Posted on 03/17/2008 10:33:30 AM PDT by Lazamataz
There are two events occurring today:
1) The finanical services industry is systematically unwinding. Firms that are involved in financial execution are getting hammered midday: Interactive Brokers down 25 percent, ETrade down 12 percent, TradeStation down 12 percent. What's going on? The brokerage system is not the banking system...a stock and a bond are not the same thing, and a trading account is not an FDIC account.
Simply put, customer accounts that are non-FDIC insured are now shown to be potentially at risk. There's clearly concern that some may be liquidating their trading accounts, either from fear or margin calls. There are also questions about how big the financial services markets will be in the future.
2) The commodities industry--and the brokers and exchanges around it--are systematically deleveraging and unwinding.
Commodity related trading firms are all weak: MF Global down 63 percent, FC Stone down 42 percent, Nymex down 21 percent, CME down 15 percent. Commodity-related stocks (steel, coal, aluminum, iron ore) are also weak because commodities are down.
Commodity rout: Copper down 2.3 percent Platinum down 3. 1 percent Coffee down 9.1 percent Heating oil down 2.3 percent
Commodity rout: Copper down 2.3 percent Platinum down 3. 1 percent Coffee down 9.1 percent Heating oil down 2.3 percent
Commodity rout: Copper down 2.3 percent Platinum down 3. 1 percent Coffee down 9.1 percent Heating oil down 2.3 percent
NOTHING IS SAFE ANY MORE
Runnnn!!!!
EMOTIONS
Lehman down ~44% today.
Panic abroad in the air.
Plus: ZOMBIES!
Emotions: Down 17.5%!
NOTHING is safe!!!
Lemmings....down 4.8%
Today gold de-coupled from all other commodities.
ZOMBIES: Down 162587736761.82 %
we’re doomed......
we’re doomed......
we’re doomed......
Soup lines start-up first thing tomorrow! Get in line early since apparently we are now in the Great(est) Depression ever seen.
Funny, the last one seemed much worse to me, but who am I to question the great editorial minds of the age and the legions of keyboard warriors all wailing about the end of the world.
Analysts: gov't funds heat up oil priceAs oil prices charge past $110 a barrel, analysts say government-run investment funds from oil-rich nations may be adding speculative heat to an already red-hot market.
While there is no public data proving that sovereign wealth funds invest in oil futures contracts, energy analysts say it's likely they're making financial wagers on oil -- and other commodities -- for the same reasons as other institutional investors: to take advantage of rising global demand and to cushion them from the falling dollar.
"They have two places to put their money: stock markets and commodities markets," said James Cordier, president of optionsellers.com, a trading firm. "That's an easy choice right now."
The S&P 500 index has fallen approximately 16 percent from its high last October, while oil futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange have jumped 29 percent since then.
Some analysts estimate that the stampede by investment banks, hedge funds and other institutional investors into oil futures -- which closed Friday at $110.21 a barrel -- has lifted the price by as much as $30.
The same dynamic has sent gold to record high prices near $1,000 per ounce....
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8VEM9U81.htm?campaign_id=alerts
NOTHING SAFE
Free Republic Triple-Postings: Down 3.2%
Free Republic Triple-Postings: Down 3.2%
Free Republic Triple-Postings: Down 3.2%
One of the main problems of running with the lemmings is the view stinks.
Gold and platinum were up or steady earlier. Oil and natural gas are down considerably.
Which? The (real) one in the 30s? Or the one that the MSM has been predicting several times a year for the last 3 or 4 Republican Administrations?
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