Tuesday's pre-Christmas Market Wrap

A quick pre-holiday market wrap up, for those plugging away ahead of tomorrow's holiday-shortened trading sessions. News from the close of today's trading, and more, follows.

1. Reuters and Bear Mountain Bull summarize the day's trading.

2. US home prices collapse at near-Depression rate.

Barry Ritholtz reviews the housing data and the NAR spin.

3. Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg thinks US commercial real estate is "the next bailout".

Washington Post has the details on commercial real estate investors seeking government aid.

4. "Sneaky ways you're lured to shop" - Forbes on Christmas sales.

5. Iceland boils over 'like Chernobyl' in civil unrest over economy.

6. Buffeted quants are still in demand.

7. James Grant: Fed's money printing carries dire consequences.

8. Financial Crisis: The Greatest Gift in a Generation.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and a great holiday to all of our readers.

Check back in with us over the Christmas holiday. Markets will be closed, but we may have a few fun holiday items to share with you, and a little gift for fans of stock market lore. Until then, enjoy the holidays!

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 ...

Seth Klarman: Margin of Safety (pdf)

Welcome, readers! Signup for free email updates at the Finance Trends Newsletter . Update: PDF links removed due to DMCA notice. Please see our extensive Klarman book notes below. New visitors, please check the Finance Trends home page for all new posts. Here's something for anyone who has been trying to get a look at Seth Klarman's now famous, and out of print, 1991 investment book, Margin of Safety . My knowledge of value investing is pretty much limited to what I've read in Ben Graham's The Intelligent Investor (the book which originally popularized the investment concept of a "Margin of Safety"), so check out the wisdom from Seth Klarman and other investing greats in our related posts below. You can also go straight to Ronald Redfield's Margin of Safety book notes . Related posts: 1. Seth Klarman interviews and Margin of Safety notes 2. Seth Klarman: Lessons from 2008 3. Investing Lessons from Sir John Templeton 4. ...

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