Blog Category Results

AR Index     341.66  -6.56  (-1.89%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  63.88   +1.29 GM        2.89     -0.49 Ford      1.88     -0.06 Dow  7936.75  -179.28   (-2.21%) Continued uncertainty on whether bailouts and stimulus are what we need has us moving sideways in the markets.  It would be nice if someone would find a way to show us that there is indeed a way out. Ford is the one manufacturer saying they don't need to take any bailout money. But they face a strange challenge that the others don't as yesterday, at least in my area, the price of Ford's stock fell below the price of a gallon of unleaded gas...

AR Index     348.22  -33.36  (-8.74%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  62.59   -3.98 GM        3.38     -0.55 Ford      1.94     -0.25 Dow  8116.03  -165.19   (-1.99%) The market seems to be trying to figure out which it's going to be under President Obama. Is he all for saving the domestic auto industry or is he going to sink them with demands for emission and mileage requirements that are going to require retooling expenses? GM and Ford shares lost 14% and 12% respectively this week...

AR Index     381.58  -20.66  (-5.14%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  66.57   +0.95 GM        3.93     -0.22 Ford      2.19     -0.45 Dow  8281.22  -192.75   (-2.27%) It's Inauguration Day. New President, new Congress. Should be very interesting to track things over the next six to eight weeks to see how we really feel about all this...

AR Index     402.24  +9.97  (+2.54%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  65.62   +0 GM        4.15     +0.44 Ford      2.64     +0.06 Dow  8473.97  -478.92   (-5.35%) Despite the way it may have felt, it hasn't been a bad 8 weeks for things. We still have a fair amount of volatility, but we're on a nice trend with things we'd like to go up moving up and vice versa. I think we've reached the point where they can't scare us with scary headlines anymore and that's going to serve us well going forward...

AR Index     392.26  +23.25  (+6.30%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  65.62   +1.62 GM        3.71     +0.11 Ford      2.58     +0.36 Dow 8952.89   +468.96 (5.53%) Sometimes we forget that it's a marathon and not a sprint. Lost in the seemingly endless mountain of bad news about the automakers is the fact that there seems to be a bit of optimism creeping back into us over the last 7-8 weeks, at least if the leveling off and slight turnaround of individual automaker share prices is any indications. That's us voting on the future with our dollars, not some congressional committee or financial analyst...

AR Index     369.02  -4.99  (-1.33%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  64.00   +3.12 GM        3.60     +0.08 Ford      2.22     -0.37 Dow 8483.93   -35.84 (-0.42%) Perhaps it's just that we're all finally numb to the news and everyone is calming down, but it sure seems like we've established a bottom that we can rebuild on. Now I'm a shameless optimist, so judge for yourself whether how many of the Bottom of the Bear Market indicators we're seeing as listed at Monevator.com. I might be one of the "madmen" mentioned in the media section...

AR Index     374.01  -51.49  (-12.10%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  60.88   -4.82 GM        3.52     -0.56 Ford      2.59     -0.59 Dow 8519.77   -44.76 (-0.52%) Just when it felt like things had stabilized a bit, along comes Toyota's forecast of its first operating loss in 71 years. That put a bit of a damper on the shares of GM and Ford as well, but at least it's out there now and removes one more piece of the uncertainty puzzle. The continued drop of  gas and oil prices, along with the incentives being offered by the automakers is eventually going to turn the tide, the only question is how soon...

AR Index     430.40  -+47.76  (+12.48%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  60.18   +1.52 GM        4.93     +0.34 Ford      3.38     +0.83 Dow 8934.18   +785.09 (+9.63%) Seems like the tentaive agreement on getting money pushed towards the automakers is what a lot of folks wanted to hear as all three of the stocks in the AR Index turned upward. Gas and oil continued to drop, and the general angst and uncretainty levels seem to be moderating just a bit. One item to watch will be the reaction to GM's full page apology advertisement in Automotive News...

AR Index     382.65  -+33.15  (+9.49%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  58.66   -8.44 GM        4.59     +1.00 Ford      2.55     +0.99 Dow 8149.09   -294.30 (-3.49%) Somewhere, somebody must be liking what they're hearing about what Detroit is planning to tell Congress this week with regard to their plans for restructuring themsleves. GM's plan will include several steps, such as lower executive pay, renegotiated debt payments, elimination of up to four brands and new concessions from the United Auto Workers, according to people familiar with the plan. The big questions is, how will the plan play with Congress...

AR Index     349.50  -+13.55  (+4.03%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  67.10   +4.24 GM        3.59     +0.41 Ford      1.56     -0.16 Dow 8273.58   +169.81 (2.05%) Being one of those who sees the light at the end of the tunnel and doesn't assume it's the train, I'm happy to be able to show mostly green numbers numbers this week. The Dow may have found its bottom as it has actually been up 65 points since Oct 24. I know it hasn't felt like it because of the volatility in the market, but emotion is such a big part of the market right now that it's nice to see that investors seem to be breathing a bit again...