Mr. Market Sees Nothing But Gloom- Treasuries Outperform, Paypal's Dominance, and Saturday Night Live's Ha Ha!!!

Well, last week certainly was a tough one in the market as the major averages fell about 6% for the week. Tomorrow's front page of the Wall St Journal discusses how investors are running away from stocks. The 10 year treasury bond yield's below 2%. One can refinance their home using 15 year loans at below 3.5%. If this is not the scenario Ben Graham talks about when he says all Mr. Market sees is gloom, I don't know what is. Yes, stocks can get cheaper, it is amazing sometimes how cheap stocks can get, however, the idea they are going to keep getting pounded 6% in a week is mathmatically not going to hold up. Stocks have been down for 5 straight months, and are down at least 25% from August, and many much more than that. Do your own homework and use your own judgement about what you think is a good buy, or not a good buy, and certainly keep in mind anybody who is on a financial program is going to talk their own book. If they say the market is going down more, you better believe they are short. Here is the Bloomberg article on the outperformance of Treasuries-http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-25/betting-on-bernanke-returns-28-for-treasuries-as-twist-divides-investors.html Doom and Gloom Leads the WSJ-http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204831304576592822485984958.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories Paypal is just so dominant in tranactions-http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/25/paypal-now-processing-315-million-in-payments-per-day/ A hysterical look at the Republican debate by Saturday Night Live-http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/09/25/snl_mocks_latest_fox_news_republican_debate.html As always, on any company mentioned here, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. 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. Yale Bock, CFA President, Y H & C Investments

For Now, Europe Headlines Scare the Market, Google vs Facebook, Growth in A Japanese Retailer, and The Ultimate Mess at Full Tilt (Ponzi Scheme?)

Stock markets around the world continued to be petrified by the European sovereign debt situation, especially with events coming to a head in Greece. Traders just love the headlines and resulting volatility, as they say, buy the dips and sell the rips, which is what is happening. However, more and more I am beginning to notice the market starting to differentiate between performance and lack therof. As a result, the 100% correlations across all asset classes are starting to dissolve, and as earnings season approaches, if the market starts to become unafraid of the Europe situation, profitability, growth, and results will matter, as they always do. Ultimately the European currency issue will get resolved, one way or the other, and stock markets around the world can resume whatever path the companies which comprise them deserve. A battle which may last a long time: Google vs Facebook-http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904194604576582803071402090.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection Interesting that a Japanese retailer can serve up growth: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-20/underwear-model-shows-an-economy-how-to-grow-commentary-by-william-pesek.html What a mess in the internet poker space- Full Tilt Poker A Ponzi Scheme?-http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904106704576582741398633386.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories As always, on any company mentioned here, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. 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. Yale Bock, CFA President, Y H & C Investments

The Challenge of Digital Health Records, 3 Manufacturers Making It, Fundraising.com, and A Tale of Two Countries-

This week in business brings the debt limit negotiations to a climax, and the dog and pony show probably will result in a deal. As I reiterate, the work product on everything government does follows the same format. Wait until the last minute and throw something against the wall to cut a deal. Is it any wonder why government's are so inefficient, especially the bigger they get? The problem with the debt issue is they are messing around with defaulting on government debt, and the ramifications are just incredibly bad for every financial market.

Another really bad situation is the whole News Corp. scandal in England. If ever the rule don't beat yourself applies, this one is it. Why would an executive of an 168 year old popular newspaper engage in something this dumb, and criminal? You have to wonder is the newspaper business that competitive, do readers and ratings matter that much a top newspaper has to engage in criminal behavior on the highest scale and in a completely unethical manner? Is digital competition forcing these competitive pressures all over the world, or just in this circumstance? Interesting questions, but I say, the leadership was just incredibly dumb.

Interesting story on the issues of digital health records- http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/technology/assessing-the-effect-of-standards-in-digital-health-records-on-innovation.html?pagewanted=2&ref=business

A feel good look at three manufacturers in different industries surviving and thriving by being smart, productive, and innovative: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2015614315_manufacturing17.html

A startup called fundraising.com has success in the non-profit space- big opportunities there-http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-15/fundraise-com-to-streamline-giving-sign-presidential-campaigns.html

Looking at a tale of two countries raises very interesting questions about society going forward: http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/16/tale-of-two-countries-silicon-valley-unemployed/

This will be an interesting week as one would expect a debt deal to get done, and earnings from large corporations stream in- as always, some surprise, some disappoint, and the market will react, and then some, to all of it.

As always, on any company mentioned here, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. 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.

