

The BP oil spill still dominates the news and indeed, it does seem to be a mega-environmental disaster.  I have a question about the whole affair which I wish someone would answer.  It seems there is an unlimited amount of oil flowing from this well.  It can't be stopped as of this writing.  If there is so much oil under the ocean why are we importing so much oil from the middle east???

Not an encouraging market close.  Indeed, it gave me the creeps.  Tomorrow may not be pretty.

Well folks, the "D" word is back!!  Seems like old times!  The financial news is replete with reports that many economists seem to be suggesting that soup lines are imminent.  Among the most notable is Paul Krugman who is no dummy and announced yesterday that we are actually now in a depression and that it will get worse.  It's enough to get an already depressed person even more depressed. The market is plunging amid the gloom and once again doesn't seem to matter much if a company is undervalued – it's just sold.  Gloom is now champion.  Consumers are pulling back and housing remains dead.  Forget trying to get a job.Deflation looms and that can be a real problem.  In sum, the global economy is in deep doo-doo right now, and the chances of a double-dip US recession is increasing in with each lousy economic report. Perhaps good corporate earnings which begin rolling in the next few weeks will change attitudes?  You can always hope.

Looking at the stock market today it's hard to imagine having the conviction that stocks are going to rally any time soon.  Technicals look putrid and the economic environment sucks.  I don't like bonds either, and real estate looks like it could decline further, although there is probably less downside in real estate over the next few years than in equities. As for gold, if deflation does become reality, gold would lose value along with other commodity assets.  Perhaps the worse possible investment would be mutual funds.  They have proven far more risky than ever imagined and a sure way to lose more wealth.  That mattress is looking pretty good right now.

With every passing day it looks bleaker and bleaker for the economy.  Today's news on jobs and housing was another horrible dose of reality.  Indeed, some folks think we are headed for economic disaster, and as of now it's hard to disagree.