http://finance.yahoo.com/rss/blogs/michael-santoli/ en-US Copyright (c) 2013 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved Fri, 17 May 2013 12:48:43 -0400 5 http://finance.yahoo.com/rss/blogs/michael-santoli/ http://l.yimg.com/a/i/brand/purplelogo/uh/us/fin.gif Happy demi-anniversary, stock market rally. Will the honeymoon ever end? Six months ago, this "relentless rally" took off and it has so far delivered stock investors the kind of bounty that would make for a very good year in any … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/rally-gives-investors-great-just-6-months-164843820.htmlFri, 17 May 2013 12:48:43 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/rally-gives-investors-great-just-6-months-164843820No, Google is not the new Apple, in most important respects. The acceleration in Google Inc. (GOOG) shares above $900 this month, its impressive 41% gain over the past six months, the appearance of a few $1,000 analyst price targets … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/stop-asking-google-not-apple-161218500.htmlThu, 16 May 2013 12:12:18 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/stop-asking-google-not-apple-161218500Already 50 months old, the bull market in stocks has finally started to act like one. With the latest sprint in the indexes to all-time highs, the action is belatedly, but unmistakably, starting to follow the bulls’ old offensive playbook. … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/bull-market-behavior-flares-stocks-melt-150917126.htmlThu, 16 May 2013 11:09:17 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/bull-market-behavior-flares-stocks-melt-150917126The one-year charts of amusement-park company stocks look like roller coasters that only go up, at a steep angle. Cedar Fair LP (FUN) and Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (SIX) are trading at 52-week highs and have gained 50% and 68% … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/theme-park-stocks-thrill-consumers-loosen-163216092.htmlTue, 14 May 2013 12:32:16 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/theme-park-stocks-thrill-consumers-loosen-163216092Just naming certain years in market history can tell a dramatic story: 1929 and 1987 denote generation-defining crashes, 1999 is code for easy-riches mania, 2008 for financial-system collapse. The year 1995 tends to get lost in the general “late ‘90s … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/2013-echo-1995-rally-dares-bulls-dream-153334351.htmlFri, 10 May 2013 11:33:34 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/2013-echo-1995-rally-dares-bulls-dream-153334351Big companies today are under the control of a Silent Generation of CEOs, reared under crisis conditions and rewarded more for quiet perseverance than boldness. As a result, even four years into an economic recovery and with global stock markets … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/today-ceos-too-timid-times-170152818.htmlTue, 07 May 2013 13:01:52 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/today-ceos-too-timid-times-170152818When Chief Executive Robert Iger opens the Walt Disney Co. (DIS) post-earnings conference call to questions late Tuesday, he won’t be asked again to justify the $4 billion he spent in 2009 to acquire Marvel Entertainment. Or, at least, he … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/iron-man-3-vanquishes-doubts-over-disney-marvel-173014796.htmlMon, 06 May 2013 13:30:14 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/iron-man-3-vanquishes-doubts-over-disney-marvel-173014796“Triumph of the Optimists” is a book chronicling investment returns over a century. But the title also suits the four-month-old 2013 stock market - almost as well as “Bonfire of the Pessimists.” Not only is the broad Standard & Poor’s … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/2013-market-melt-singes-short-sellers-175810134.htmlThu, 02 May 2013 13:58:10 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/2013-market-melt-singes-short-sellers-175810134It’s the most familiar couplet ever uttered on Wall Street and, by this point of the year, the most overused: “Sell in May and go away.” The reason this has become such a clichéd pearl of purported wisdom is that … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/stocks-sell-buy-may-172511450.htmlWed, 01 May 2013 13:25:11 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/stocks-sell-buy-may-172511450For years the most exceptional of corporate brand names, Apple Inc. (AAPL) is now the quintessential company of the current bull market, relying on the kindness of the bond market to fund an aggressive stock buyback. This maneuver is perfectly … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/big-bond-sale-apple-no-longer-thinks-different-201011989.htmlTue, 