Enterprising Investor Forum

Hugh Hendry vs Liam Halligan Wednesday, March 18, 2009

This is a classic! For those of you that missed it:

Enjoy!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Tuesday, March 17, 2009

In case you missed it, Meredith Whitney was on CNBC this morning and as usual, it was very interesting to listen to her give her take on the current situation and the way forwards…

She continues to maintain that there will be a big surge in defaults and that rising unemployment will continue to make 2009 an incredibly difficult year for corporation and individuals alike.

Furthermore, she also warns the banks to stop using technical accounting standards to support claims that they are profitable as this will come back to haunt them in the near future.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Triple A Monday, March 16, 2009

Someone wrote in asking about this but we think others might be interested in the answer too..

There are only 6 companies that are still rated ‘AAA’, following General Electric’s downgrade to ‘AA’ from Standard and Poor’s:

1. Automatic Data Processing
2. Berkshire Hathaway
3. Exxon Mobil
4. Johnson & Johnson
5. Microsoft
6. Pfizer

How many will manage to keep their rating throughout this crisis? We will just have to wait and see…

Jamie Dimon – Words of Wisdom Thursday, March 12, 2009

Unfortunately, we couldn’t post the whole speech but it is definitely worth listen to on CNBC > here.

Finally someone stood up and tried to focus attention on what has to be done and not on what should have been done!

He spoke out against the constant vilification of corporate America, the need to create a systemic risk regulator and define/implement procedures to deal with potential failure of large financial institutions.

The speech is also full of some excellent quotes:

• “If we act like a dysfunctional family and we don’t finish these things and we’re forever debating them, I think this will go on for several years,”
• “I know mortgage investors may take issue with modifications but they should get over it,”
• Etc,..

Here are his closing remarks…

Enjoy!

Greatest Wealth Destruction Ever? Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Erin Brunett and Jim Cramer comment on the current situation and for once, Cramer is not too hyper!

This is not the full interview but it’s quite interesting. They discuss market dynamics, the political situation and the harsh reality which the general public is slowly starting to accept.

Enjoy!

Housing Concerns & Unemployment Thursday, February 26, 2009

Housing and Unemployment remain major concerns and despite the efforts that are being made, investors should prepare for a long recovery period.

It will be very difficult for us to see some normality returning to the financial markets unless we manage to see the stabilization of mortgage related troubles.  Unfortunately, the housing situation looks very fragile: not only are we facing excess supply but a worsening of the economic situation with a higher threat of unemployment is hanging over us. Furthermore, due to the deterioration in the overall economy, it looks like the problem is now spreading from residential to commercial real-estate.

In terms of unemployment, investors should keep a close eye on what is going on with the Auto industry. If one of the auto manufacturers ends up in bankruptcy, this could really have tremendous consequences for the overall unemployment rate, sparking a chain reaction that could see us moving incredibly close to a double digit unemployment rate…

We are afraid that we continue to move in unchartered waters….

Will we nationalize? Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Investors will have to brace for another difficult week. At this point, it seems clear that something will be announced – as far as Citi is concerned – as early as today or tomorrow.

In any case, the debate is ongoing and is causing quite a stir….

We believe that, apart from people who are following a fixed dollar cost averaging calendar, investors should stay on the sidelines until we get some more clarity.

At this present moment, markets are being driven by fear, anxiety, forced liquidations and traders…. this is a market for professional traders and the Enterprising Investor should only take positions after careful consideration and with a long-term horizon.

Free Courses Thursday, February 19, 2009

We recently came across an interesting site that offers a whole host of free video tutorials/courses on a very broad range of topics.

What we found interest, apart from the vast amount of material covered, is that it doesn’t only focus on trading but also offers overviews on topics such as ‘money flows’, ‘interest rates’, ‘central banks’, ‘forex’, apart from the traditional fundamental and technical analysis.

The site is called InformedTrades.com and you can access the free course section: here.

Enjoy and let us know what you think!

Squawk Box: Rep. Garrett on Madoff Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Markopolos had gift wrapped Madoff to SEC Thursday, February 5, 2009

Indeed, Markopolos had gift wrapped and delivered the largest ponzi scheme in history to the SEC and absolutely nothing was done with the information! Furthermore, he claims that he will deliver more names in the near future….

This is truly incredible. Markopolos had actually submitted a detailed report  in 2005 where he highlighted that Madoff was a fraud, that he was sure the returns were impossible and that – therefore – the fund was involved in illegal activities.

It will be interesting to see how the SEC tries to get out of this one….