Yale Bock, CFA
President, Y H & C Investments

Managing Your Credit Score, Cable Outfits Fight Back Against the Net, Advice For Startups, and Wynn and Adelson Make Peace

I think credit issues are always important for people to consider, so here is a nice article on how to improve your credit profile:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304451504576394093505289846.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLE_Video_second

Cable outfits are trying to battle against subscriber losses by adapting their interfaces and making them more user friendly:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-18/u-s-cable-operators-fight-online-competition-by-mimicking-web-interface.html

Excellent advice for people who are involved with startups:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/18/mark-suster-raise-money-now-so-when-the-partys-over-youre-sitting-pretty/

Nice to see the two biggest elephants in gaming, especially Las Vegas Gaming, make peace. About time.

http://www.lvrj.com/business/gaming-alliance-to-boggle-the-mind-124151138.html

The summer is usually a time to chill out and relax. In that light, on this site you will see fewer posts but with a bit more information. If you have any comments, thoughts on the blog, or questions, please post them!

As always, on any company mentioned here, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. 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.

Yale Bock, CFA

A Business Out of Cowdung, All About Apps, and Protecting Online Reputations

Would not say this is my kind of business, but it is certainly based on efficiency- using cowdung to make manure, fertilizer, and other products. More ingenuity like this, especially in energy, and maybe the U.S. could be energy independant by 2050.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2015236170_inpersonmaas06.html

All about apps- there are only going to be thousands more- nice article in the local paper today:

http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2011/06/06/news/iq_44479658.txt

Interesting article in the NY Times about protecting an online reputation and how it has become much more complex:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/your-money/11wealth.html?ref=technology

If you have any comments or thoughts about any of these articles, please share them. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

As always, on any company mentioned here, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. 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.

Yale Bock, CFA
President, Y H & C Investments

Ways to Improve The Economy, Online TV Has More Ads, and Learning From Blogging

The news is loaded with stories about the economy and how to fix it, whose fault the current state is, and plenty of other opinions. As a person who engages in different businesses, here are some simple thoughts.

First, with an economy of 300 million people and 10 trillion dollars, the private sector has to do the heavy lifting. All businsses are interested in making more profits. Most of the businesses in the U.S. are small businesses, and you can bet small businesses are always interested in making more money.

Businesses make more money by growing revenues and cutting costs, growing revenues and keeping costs flat, or keeping revenues the same and cutting costs. So, whatever policies can be enacted to help business do any of these things would help a business make more money, and possibly look to expand.

One issue to consider is many businesses now can expand without hiring people- especially in the digital domain. Also, if a business is looking to expand, they are going to try and do it as efficiently as possible, probably in a place where they can keep the most money so they can further grow the business. If a government wants to improve the economy and put people back to work, help companies access new markets (increase revenues), lower costs (reduce bureaucratic costs, hiring costs, etc), or some combination thereof.

Hey, please give us your thoughts on what you would do to help the economy?

Nice article on Online TV and Ads- Surprise- More of Them:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2015269003_onlineads09.html

Liked this article on learning from blogging in small business:

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/what-ive-learned-from-blogging/?ref=business

As always, on any company mentioned here, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. 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.

Yale Bock, CFA
President, Y H & C Investments

Skeptics Out in Full Force On U.S. Economy, Moshi Masters Growth and Apple's Astounding User Numbers, and A Great Example of Why People Have No Faith

Well, with last weeks disappointing job number, 5 weeks of a falling stock market, and corporate america continuing to rake in the profits, there is plenty of divergence in how to look at the current economic situation in the U.S. Certainly, the doomsdayers are out in force with the last jobs number being awful (only 54K jobs created, we need well north of 200K per month), housing still in the tank, and plenty of industries struggling with regulatory uncertainty. However, usually, the summer does slow down so I wouldn't think we will have another recession just yet- although you would not know if from the schizophrenics on Wall Street, just my opinion so take it with a grain of salt, here is the summary of the jobs report:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-05/slowing-u-s-growth-prompts-optimists-to-question-durability-of-recovery.html

Great stories on the growth of social gaming company Moshi Masters (yes, I said growth) and the unbelievable numbers of Apple users, across all spectrums:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/05/moshi-monsters-the-social-networking-game-for-kids-passes-the-50-million-users-mark/

http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/06/apple-15-billion-songs-sold-130-million-books-14-billion-apps-downloaded/

Here is a great example of why citizens in the U.S. have no faith in our politicians- so difficult to trust government about anything:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/business/07derivatives.html?_r=1&hp

As always, on any company mentioned here, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. 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.

Yale Bock, CFA
President, Y H & C Investments