30 Apr 2013 16:10:11 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/big-bond-sale-apple-no-longer-thinks-different-201011989America’s workers are shaking off the effects of the Great Recession and beginning to swagger again. While the official unemployment rate remains high, Americans are feeling better about job prospects as the housing recovery, booming car sales and record exports … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/4-ways-american-worker-back-183838163.htmlFri, 26 Apr 2013 14:38:38 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/4-ways-american-worker-back-183838163This has been another week in which the market machines have displeased their human masters - or should that be human slaves? From the "Twitter flash crash" to a forced shutdown of Charles Schwab Corp's (SCHW) brokerage network to a … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/trade-glitches-test-investors-fragile-faith-market-144803557.htmlFri, 26 Apr 2013 10:48:03 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/trade-glitches-test-investors-fragile-faith-market-144803557Success, they say, has many fathers, while failure is an orphan. And so Apple Inc. (AAPL) has gone from being every investor’s favorite child to the stray that few are eager to claim. A year ago, Apple stock was around … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/apple-3-areas-serious-scrutiny-ahead-earnings-151916767.htmlTue, 23 Apr 2013 11:19:16 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/apple-3-areas-serious-scrutiny-ahead-earnings-151916767Listen to the stock market the past couple of weeks and you’ll hear the hiss of deflation, of air leaking out of the 2013 rally as concerns build about downward pressure on economic growth, prices and corporate profit potential. While … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/gust-deflation-stirs-skittish-stock-market-163404101.htmlFri, 19 Apr 2013 12:34:04 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/gust-deflation-stirs-skittish-stock-market-163404101It’s no surprise that Twitter – the ingenious and versatile social platform – has been called the “new ticker tape” and is hailed as a valuable tool for gaining an edge in the markets. After all, dating to the advent … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/twitter-great-investor-tool-won-t-money-173017799.htmlThu, 18 Apr 2013 13:30:17 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/twitter-great-investor-tool-won-t-money-173017799The plausible and promised merger rush hasn’t yet begun, despite calm markets, cheap debt and cash-flush companies. But Wall Street’s new-stock assembly line is running again at moderate speed this year. Initial offerings in the first-quarter raised 37% more than … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/pricey-fairway-ipo-leads-pickup-consumer-offerings-165112645.htmlWed, 17 Apr 2013 12:51:12 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/pricey-fairway-ipo-leads-pickup-consumer-offerings-165112645Dish Network Corp.’s (DISH) dramatic $25 billion bid for Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) is a loud noise made when the unlimited bumps against the finite. Growth in data transmission is unending, but the wireless spectrum available to handle it is … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/dish-25b-sprint-bid-wireless-spectrum-key-one-171047403.htmlMon, 15 Apr 2013 13:10:47 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/dish-25b-sprint-bid-wireless-spectrum-key-one-171047403It’s reassuring, in a way, that for all its fickle moods and unpredictable reactions, the stock market can always be counted on for one thing: confounding the expectations of the crowd. For example, almost no one spent December hopscotching from … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/wall-street-rally-moves-80s-beat-151133278.htmlFri, 12 Apr 2013 11:11:33 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/wall-street-rally-moves-80s-beat-151133278Is customers' virtual boycott of desktop PCs in favor of touchscreen devices too great a hazard to Old Tech profits for even value-and-income minded investors to overlook? After a double-digit plunge in first-quarter PC sales estimated by industry trackers IDC … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/even-pcs-ill-old-tech-investors-drug-153913164.htmlThu, 11 Apr 2013 11:39:13 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/even-pcs-ill-old-tech-investors-drug-153913164Your grandmother’s stock portfolio, if she has one, is probably beating most slick hedge funds with a cane this year. A scan of the stocks leading the rally to new index highs in 2013 reveals a pantry full of household-name, … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/why-grandmother-portfolio-beating-pros-201451075.htmlThu, 