Wall Street Lingo: Capitulation

Thursday, March 20th, 2008

I’ve been hearing the term “capitulation” being thrown around a lot lately on many of the talking heads programs. In context, it’s used like this: “…we won’t see the bottom of the market until we see capitulation”.

So what exactly does that mean?

In street sense, capitulation means to surrender or give up. You hear it in military history discussions frequently in terms of a surrender. However, in Wall Street sense, it means to “give up” any previous gains as investors sell equities in an effort to get out of the market and into less risky investments.

You’ll see capitulation set …


What a weekend!

Sunday, March 16th, 2008

It has become clearly evident that the Fed works weekends.

Last night the Fed announced an emergency quarter point discount rate cut to 3.25%, and on top of that, offered to lend money to a longer list of firms than ever before.

The rare weekend move came as J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM: chart, web, Y!) sealed a deal to buy Bear Stearns (BSC: chart, web, Y!) for just $2 a share backed by up to $30 billion borrowed from the Fed. The Fed board gave its approval to that unique funding arrangement, which guarantees JP Morgan against …


Faulty logic for economic stimulus

Friday, January 18th, 2008

Today President Bush shed some light on how the government plans to artificially stimulate the economy.

The President said he’s looking for “direct and rapid tax relief” for both consumers and businesses. To achieve this, he plans on implementing an income tax rebate of between $300 and $600 per person, and depending on your circumstances, your rebate may be even bigger.

The white house is looking for a repeat performance from the plan implemented in 2001. It seemed to work back then, however I think the direct effect was a bit over inflated.

But this time it’s different.

We’ve got a different situation this time, with different economic pitfalls pushing the health …


We Must “Do Something”

Sunday, January 13th, 2008

President Bush is dreaming up ways to “stimulate the economy” as you read this. He will present his grand ideas on January 28th at the annual State of the Union speech.

This desire to stimulate the economy goes beyond the Oval Office, however. On Friday, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid wrote a letter to the President seeking cooperation in developing an economic stimulus plan.

As many of you know, I’m a big fan of letting a free market and free economy work. The last thing we want to do is watch the government try to stimulate the economy. Let the …


“Just write the check, we’ll cover you…”

Thursday, January 3rd, 2008

I called my banker yesterday after I started thinking about how I was going to finance another rental property. When I call this guy my banker, he IS the bank, as in, he OWNS the bank. A good guy to know, indeed!
One of the benefits to doing business with a small town bank is that you know the bank and they know you. There is no pre-approval as long as your logic is sound and the margin is wide. If you have the cash flow to support the investment, they’ll lend you the money.
So the …