On Friday, the stock market was temporarily impressed with the better than expected job growth of 257K the U.S. economy added in January of 2012. Investors in the stock market have been repeatedly burned by macroeconomic numbers showing subpar employment numbers. One of the reasons why there is so much pessimism in the investment and business world is the supposed recovery is one of lackluster growth. In comparison with other economic recoveries where growth averaged 4-6% (Reagan, Bush, Clinton), one that puts up annual numbers of 2% are hard to get excited about. Still, if the economy can continue to post job gains of over 200K per month on a consistent basis, more faith would be justified. Considering that in one month during the Reagan recovery, I believe there was a total of 1 million jobs created, 257K is nothing to, shall we say, do backflips over.
Still, as a stock market investor, we will take good news over bad news every day. Unfortunately, your stocks don't always go up with good news. In fact, they often go down on "Buy the rumor, sell the news." Which is fine, especially if you can find good companies at attractive prices. The harder you look, the more you discover, like turning over lots of rocks to find one diamond. If you find one good one in your life, it more than makes up for the disappointments.
The Super Bowl was a good, hard fought contest, and a pretty well played game. Madonna tried hard as well, although the woman who flipped off the crowd should be banned from network tv and blacklisted by the networks. Anyway, as always, mistakes cost a team and the two by Brady really hurt, especially the safety early in the game, which could be considered an unforced error. Also, I think the Giants mishandled their position and should have knelt down on the ball and kicked a field goal with very little time on the clock, that way Brady never gets on the field again. Giving the ball back to Brady and the Patriots offense, even with under a minute to go, was not very smart. How many times have we seen Terrific Tom come through to win a game at the end with a great drive. The Giants won and good for the city of New York, but that does not mean they handled that situation wisely, at least in my opinion.
Colorado and Minnesota hold primaries today, and we will see if Santorum can catch any momentum. If not, Mr. Romney looks like he will be tough to stop. He will have a lot of work to do raising money and mobilizing Republicans. I also think it is a good thing for him he is very underestimated by so many Democrats and the media, as well as conservatives who don't like his moderate positions. Mr. Romney has been a winner over the last 20 years and not understanding that is potentially a huge mistake.
Europe's Banks don't want to throw good money after bad- not a good sign for the Euro but you can bet many companies will be looking to acquire cheap assets there-http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/europes-banks-reluctant-to-aid-companies-in-need-of-cash/?src=me&ref=business
Nice article on companies creating applications on their own and how they can help productivity-http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-07/do-it-yourself-mobile-applications-gain-honeywell-to-disney-embrace-tech.html
Youth Vs Experience as a CEO-http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203315804577207131063501196.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLE_Video_Top
Urbanspoon's Growth is Driven By Mobile-http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/07/urbanspoon-traffic-up-80-in-2011-mobile-growth-faster-than-web/
I hope everyone has a great week and if you have any thoughts about the blog, comments, or questions, please share or email me at information@y-hc.com
As always, on any company mentioned here, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Investing involves risk of losses on invested capital. One should research any investment and make sure it is suitable with your objectives, risk tolerance, risk profile liquidity considerations, tax situation, and anything else pertinent to your financial situation. Also, the CFA credential in no way implies investment returns will be superior for any charterholder.
(If you are interested in seeing the latest Seeking Alpha articles about specific stock picks from Yale Bock and Y H & C Investments, click the following links)
1) http://seekingalpha.com/article/320102-marchex-contender-or-pretender-in-the-mobile-advertising-industry
2) http://seekingalpha.com/article/317215-american-greetings-a-value-trap-or-a-good-opportunity-for-outsized-gains
3) http://seekingalpha.com/article/317139-usa-technologies-possibly-building-a-payment-processing-juggernaut
4) http://seekingalpha.com/article/347561-cardionet-a-market-beater-or-a-value-trap
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