Blog Category Results

AR Index     477.28  +29.19  (+6.52%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  78.71  +5.04 GM        1.71    -0.56 Ford      4.26   +0.49 Dow  8057.81  +81.96   (+1.03%) One year of tracking the AR Index and it might be useful to look at where we are and where we've been to try and figure out where we're going. Things are looking up lately with big moves by Toyota and Ford more than counteracting the continued slide of GM. Toyota is up 23% over the last two weeks while Ford is up a fantastic 54% in the same period...

AR Index     448.09  +71.35  (+18.94%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  73.67  +10.14 GM        2.27        -0.43 Ford      3.77       +1.01 Dow  7975.85  +453.83   (+6.03%) After announcing GM and Chrysler's last, last chances, the market reacted quickly and ran away from auto stocks that first day. But in the days since, Toyota and Ford - which is not taking government money - have continued to rebound. We'll see how things go as we approach the end of the month and the deadline for Chrysler.

AR Index     376.73  -23.10  (-5.78%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  63.53  -1.85 GM        2.70    -1.85 Ford      2.76    -0.14 Dow  7522.02  -253.84   (-3.26%) Just when it felt like things were starting to turn a bit positive about Detroit from an investor perspective, a new deadline for avoiding bankputcy looms and the mood swings again. Note that even though the news was about GM and Chrysler, the negative vibes reached out and touched Toyota and Ford stock as well. The markets run on emotion folks...

AR Index     399.83  +65.69  (+19.66%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  65.38  +4.92 GM        3.35    +0.83 Ford      2.90    +0.80 Dow  7775.86  +558.89   (+7.74%) It's been a pretty solid two weeks in the market as people are liking what they hear. (Amazing what easing up on the constant gloom and doom talk will do) With Ford saying they really don't need any more of our money, Ford stock is the biggest part of the boost in the AR Index. The next hurdle is going to be the end of the month when we get some idea of whether a quicker restructuring under bankruptcy protection is a better idea for GM.

AR Index     334.15  +39.14  (+13.27%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  60.46  +2.78 GM        2.52    +0.84 Ford      2.10    +0.36 Dow  7216.97  +543.12   (+8.14%) Isn't it amazing what just a speck of positive outlook and good news can do? For some reason, the President's teleprompter told him to say that things aren't as bad as we think, and GM says it doesn't need the $2 billion in March, and look what happens. The stock market has a nice run for the week and GM stock rises 50% with Ford and Toyota making nice moves as well...

AR Index     295.00  -21.51  (-6.80%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  57.68  -2.98 GM        1.68    -0.33 Ford      1.74    -0.14 Dow  6547.05  -216.24   (-3.20%) A lot of people are coming to the same conclusion. It's time to stop throwing money at GM and Chrysler  to keep them operating the way they are and seriously restructure things. As it says in a commentary on detnews.com today: An orderly bankruptcy promises protection and power...

AR Index     316.51  +6.62  (+2.13%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  60.66   -1.24 GM        2.01     0.24 Ford      1.88     0.15 Dow  6763.29  -351.49   (-4.94%) It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but one of these days we're all going to work the uncertainty out of our systems and start to turn things around. And that's what it's really going to take. Stock prices are as much a measure of how we feel about how things are going as they are the actual health of companies...

AR Index     309.90  -25.08  (-7.49%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  61.90   -3.55 GM        1.77     -0.73 Ford      1.73     -0.03 Dow  7114.78  --753.63   (-9.37%) I'm no "expert" but just watching the market reaction to what's going on in Washington tells me it's time to look into Plan B on what to do about the Detroit automakers. This seems a lot like the "mortgage crisis" where even if we lower the mortgage rates significantly, there will still be people who can't afford to pay their mortgage because they're in a house they can't afford. Detroit can't build cars the way they operate right now...

AR Index     334.98  -30.41  (-8.32%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  65.45   -5.69 GM        2.50     -0.33 Ford      1.76     -0.14 Dow  7850.41  -420.46   (-5.08%) It's rather curious how the price of gas is bucking the rather flat trend of everything else in 2009. I understand the Dow and the AR Index. People aren't sure about what's going on and that uncertainty always has people keeping their cash a little closer to the vest...

AR Index     365.39  +23.73  (+6.95%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  71.14   +7.26 GM        2.83     -0.06 Ford      1.90     +0.02 Dow  8270.87  +334.12   (+4.21%) A decent week for the AR Index, but it pretty much represented strength in Toyota. That's pretty odd considering that Toyota has projected its first annual loss since 1950 for 2009. Uncertainty still hovers over GM as the prospect of forcing them into bankruptcy if they don't pay back US taxpayer "loans" first looms large...