Some of the more interesting and important items for May 14th :
- Fund My Mutual Fund: NYT: Jim Cramer Hits an All Time High – If you are interested in the wild man from infotainment financial TV, the New York Times has a quite in depth expose here on Jim Cramer. Quite a bit of interesting info, including Cramer's take on the undressing he took at the hands of Jon Stewart. (if you missed it see here May 13, 2009 – Jim Cramer v Jon Stewart)
- Blame the Fed for commodity speculation | zero hedge – The President of the United States has hit commodity investors. Several Senators, the Attorney General, the CFTC and most of the other global exchanges have joined in. I think they are all pointing fingers in the wrong direction. It's the Federal Reserve that is behind all the speculation of late. Let me throw out some raw numbers to make a point:
- Ballmer On Skyprosoft: Together We’ll Define The Future | John Paczkowski | Digital Daily | AllThingsD – After quickly introducing Skype CEO Tony Bates, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer offers a quick explanation of the deal and the opportunities it presents. “Skype is part of Microsoft’s plan to empower people with new technologies that will bring them closer together.” Ballmer says this dovetails nicely with Microsoft products like X-Box and Outlook.
- Analyst Sees Apple Padding Its Share of Tablet Market | John Paczkowski | Digital Daily | AllThingsD – Apple CEO Steve Jobs says 2011 will be the year of the iPad and he may well be right. Despite the dizzying array of tablets announced at CES earlier this year, there’s still a dearth of non-iPad iPad-class tablets. With little in the way of competition, it’s looking likely the Pad will continue to dominate the tablet market this year and next.
- May 21 and the Enduring Appeal of the Apocalypse – WSJ.com – Next Saturday marks the beginning of the end of days. Or at least that is what the Christian radio broadcaster Harold Camping and his many followers think. By Mr. Camping's calculations, May 21 is the day when Jesus will return to judge all of humankind and to gather up the faithful.
- Post-Recession, the Rich Are Different – WSJ.com – Bentleys and Hermès bags are selling again. Yet the wealthiest Americans are emerging from the financial downturn as different consumers than they were.
- Gold drops below $1,500 an ounce Metals Stocks – MarketWatch – SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures settled at their lowest level in a week Friday as Greece debt fears resurfaced, pulling the euro lower and boosting the dollar.
- Margin hikes threaten your silver, gold, oil stake Weekend Investor – MarketWatch – Individual investors typically own commodities through exchange-traded funds and mutual funds rather than futures. But these shareholders are at risk when traders are forced to put up more margin, as was painfully clear in the wake of silver’s recent plunge. So it’s important for smaller players — whether they own funds or have a trading account — to hone a trader’s instinct by recognizing the signposts of a coming margin hike and taking steps to protect their portfolio.
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- ProShares UltraShort Silver ETF Comes Up (Real) Short – Focus on Funds – Barrons.com – Hopefully you’ve seen past warnings about the problems with juiced-up (or down) ETFs. Simply put, trying to hit a targeted return applying leverage on a daily basis is a proposition that has produced more than its shares of misses.