Since the first day I started working in the stock and bond business, the old timers, who I have always sought out as a great source of advice, have said almost without exception, “The markets don’t change.”

Stocks, bonds and dollars get sold!  The U.S. to lose our AAA credit rating?  A return to fundamentals day 2… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

So Then, Bonds for the Long Run? … P/E Ratios at 200? Really? … Mark-to-Market Slip Slides Away… Housing Sales Improve?  Not Hardly

Today, we have been given as close to a guarantee by the government (backing big banks) as any of us will ever see in our lifetimes. Pass up this give away and you will need new boots to kick yourself in the butt for many years to come.

Disappointing data…  Euro held ground…  Down under… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

One of the things I have been asked, and have seen in headlines over the last week, is whether or not this rally is for real. My answer? It’s too early to tell.

Carry Trade Depth…  RBA intervenes…  Oil weighs on the loonie… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

The name “Nifty Fifty” came to represent the “one-decision” stocks of the early 1970s. They were the Cokes and the Disneys of the world… Fifty names you always bought simply because you couldn’t go wrong owning them. Or so investors thought…

Now that you have the standard deviation-volatility idea down, you can roll right on to Bollinger bands for a practical way to put what you know to work.

The U.S. dollar is now under incredible pressure, and the timing couldn’t be worse. The U.S. economy is also sinking fast. This places the Fed between a rock and a hard place. To support the greenback, the Fed needs to raise U.S. interest rates…but their classic response to the threat of an economic recession is to lower those same rates.