Is Facebook the Rusty Hinge of the Stock Market?

Yesterday, stocks bounced…just as they should have. After two weeks of falling, they were ready to bounce. Heck, even a dead congressman will bounce, if you drop him from high enough.

The Dow rose 135 points. Not very impressive, after so many down days.

Everything has been sinking… Stocks, commodities, oil…

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How to Engender the Return of a Bull Market

Did you miss us, Dear Reader?

You won’t believe this…we hardly believe it ourselves…but after months of planning and preparation for our expedition to the high, dry mountains of Argentina, we’re still here in the city of Salta… Our project has been delayed…by floods.

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Buy Silver…Now!

Silver is an amazing metal…which is why it’s likely to soar over the coming years…

You see, silver has more than 10,000 uses. It’s one of the world’s best conductors of heat and electricity. Inventors filed more patents on silver uses than any other precious metal in the world. And when silver is used for most industrial and technological purposes, it is used up forever… It simply costs too much to try to recycle the tiny bit of silver from every cell phone or casino chip.

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Markets Rally. Details to Follow…

Stocks up 339 points on the Dow! Gold at $1,747! Oil over $90!

Forget all of our worries about another big swing down in asset prices…about a Japan-like slump that could last a generation…about gold at $1,200 and the Dow at 6,000…

…we were wrong, wrong, wrong!

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Ode to Financial Cartographers

But when the melancholy fit shall fall
  Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,    
That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,
  And hides the green hill in an April shroud;    
Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose…

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Perpetual Investor Confidence

Yesterday, the Dow rose 109 points. Gold went up $4. The 10-year US note is still trading below 3% yield and oil is still below $95.

So, what’s new? The markets seem still to be wondering…waiting…watching to see what happens – just as we are.

The Greek premier won a confidence vote in parliament. That seemed to give investors some confidence. The idea is that if the Greeks can act like they know what they’re doing, the rest of Europe can give them some more money.

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The Central Bank Stock Market Indicator

“Bernanke comments keep equities in check,” says a headline in The Financial Times.

Sure enough. The Dow ended down again – 21 points down. It’s been going down for five weeks. But it’s still above 12,000. So there’s nothing to be alarmed about.

What did Ben Bernanke say? Not much really. He allowed as to how the economy was not as strong as he had hoped. But he said things were getting better. And he didn’t mention QE3.

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The Pain of Restoring Investor Confidence

Yesterday, the Dow continued to fall – down 130 points. Oil slipped lower too. And gold rose. Just as you’d expect. But two days a trend does not make.

And what’s in the news this morning?

“Europe left reeling as the people revolt against austerity measures,” says a headline in the TIMES.

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Warning: Investors Still Confident in the US Bond Market

First let us catch up with a news report from earlier this week. Bloomberg:

April 18 (Bloomberg) – Standard & Poor’s put a “negative” outlook on the AAA credit rating of the US, citing a “material risk” the nation’s leaders will fail to deal with rising budget deficits and debt.

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