(Michael Schwartz) - Two tragedies, worlds apart, reached a boil last week and affected the financial markets in a not so pleasant way. Greece, which is an ocean away and no stranger to tragedy, (think Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides), nearly imploded last week on fears that its government was bankrupt. With huge budget deficits and no credible way to pay them, Greece saw....

Read the rest of this entry »

(Michael Schwartz) - Let’s recap some of the good news last week: The Commerce Department said the economy grew in the fourth quarter at its fastest pace in more than six years; The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago said its index of Midwest business activity rose more than expected in January; Consumer sentiment in January as measured by The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers hit its highest level in two years; and Of the 220 companies in the S&P 500 index that have reported fourth quarter earnings, 78% of them exceeded analysts' expectations, according to Thomson Reuters. In a typical quarter, only 61% of companies beat Wall Street targets. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? So, how does the stock market respond?

Read the rest of this entry »

(Lee Siler) - Yesterday's feeble attempt at a rally was simply an oversold bounce. I think the path of least resistance is to the downside. What's more, this week is the start of earnings season, which could potentially add more pressure to stocks.

Read the rest of this entry »