Week of Jan 11 - Mop up

 


The week before the inauguration saw Joseph Biden begin to take on the mantle of leader, outlaying a plan for medical and economic response to Pandemic. State Capitols are fortified and Wall Street has all pistons pumping, though the week past was downish.

The ignobly departing Trump's last stimulus checks began to peter through the sieve of postdom, and a surge of bullish call options was noted by our intrepid reporter, Forsythe of Barrons. One day this week, a second-highest volume rating of such calls all time was marked by Doug Kass of Seabreeze Partners. Forsythe wrote that Russell Small Cap Index players such as Caesar's and Penn National Gaming are carrying that measure to records.

The speculative fever is spurred in part by interest rates near zero. Per Forsythe: "High price/earnings ratios have ben rationalized by low interest rates. 

Regular people have limited capacity to join in the yearlong rush forward of stocks that have  $150 or more in value gains during the last few years. Then too, this year so far, the FAANGS have lost some favor. It's not hard to forge a diverse portfolio of holdings that goes sideways. The market is closed tomorrow for Martin Luther King Day. 

Note: Sarcasm and irony are my downfall - as I tend to invite misunderstanding. Just saying that I admire Barron's Randal Forsythe, and with just a few complaints, I benefit from reading his analysis. 

One of these days this site will post a Pantheon page of advisors. 

One can never figure this stuff out with out expert help. But there are so many advisors and even the best are wrong a good portion of the time. You have to choose a narrow list of regular commentators that you understand, while being open to contrarians and gadflies.  - B.B.

on the week

Dow -0.91%
S&P -1.48%
Ndq -1.54%
Au       ~     
Rus +1.53%


"Common sense is not so common." Voltaire (via Doug Kass)




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