Last week we thought we saw a “downer” with a 466 point drop. Thursday we saw the Market tank by 358 points. In fact, there hasn’t been such a bad June since 1930.  Good thing we at Shadowtraders only trade the futures market. Read the rest of this entry »

Full story here. Another great gravy trough about to go dry? Stick with ShadowTraders and you’ll make your money today, not wait and pray for bankers to give you a pittance. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a follow up to a recent post about the woes of CALPERS, the Calif. public employee retirement system. The previous selected stats/holdings were as follows:

Selected Calpers Equity Highlights:

Having glanced through the equities portion of the same Calpers report, we see no less than 641 thousand shares of Bear Stearns with a reported market value of 140 bucks per share, more than 22 million shares of B of A with a reported value of 48+ bucks, 23 million shares of Citibank with a reported value of 51+ dollars per share, 565 thousand shares of AMBAC with a reported value of 87+ bucks per share, 948 thousand shares of MBIA valued at 62 bucks+ per share and for a bit of international diversification, let’s not forget 819 thousand shares of good ole Northern Rock valued at 17.70 per share.

Read the rest of this entry »

Full story here. This is coming from CBS Marketwatch, very mainstream. For them to be getting critical really means it’s out of the bag. Read the rest of this entry »

Talk about a “downer…” How about 466 points down for the week. And for the first time, the Market blew through the Dow’s double bottom of 11870, closing at 11842. Can you say “Davy Jones Locker?” Read the rest of this entry »

It is amazing to watch a market driven by just 1 thing…Crude. When crude goes up, the market goes down. When crude goes down, the market goes up. Last week was a perfect example. Thursday, crude spiked, and the market lost 200 points. Friday crude retreated and the market went up. Read the rest of this entry »

Full article here. I normally don’t deviate into any politics, but when finance issue become dire, they are automatically politicized–and this is a poignant message to America. Thus, I want to let you read this article from Marc Faber, author of Tomorrow’s Gold, which really changed my viewpoint on long-term strategies and investing. Read the rest of this entry »

Gasoline finally hit $4.00/gallon across the nation. Crude reached $140/barrel, on its way to $150 by July 4th weekend. In one month, crude went up 40cents. Supplies? Speculation? Read the rest of this entry »

Full story here. Another in the continuing narrative of the Financial Tsunami by F. William Engdahl. Don’t get swamped by the tsunami, get to higher ground with ShadowTraders. Read the rest of this entry »

Full story here. Don’t trust your nest eggs to a bunch of foxes. Use ShadowTraders to stay flexible and profitable.

“Lehman managed to escape the same fate as Bear Stearns around the Ides of March partly due to the heroic intervention of the Fed, in part to reporting first quarter profits. A member of the skeptically-minded short cohort described that the earnings as a sham, and noted that they depended entirely on counting the increase of their debt spread as a gain. And there were other red flags: changes in the way the firm measured leverage (and leverage increased nevertheless); a claim that their hedge for their Alt-A exposures was mortgage servicing rights; unrealistically flattering marks on commercial real estate and high yield. And the conference calls were described as Orwellian.

But the Street gave Lehman a pass, since if they went over the brink, who knew who might be next (UBS was the next on most lists). But sentiment appears to have taken a sharp turn. Ben Bitroff provides this tidbit

The open interest in LEH puts is absolutely massive, especially at strikes that would only pay off if LEH completely imploded (a la Bear Stearns). Either some idiots are going to be out a lot of money come June, July and October… or LEH implodes before then…

The open interest is absolutely massive and can only pay off if LEH collapses. Most of the open interest is at sub $35 levels… a level that LEH has now breached. A lot of the puts at the ‘bankruptcy’ strikes (say anything below $15) also expires in June. So either the put buyers or LEH are quickly running out of time….

Will Lehman implode? I don’t know. I can’t tell… I just don’t have enough information. The rumors continue to make their rounds and traders are definitely nervous.

And we have an early AM story now the lead item at the Wall Street Journal, presumably based on a Lehman response to the high short interest, rumors, and expectations that the firm will report a quarterly loss:

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., set to report its first quarterly loss since going public, is considering raising billions of dollars in fresh capital to help shore up its balance sheet, according to people familiar with the matter.

The exact amount of the capital hike isn’t known, but analysts and Wall Street executives estimate it is likely to be $3 billion to $4 billion. They said Lehman would probably announce the capital raising in conjunction with its quarterly results, due the week of June 16. The amount of new capital under consideration suggests Lehman’s quarterly loss could be larger than the $300 million or so that some analysts have been expecting…”