04 Apr 2013 16:14:51 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/why-grandmother-portfolio-beating-pros-201451075Gold does not rust, spoil or otherwise decay. But to Nassim Taleb, it is not antifragile. Gold may be physically durable and culturally indispensable as a store of value over the centuries. Yet the metal doesn’t itself thrive by becoming … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/gold-not-antifragile-enough-black-swan-author-141516155.htmlFri, 22 Mar 2013 10:15:16 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/gold-not-antifragile-enough-black-swan-author-141516155As world markets recoil at the harsh terms of the European Union's bank bailout for tiny Cyprus, expect plenty of soothing words from Stateside market partisans. The "this-too-shall-pass" crowd will point out the trivial economic profile of the Mediterranean island, … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/u-stocks-excuse-cyprus-110804183.htmlMon, 18 Mar 2013 07:08:04 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/u-stocks-excuse-cyprus-110804183The Senate committee report blasting J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) executives for allegedly misleading regulators and investors about the extent and details of its $6 billion derivatives-trading lost last year is unflattering, and the hearings will no doubt pose … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/investor-cheat-sheet-jp-morgan-whale-flap-153213702.htmlFri, 15 Mar 2013 11:32:13 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/investor-cheat-sheet-jp-morgan-whale-flap-153213702A bull market feeds on forces that are good until they go too far, while shrugging off things that will be a problem eventually (but just not yet). Low interest rates, ample liquidity, rising risk appetites and a quickening pace … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/stock-buyback-craze-companies-rush-buy-high-194731792.htmlThu, 14 Mar 2013 15:47:31 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/stock-buyback-craze-companies-rush-buy-high-194731792Investors are studying their financial horoscope for hints about whether the third time will prove a hex or a charm. Sure, this question hovers over the big picture, as the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 has nosed above the 1,550 … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/stocks-third-time-around-charm-hex-205845456.htmlTue, 12 Mar 2013 16:58:45 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/stocks-third-time-around-charm-hex-205845456It’s obvious that Carl Icahn can make himself be heard. But can he make the average investor any money? Icahn, the billionaire activist investor, has been unusually active and vocal lately. Beginning last October with the disclosure of a nearly … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/investors-win-following-icahn-battle-221929147.htmlMon, 11 Mar 2013 18:19:29 -0400blogs/michael-santoli/investors-win-following-icahn-battle-221929147The news on jobs was good, and the market discussion quickly pivoted to whether the U.S. economy was ready to be weaned from the Fed’s extra-easy monetary nourishment. “U.S. employers added more than 200,000 workers to their payrolls … in … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/upbeat-jobs-data-won-t-sway-wait-see-162148877.htmlFri, 08 Mar 2013 11:21:48 -0500blogs/michael-santoli/upbeat-jobs-data-won-t-sway-wait-see-162148877It’s funny how a pretty good decade for stocks can sneak up on everyone while they focus on an underperforming economy, bipartisan political masochism and financial crises (both past and prospective). But a decent decade of returns is exactly what … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/surprise-decent-decade-stocks-230239226.htmlThu, 07 Mar 2013 18:02:39 -0500blogs/michael-santoli/surprise-decent-decade-stocks-230239226In the Hollywood spoof Bowfinger, Eddie Murphy’s neurotic action star tries to keep his dread at bay with whispered self-reminders, including Happy Premise #3: "Even though I feel like I might ignite, I probably won’t.” Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke keeps … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/stop-fretting-fed-turning-stingy-soon-214152762.htmlWed, 06 Mar 2013 16:41:52 -0500blogs/michael-santoli/stop-fretting-fed-turning-stingy-soon-214152762The Dow Jones Industrial Average’s move to a new all-time high was a victory achieved with the defense spending most of the time on the field, fending off perilous threats while the offense scored just enough to win. This isn’t … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/dow-high-gently-cheered-win-defense-205414107.htmlTue, 05 Mar 2013 15:54:14 -0500blogs/michael-santoli/dow-high-gently-cheered-win-defense-205414107Along with extolling the cash-spewing powers of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s (BRK-A, BRK-B) many operating companies and praising the brilliance of their managers, Chairman Warren Buffett used his eagerly consumed annual shareholder’s letter to launch a search for one brave devil’s … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/warren-buffett-three-bearish-questions-224930334.htmlFri, 01 Mar 2013 17:49:30 -0500blogs/michael-santoli/warren-buffett-three-bearish-questions-224930334Has the “overdue pullback” that a host of market watchers invited already arrived and left? Did the “healthy correction” that so many investors prescribed already deliver its unpleasant therapy over the course a week’s time and 3% ebb in the … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/did-promised-market-pullback-just-come-230835823.htmlWed, 27 Feb 2013 18:08:35 -0500blogs/michael-santoli/did-promised-market-pullback-just-come-230835823Has Washington lost its knack for triggering market tantrums with invented budget crises? In just four days, a package of automatic spending reductions devised to be so distasteful to both parties that they wouldn’t possibly be allowed to occur will … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/why-investors-aren-t-panicking-yet-over-sequester-171119423.htmlMon, 25 Feb 2013 12:11:19 -0500blogs/michael-santoli/why-investors-aren-t-panicking-yet-over-sequester-171119423Investors have suddenly tuned in to signals that mainstream American consumers are sweating the start of 2013. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s (WMT) weak fourth-quarter sales and leaked insider emails about a rough start to February have helped to amplify concerns that … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/tired-consumers-halt-media-stocks-peppy-run-212953882.htmlFri, 22 Feb 2013 16:29:53 -0500blogs/michael-santoli/tired-consumers-halt-media-stocks-peppy-run-212953882Why are so many big-name hedge fund managers so chatty lately? There was a time not long ago when even well-known hedge fund captains – those with enviable portfolio returns, whispered-about personal wealth and reputations for flame-tempered investment brilliance – … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/once-bashful-hedge-fund-pros-bask-media-glare-183914777.htmlWed, 20 Feb 2013 13:39:14 -0500blogs/michael-santoli/once-bashful-hedge-fund-pros-bask-media-glare-183914777The common line is that the recent boomlet in corporate acquisitions is all about confidence. Sure, the growing faith among CEOs that the world economy is not about to seize up helps. But to confidence add cash, competition and crowd … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/cash-competition-crowd-logic-drive-m-revival-214440341.htmlFri, 15 Feb 2013 16:44:40 -0500blogs/michael-santoli/cash-competition-crowd-logic-drive-m-revival-214440341In 2013, it’s finally acceptable again to be skeptical about the immediate outlook for the market without invoking Lehman Brothers, the Great Depression, Weimar Germany, or Armageddon. The fear of an imminent macro meltdown or policy debacle has receded from … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/shrewd-mystery-broker-expects-market-setback-223205116.htmlThu, 14 Feb 2013 17:32:05 -0500blogs/michael-santoli/shrewd-mystery-broker-expects-market-setback-223205116Heading to a place we’ve never been before – that’s the popular theme among stock-market watchers lately. Some of the broadest measures of the market have already scored new all-time highs, including the Wilshire 5000 index, the Russell 2000 small-cap … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/relentless-rally-2012-tracks-familiar-path-175943182.htmlWed, 13 Feb 2013 12:59:43 -0500blogs/michael-santoli/relentless-rally-2012-tracks-familiar-path-175943182Perhaps the market gods are conducting the perfect group-psychology experiment on Wall Street, setting stocks on a beguiling and mostly unexpected climb over the past few months, just to watch the emotions and rationalizations flare as they decide how to … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/stocks-lull-fails-quiet-shrill-bull-bear-debate-172212922.htmlTue, 12 Feb 2013 12:22:12 -0500blogs/michael-santoli/stocks-lull-fails-quiet-shrill-bull-bear-debate-172212922The junk-bond market registered the economic upturn early, provided the juiciest returns as easy money floated through world markets and has led the stock market step by step to its recent five-year highs. So, what to make of the recent … Continue reading →http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/junk-bonds-still-live-best-both-worlds-200219578.htmlMon, 11 Feb 2013 15:02:19 -0500blogs/michael-santoli/junk-bonds-still-live-best-both-worlds-200219578