Cliff Wachtel submits:
INTRODUCTION
S&P 500 01 FEB 27
The Prior Week
Despite Risks, Net 1 UEPS Looks (Credit) Worthy
March - 1 - 2010
The Curious Investor submits:
It’s been a while and for that I apologize. Truth be told, I had gotten my portfolio almost fully invested by mid-last year. And, as the stock intense rally we’ve seen in stocks through 2009 has turned flat since the new year, I’ve been much less aggressive with my personal portfolio and as such have had a lot less to say. Though, for those of you who follow my Covestor account, you’ll know that I have not been completely out of the markets. I’m increasingly interested in companies which do the bulk of their business internationally as I believe this is a good way to capitalize on foreign growth while being constrained with access only to U.S. exchanges. (By the way, does anyone know any good online brokerages which allow you to trade stocks internationally?)
Universal Electronic Payment System (UEPS)
UEPS is a financial transaction system offered by Net1 which utilizes its patented Funds Transfer System and secure smart cards to provide real-time but offline payment solutions for un-banked/under-banked populations. These cards store all necessary information – available funds, user identity, etc. – and allows for transactions to take place without a connection to a host mainframe. As such, the cards are particularly useful to countries with under developed infrastructure.
WSJ on Euro/Dollar ‘Career Trade’ – Don’t Buy It
March - 1 - 2010
Sudden Debt submits:
The Wall Street Journal reports that a secretive dinner meeting of top hedge fund managers took place recently, at which the subject was the euro going to parity against the US dollar. The gathering is dubbed the euro-dinner and the "short euro – long dollar" trade is characterized as a "career trade".
Yup… such is the level of financial reporting in the Murdoch Era.
EUR/USDLet’s pause to reflect on this "news":
Oil rises above $80 as regional stocks gain (AP)
March - 1 - 2010
Oil prices rose above $80 a barrel Monday in Asia as crude traders followed regional stock markets higher. Benchmark crude for April delivery was up 56 cents to $80.22 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.