We missed our Monday investing humor post so here it is:

Enjoy!

We hope that most of you regularly pick up a copy of Barron’s but if you haven’t gone through the latest edition, we recommend you pick it up and turn to the article “Forecast: Clouds with Sunshine” written by Eric J. Savitz.

The articles gives a very good and comprehensive update on the solar industry, it’s difficulties and future prospects. As most people know, the big challenge is to produce solar energy at a lower cost than that of other alternative fuels. Furthermore, state aids and overall hype means that this sector has become very crowded and might have gotten a bit ahead of itself for the time being.

No doubt that long-term this will be a winning bet but with governments like Germany and Spain (the two biggest markets worldwide) reducing aids and other short-term disappointments, investors will have to carefully decide with which companies they want to place their bets.

It could be pretty bad until about 2010…. these companies will risk being overcapitalized until then!

Enjoy!

Today we would like to discuss recent market events and what the possible outlook could be. Look at this 5 day chart where we use ETFs to show overall sector performance. We have used the XLF for financials, OIL is self explanatory and VNQ for real estate.

Despite the fact that OIL is sharply down and that both financials and housing are recovering, this does not mean that it’s time to jump back in. We feel that this is a bear rally and that investors should be careful… don’t be fooled by a 15% jump… a 30% drop could be around the corner. There are still too many unresolved issues with Freddie and Fanny and until we have concrete news from Washington, there is still sharp downside potential.

No doubt that this rally will probably go on into next week but again, we feel investors should not rush to get back in. As usual, study companies you are interested in and decide at what price you would be comfortable opening or adding to a position. It is extremely important to remain focused on this initial analysis and not to get carried away by what Mr. Market does.

Some readers have written to us asking if they should take out the limit orders and just buy now before things move too high… but this is not how we like to invest. Forget about the crowd, stick with your play. As Emerson said “The great man is he who in the midst of the crowds keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”

Here is a good update from AP on recent developments:

More to come….

Quite interesting:

Come back next Monday for more investing humor - Enjoy!

Here’s the Guru once again - it’s difficult to argue with him…

Enjoy!

In our series on interesting charts, today we look at the evolution of the price of Silver and that of CDE.

From the Coeur website:

Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation is one of the world’s leading silver companies and also a significant gold producer. Coeur, which has no silver or gold production hedged, is presently constructing two of the world’s largest silver mines – San Bartolomé in Bolivia and Palmarejo in Mexico; operates two underground mines in southern Chile and Argentina and one surface mine in Nevada; and owns non-operating interests in two low-cost mines in Australia. The Company also owns a major gold project in Alaska and conducts exploration activities in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico and Tanzania. Coeur currently expects to produce approximately 16 million ounces of silver in 2008, representing nearly a 40% increase over 2007 silver production levels.”

As already discussed, in previous post on CDE, this company gives investors a change to participate in the inevitable increase of silver prices due to the fact that the world has nearly run out of silver and it is also interesting as a hedge against the economic downturn and current market conditions.

Despite recent turmoil and general speculation about the quality of the management team, is the sell-off justified?

The above chart clearly shows that whilst Silver tracking ETFs have remained relatively stable after the march sell-off and have been slowly recovering, CDE is continuing to dive…

We somehow feel that this situation will not last and that we will see a reversal. Stay tuned for more.

Please read our disclaimer.

Here is a short video interview where Jamie Dimon gives his take on Bear Stearns:

Jamie Dimon also gave a really interesting speech at the FDIC Mortgage Conference in Arlington, Va. He was cleaver, witty, candid and refreshing. If you didn’t get a chance to follow this, we seriously recommend that you do so. It is currently posted on DealBook: here.

Enjoy!

Bruce Berkowitz is the founder and the Managing Member of the Fairholme Fund. Since inception in 1999 through the end of 2007, the Fund has returned 17.40% annually on average compared to 1.71% for the S&P 500.

Bruce tends to run a very concentrated portfolio and focuses on companies with exceptional management that generate large amounts of free cash flow and that are trading at a good dicont to fair value. He has been known to take big bets and call trends early - the tag line for his funds is; Ignore the Crowd!

Here is a very interesting interview on what he is doing now. He is definitly worth listening to:

• Morningstar - What Fairholme’s been buying: here.

Enjoy!