Sunday, July 31, 2011

Deal Reached!

A deal has officially been reached to cut at least $2.4 trillion over 10 years. Look for markets to sky rocket tomorrow on the relief that this is finally over. Economic distress isn't over though. Many companies are still releasing earnings and investors are still hoping to avoid US credit rating downgrades. All-in-all this is good news, but it does NOT signal an improving economy. Investors should continue to invest with caution. I predict the coming week to be VERY volatile. That being said, I will begin investing again tomorrow morning.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

More Delays!

More delays have hit the debt plan as the House decides not to vote tonight as originally planned. US House Republicans will meet Friday morning at 10 AM. The futures are off and are pointing to a sharp decline in opening hours. It'll be interesting to see if anything is worked out or announced early in the morning. Chevron releases its earnings tomorrow, but I doubt it will be enough to sway the market one way or another.

Market Goes Green... For Now

The market is holding strong in the green so far today with NASDAQ leading the pack and rising 0.93%. The Dow Jones was up a modest 0.3% and S&P500 was up about 0.54% as of 2:00 PM today. Investors are still patiently waiting on the outcome of this afternoon's vote. Dunkin' Brands continues to rise during the early afternoon as it is trading at $29.00, up 4%. It'll be interesting to see how far this stock will go, but I can't picture it rising any higher. I believe it's bound to fall back down to low $20's by as early as next week. I would continue to hold off on any more purchasing for the day, beacuse even though stocks are green, the vote this afternoon could swing this market before our eyes.

Pre-Market Update - Thursday 7/28/11

The market looks to open with a slight rebound with jobless claims finally dipping back below 400,000. On the other hand, Credit Suisse and Exxon Mobil both released poor earnings. Investors will wait on the House of Representatives to vote before any real rally or free fall will happen today. I will do the same and not buy anything until the House's decision is released.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

John Boehner's revised plan

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner's office announced that the plan to increase spending cuts has been revised to deliver $917 billion over the next 10 years which would raise the debt ceiling by up to $900 billion. After the recent fall in the markets because of the looming debt fear, it's nice to see some action going on in this area. Boehner's wants The House to vote on Thursday, but I think it's very unlikely to be passed right away. I think if anything gets passed in the next week it won't be until right before the deadline of August 2. That being said, many investors have been moving their money out of stocks these past few days, despite a very good first few weeks of reported earnings. Many of these people are likely in cash right now and waiting to see what happens with the debt ceiling deal. I think we could have a little more of a pullback, followed by a period of flat markets until a deal is made. If and when a deal is made, look for a larger rally then expected as investors not only buy on less debt fears, but also on the dip that that this default scare has created, as well as continued strong earnings.  

Dunkin' Brands IPO

Dunkin' Brands began its first day of public trading today at $19. In mid-day trading DNKN reach a high of $29 and ended up closing just below $28, up about 47%.
Dunkin' Brands was founded in 1950 and contains popular subsidiaries such as Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins.I would hold off on making any purchases anytime soon because it's unlikely the inital IPO rally will continue much longer.