YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    • Phil Dow, director of equity strategy for RBC Wealth Management, says Standard & Poor's move to downgrade its outlook on U.S. debt is the first in a series of these actions that probably will come.

      "These ratings agencies seldom act in isolation," says Dow, suggesting that Moody's and Fitch Ratings, the other big debt-raters, likely will join with their own negative outlooks in the weeks to come.

      Dow thinks the downgrades are off the mark in this case, arguing that U.S. economic growth is now self-sustaining. Accordingly, he says that the end of QE2 this summer will be the last of the quantitative easing for the near term -- presumably obviating the need to downgrade the U.S. further. Pressure on the greenback has been a constant of late, as evidenced by the BRICS nations efforts to create a new global currency to allow the rest of the world to move away from the U.S. dollar.

      Read More »from More U.S. Downgrades to Come, but Stocks to Stay Strong
    • How to Ride the Silver Bubble

      If you're reading this, then you're going to buy silver if you don't own it already.

      It's impossible for me to reach any other conclusion after reading the feedback from last week's Breakout segment assessing one trader's million dollar bet against the semi-precious metal. You may have watched the clip already; if not, it's worth checking it out if only to scroll through the comment section below the article.

      Look at the heat coming back at me from silver longs. Keep in mind that I'm long gold and loud about it. Remember that I'm constantly advising traders to never fight a trend. I'm hardly oblivious to the fact that silver's trend is higher. Also note that my first question regarding the bearish silver trade focused on exactly what kind of crazy person would buy silver puts. None of that matters; silver bulls responded to the piece as though it were a five-minute study on the ugliness of their children.

      Read More »from How to Ride the Silver Bubble
    • Stocks to Watch and Trading Ideas for Monday

      AP Photo/Matt Rourke

      Worries are building about the markets at the start of this new trading week on Wall Street. Over the weekend, the People's Bank of China said the reserve ratio for most banks would be raised again to keep inflation in check, and investors fretted about a possible Greek debt default.

      So while the next few sessions are full of corporate earnings reports, at the moment commodities, rising prices and the Eurozone are leading the conversation. Once again, we're reminded of just how interconnected the world has become and of how events half way around the globe can easily and considerably influence the trading at home. China, Greece, Finland, Portugal, BRICS and an array of emerging markets — that's what we're watching and helping you to follow Monday.

      Happy, and safe, trading.

      From Twitter:

      *Barry Ritholtz @ritholtz - Look Out Below? http://dlvr.it/Nt5Zp $$

      *MarkWolfinger @MarkWolfinger - Danger: Using one trade to finance another http://fun.ly/g4zj

      Read More »from Stocks to Watch and Trading Ideas for Monday
    • Any investor who has not upped the ante on their commodity bets over the past eight months is losing -- and not by a small margin.

      Since the Federal Reserve announced its controversial plan to buy Treasuries to inflate the economy last summer, the materials, energy and commodities sectors have responded dutifully and led the market's recovery. Corn, silver and oil are just a few of the commodities that have seen their prices surge. The question is can the consumer, and by extension the economy, withstand the rise in prices?

      While the Fed appears to be maintaining calm thanks to tame core inflation readings, analysts like Andrew Wilkinson of Interactive Brokers see danger in the commodity crush.

      "I don't think the consumer can get through it. I don't think businesses can get through it in the long run," he says.

      Read More »from Coke and Cheniere Draw in Traders as Commodities Surge

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