The stock market is heading higher today, as part of a wider global equity rally. Earlier, James Bullard, the president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, and a member of the Fed board, mentioned that he thought that the economic stimulus measure of buying mortgage-backed securities should continue into next year — moving beyond the first quarter.
As one might imagine, investors latched onto this news and took it as a cue to sell the dollar. After seeing gains for the dollar last week, Bullard’s remarks prompted a round of profit taking. Additionally, the comments also helped stocks. Confident that the …read more

While I’m not always a huge fan of Ben Stein, he does come up with some interesting insights every now and again, and he does have some clever and funny things to say about them. For Fortune Magazine, he recently offered these 4 lessons that he learned from the recession:

Economic forecasting is difficult.
Financial market forecasting is more troublesome than economic forecasting.
The financial sector in this country has lied a great deal.
The government cannot predict the economy or financial markets.

These are, of course, very good lessons to learn. It is important to realize that neither the government, nor the financial “experts”, …read more

Yesterday, we looked at four of the eight tips Investopedia offers for thinking like Warren Buffett. Here are the remaining 8 tips for investing like Buffett:

Consider probabilities: Warren Buffett is a fan of the card game Bridge, in which successful players beat their opponents by considering probabilities. Likewise, you can think of stocks in terms of probabilities. The Investopedia article points out that investors who consider the probability of a good return over 10 years is likely to ride out down cycles to find success in the long-term.
Realize that investing has psychological aspects: We would like to be unemotional …read more

Sure, the man we consider the premier investor of our time has lost billions in this recession. But it’s a recession. Everyone’s going to lose money. And even though he has lost several billion dollars, he’s still got $37 billion, and the only guy in the world that is richer is Bill Gates. Clearly, there are things that we can learn from the “Oracle of Omaha.”
Lucky for us, Investopedia took eight valuable tips from the book The Warren Buffett Portfolio and offers them to the world. Here are the first 4 of the 8 tips for thinking like Warren Buffett …read more

–Stories Ripped-Off From The Day’s Headlines –
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Russia Refuses To Back Iran Embargo
Putin Says Sanctions Don’t Work … Better To Use Poison

“Trust me, Iranians love sushi….”
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Pepsi iPhone App Offers Guys Pick-Up Lines, Chance To Post ‘Conquests’ On Facebook
iCreep App Proves Hit With Key Stalker Demographic

Wants you to come up to the house for an energy drink and to meet Mom…
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‘It Ain’t Me … It Ain’t Me … I Ain’t No Senator’s Son’
Son of Ex-Governor Charged With Killing Ex-Girlfriend, Abusing His Father
Oooo, they point the cannon at you…
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Model: ‘I Was Fired For Being Too Large’
And…?

“Back the hell away from my chocolate!”
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Anheuser-Busch InBev …read more

– Ability To Check Your Overdrawn Bank Balance In Men’s Room Is Latest Useless App Waiting To Be Hacked –
Ooooh. Have you got the latest, coolest app that lets you check your bank balance anytime from your cell phone? You do?! Really?!
Why?
Oh, I know. It’s for all those days when you’re never near an ATM machine in the course of your daily routine.
The one time in a millennium you don’t pass within 20 feet of a cash machine was predicted in ancient Mayan prophecies, so you’ll want to be ready for that emergency when it comes.
As usual, …read more

– Gargantuan Agency Would Help Gov’t Achieve Economies of Scale in Inefficiency, Corruption –
Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT-Sweet Housing Deal) wants to create a super-regulator for banks in an effort to focus government inefficiencies and corruption in one huge agency.
The Senator said, “We clearly need to put in place an architecture that restores confidence and makes people feel that when they engage in financial activities … they can have confidence in the system. On the other side of this, I don’t want to strangle business.”
Dodd went on to clarify his statement saying he didn’t want to strangle business but rather just …read more

– …And He’ll Think Of A Hundred Reasons Why You Should Keep Giving Him Fish, And Could You Make That Sea Bass If It’s Not Too Much Trouble? –
Why is it every government forecast is like a drunken bar bet?
Having the government try to estimate anything is a complete waste of time. It’s like you, after your third pitcher of beer, betting your fat friend he can’t eat seven Whoppers and offering to pay him 50 bucks for every burger he eats over that limit.
And then your buddy eats 23 freakin’ Whoppers.
Which brings us to the $8000 …read more

–Stories Ripped-Off From The Day’s Headlines –
Automakers To Lose Stars In New Crash Tests
Kanye West, Entire Cast of ‘Entourage’ Lead In Poll By Voters To Elect New Crash Test Dummies

“Yo, I’mma let you finish running into that wall — but the Hindenburg was the best crash of all time…”
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Blockbuster To Close 960 Stores
Move Means You’ll Now Have to Drive Two States Over To Return ‘Clerks’ DVD You’ve Had For Over a Year
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Satan-Worshiping Teen Sets Fire In Church
Patrick Swayze Doing Lousy Job As Heaven’s Bouncer

Be nice … until it’s time not to be nice.
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President Obama Calls Kanye West A ‘Jackass’
Sarah Palin, …read more

– Stories Ripped Off From Today’s News –
NFL Star Accused Of Choking MTV’s Tila Tequila
Assault Marks First Time Player Tried to Perform Community Service Before Being Sentenced

On next play, cops pick up blitzing linebacker
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Thousands Of Fake Votes Cast In Afghanistan Election
Country Adopts U.S. Policy Of How Officials Are Elected In Illinois

“I’m Rod Blagojevich and I approved of this tactic.”
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Like They Did With Mortgages, Wall Street Banks Look To Securitize Life Insurance Policies
FNMA To Guarantee New Securities As Government Officials Tout Benefit That Now Just About Everyone Will Be Able To Afford to Kill Grandma
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Like They Did With Mortgages, Wall Street …read more