Who’s to blame for the collapse in the credit markets? The Federal Reserve? President Bush? The Treasury Department?

Rick Pendergraft in Investor’s Daily Edge says the real culprit is an obscure law known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. This allowed commercial banks, investment banks and insurance companies to operate under one roof.

Had the financial service industry been kept separate, we might have avoided the worst of the worst of the credit crisis. More from Rick…

U.S. stocks are taking a beating. And ‘bottom feeder’ investors are on the hunt for a turning point. Rick Pendergraft at Investors Daily Edge says you have to be selective if you want to fish around the bottom. Just because a stock has slumped doesn’t mean it can’t sink further. Rick says the trick is finding a company with strong fundamentals (plenty of cash in hand) and bearish market sentiment…

Barry L. Ritholz of BigPicture.com has an interesting piece today about historical Dow selloffs.

Ritholz charted the 15 biggest one-month Dow selloffs. Turns out there’s often a healthy snap-back 6 and 12 months after significant one month sell offs.

Out of the 15 selloffs there were 13 cases of a snap-back. Except in 1973 and 2001, where even larger losses came a year later.

There are plenty of reasons why US stocks are volatile at the moment (to get a better idea, check out these articles by Brian Hunt, Rick Pendergraft, and Jeff Clark). But lurking behind the chaos in the banking sector and wildly fluctuating commodity prices are ‘witching days.’

Earnings season is upon us. Aluminum giant Alcoa (NYSE:AA) reports 2Q results tomorrow. General Electric Co (NYSE:GE) follows suit on Friday.

Stock futures rose this morning ahead results from these bellwethers, mainly buoyed by lower crude oil prices and a stronger dollar. CNN reports that at 8:50 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq and S&P futures were higher, suggesting a stronger open for Wall Street.

But how will stock prices play out on earnings news? Rick Pendergraft in Investor’s Daily Edge says oversold US stocks will rally this week. But expect the selling to resume soon…

Editor’s Note: Are US stocks due for a rally? Don’t count on it, says Rick Pendergraft. More bearish movement is likely. Take steps to protect yourself.

Today saw a few small increases in the market, as record oil and steel prices boosted commodity producers.

Bloomberg reports that the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 7.98 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,286.36, paring its June retreat to 8.1 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 57.16, or 0.5 percent, to 11,403.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 4.88, or 0.2 percent, to 2,320.51.

Editor’s Note: Some investing basics from Triple Wave Investor editor Rick Pendergraft, which appeared first on Early to Rise. Always remember your risk-to-reward ratio when trading…

Boy, the US economy is taking a beating.

Consumer prices are 4.2% annually, driven by record fuel and food costs. Producer price inflation is higher still. At the same time, US unemployment jumped the most since 1986.

Starbucks (SBUX) CEO Howard Schultz recently announced that the company would start offering energy drinks in its stores. He also mentioned that Starbucks would be getting into the “health and wellness business.” Yep, you read that correctly. A coffee chain wants to break into the health business.

Despite falling commodity prices, producer and consumer prices are still rising. This, combined with low consumer confidence, is bad news for the retail sector, says Rick Penergraft in Investor’s Daily Edge. He recommends staying well clear of the right now – at least until Christmas, when any pick up in the economy could make the sector a buy again…