The fireworks were plentiful this week (and not just in Beijing).  Despite more negative news on the Freddie/Fannie front (and the Merrill, Citi, and UBS fronts as well), investors got into the positive Olympic spirit and took the equity market to much higher levels.  The primary catalyst was the continued plummeting of oil and other […]

Despite the ongoing doom and gloom, a slight glimmer of hope.  Gas prices have actually dropped just in time for travelers to take those last minute summer vacations.  (Of course, $3.90/gallon is still far from affordable.) While oil prices “threaten” to continue their downward spiral, news out of Nigeria and Iran prevented the decline from […]

Wake us up after earnings season. These numbers are simply too hard to interpret.  Bad financial results are actually deemed good these days. Strong reports (from the likes of Apple) aren’t good enough to compensate for future uncertainty.  A weak dollar has proven positive for companies with a lot of international biz.  Some discounters actually […]

A nice reprieve from the daily surge in oil. A nice rebound for the Dow from the recent “bear” mentality.  In general, the investor mindset simply didn’t seem so dire as in the past few weeks/months.  Bad earnings somehow didn’t seem so bad.  Negative forecasts somehow didn’t seem so negative. Concerning comments by the Fed […]

Too big to fail?  Surely, if anyone (or two) fits this description, it’s Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.  This week, news of pending bankruptcies, bailouts, nationalizations (insert your own rumor) were prevalent and worried investors chose to sell (and sell and sell) the two entities and most other related financial institutions.  Oil tumbled from recent […]

The market these days does not lend any great cause for celebration, though investors should take some time to enjoy some weekend fireworks just the same.  With the 3rd quarter beginning much the same way as the 2nd quarter ended, investors are left scratching their heads about how to overcome the ongoing financial woes and […]

So much for a quick end to the credit crisis.  Just three short months ago, the Fed’s creative moves lent optimism that the credit crisis was nearing an end.  Unfortunately, Merrill, Lehman, Citi, UBS and their “partners in crime” didn’t do their parts.  As write-downs and losses continued to mount, Bernanke quickly lost cult hero […]

Attached/linked please find And That’s The Week That Was, the Brounes & Associates market/economic commentary for the week ended June 13 2008.  At least Friday the 13th did not turn out to be nearly as frightening for the markets as Friday June 6th.  With oil trading safely within a range this week (a relatively wide […]

Attached/linked please find And That’s The Week That Was, the Brounes & Associates market/economic commentary for the week ended May 30, 2008. Aha.those oil prices may, in fact, be inflated!!!  Leave it to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to get to the bottom of this speculation mess (after a long drawn out and expensive investigation, […]

Attached/linked please find And That’s The Week That Was…the Brounes & Associates market/economic commentary for the week ended May 23, 2008.  Anyone out there?  Anyone working after market close on the Friday before Memorial Day?  (Who am I fooling?)  OK…short and sweet.  Oil and gas prices are up… Stocks are down…The Fed now may be […]

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