Skip to main content

Monday - Global view

US stock markets are closed today due to the Presidents' Day holiday. Nevertheless, the rest of the world's markets are open for business, and that being the case, I had some interesting links and stories to share with you.

First off, I'm reminded, by the comments in our recent, "Features of the week" post, of two noteworthy weekly roundup posts that you may want to check out.

Kent at The Financial Philosopher offers up the latest edition of his "Weekend Wisdom" series, while Prieur du Plessis at Investment Postcards weighs in with a week-in-review of the financial markets in, "Words from the (investment) wise...". You'll find a lot of market data and investment analysis here; be sure to check out that Jeremy Grantham interview in Barron's that Prieur has linked to in his post.

And now, on to the stories of the day. We've got a few articles for you which will offer a view of what's happening in the global financial markets, and clue us in on what to expect in the days and weeks ahead. Stocks, commodities, Sovereign wealth funds: you name it, we've got it all right here.

"The great Indian stock market tumble".

"Platinum trades above $2,1000 an ounce in London".

"Copper rises to four-month high in London".

"Stocks rise in Europe, Latin America; Credit Suisse, Vale climb".

Sovereign wealth funds: al-Thani of Qatar Investment Authority speaks to Bloomberg about his nation's investments in European and US financial shares, and new investments in Finland and Malaysia.

Fintag on the UK's move to nationalize Northern Rock.

"Asian markets finish mixed".

"Africa sees bull stock market in recent years".

That's all for now. Tune in tomorrow for more on the markets, and later this week we'll be taking a look at the factors that could push the US stock market higher or lower in the weeks and months ahead. See you then.

Popular posts from this blog

Nasdaq credit rating junked.

S&P cut Nasdaq's credit rating to junk status citing debt burdens and its questionable strategy to buy a controlling interest in the London Stock Exchange. Financial Times reported that the exchange's counterparty credit & bank loan rating were lowered fromm BBB- (lowest investment grade rating) to BB+. The change will increase Nasdaq's borrowing costs should it wish to pursue aquisition targets. For an earlier look at the exchange consolidation trend that brought about Nasdaq's push for a stake in the LSE, please see "Exchange fever" .

Clean Money - John Rubino: Book review

Clean Money by John Rubino 274 pages. Hoboken, New Jersey John Wiley & Sons. 2009. 1st Edition. The bouyant stock market environment of the past several years is gone, and the financial wreckage of 2008 is still sharp in our minds as a new year starts to unfold. Given the recent across-the-board-declines in global stock markets (and most asset classes) that have left many investors shell-shocked, you might wonder if there is any good reason to consider the merits of a hot new investment theme, such as clean energy. However, we shouldn't be too hasty to write off all future stock investments. After all, the market declines of 2008 may continue into 2009, but they may also leave interesting investment opportunities in their wake. Which brings us to the subject of this review. John Rubino, author and editor of GreenStockInvesting.com , recently released a new book on renewable energy and clean-tech investing entitled, Clean Money: Picking Winners in the Green Tech Boom . In Clean ...

Jesse Livermore: How to Trade in Stocks (1940 Ed. E-book)

If you've been around markets for any length of time, you've probably heard of 20th century supertrader, Jesse Livermore . Today we're highlighting his rare 1940 work, How to Trade in Stocks (ebook, pdf). But first, a brief overview of Livermore's life and trading career (bio from Jesse Livermore's Wikipedia entry). "During his lifetime, Livermore gained and lost several multi-million dollar fortunes. Most notably, he was worth $3 million and $100 million after the 1907 and 1929 market crashes, respectively. He subsequently lost both fortunes. Apart from his success as a securities speculator, Livermore left traders a working philosophy for trading securities that emphasizes increasing the size of one's position as it goes in the right direction and cutting losses quickly. Ironically, Livermore sometimes did not follow his rules strictly. He claimed that lack of adherence to his own rules was the main reason for his losses after making his 1907 and...