The “sell-off” is now two weeks young as red flags are hoisted daily above a mob of jaw dropped spectators, formerly known as the efficient market. There is no absence of questions on the minds of international market forecasters. Instead, we’re hearing vague rhetoric from analysts and financiers that sounds more like confusion than any sort of prediction. The confident ones are still playing the “buy because markets are down” card, but we are taking an alternative, perhaps disagreeable, path.

Greece, Greece, Greece… Is that Papa guy ever going to get his act together and accept a check from the EU? is it 45 billion or 100 billion Euros now? What’s the deal with these riots in Athens?

Chances are you have answers to these questions, and a few extra cents to contribute to the issue. Frankly, that’s what the comment box is for, and we won’t waste time on the issue beyond these next few words.

If you ducked out of the office for a three day weekend and missed the news regarding Goldman Sachs and Greece on Friday, you may be rolling up your sleeves to a few surprises that will cast a dark shadow on the April 19 week’s market action.

Mainly, Goldman Sachs (GS) has been charged with fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), linked to a Credit Default Swap (CDS) mechanism known as “Abacus”.

Even after the TARP fund liquidity injections in the U.S. financial sector in 2008, the E.U. has decided to bail out one of it’s member states, Greece, from insolvency. How can this even be considered? Yes, the EU constitution is a whopping 7 years young and therefore demands a minuscule thread of adherence by member states,
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The last week has seen 100 day moving averages torn apart, surprises from economic data reports, and one of the most notable sell-offs for stocks in some time. Recently, many home gamers and pros alike, have put financials out of their purview. The erratic and effectively risky nature of these names are less than inviting, but
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The January 18 – 22 business week will begin one day late, due to Martin Luther King Jr holiday, leaving only Tuesday to Friday for market action to be staged. The most notable economic data releases will be the Housing Market Index (HMI) and Housing Starts numbers; while Treasury International Capital data, the Producer's Price
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Crude Oil The oil issue has been speculative to this point. It's hard to argue against 90 dollar oil when we saw 145 in July 2008, but the fundamentals aren't congruent with the price growth we've seen and this trader finds it easier to argue FOR $60/ barrel oil. Crude supply in the U.S. remains
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Analysts across field are calling for the U.S. economy to "bottom out" in the second half of 2009, calling for GDP growth in Q4 but hesitant to take a stand regarding the near term economic forecast. Meredith Whitney drew her own proverbial line in the sand, calling for shares of Goldman Sachs (GS) to reach
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