Archive for January 26th, 2008

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Market weakness has come as no surprise to Doug Fabian, as his ETF Trader was holding short positions in sector ETFs focused on such areas as financials and China before the market entered its recent tailspin.

Now, after covering his successful short positions, the advisor is taking another position contrary to the general market consensus: he is recommending a long position in the out-of-favor real estate sector. His latest purchase is iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate (NYSE: IYR).

“We are now suggesting a bit of a ‘bottom fishing’ investment, meaning that we’re seeking returns associated with a swift bounce in a severely beaten-down sector. That sector is real estate, and the fund I want you to buy as soon as you read this is the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate.

“In the chart here of IYR, we can see that the sector is trading way below both its short-term, 50-day moving average, and the long-term, 200-day moving average. But what got me interested in IYR this day is that despite the overall market weakness, IYR is trading substantially higher.

“The surprise 75-basis-point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve caused tons of volatility, but both financial stocks and real estate stocks are finally coming to life. I think it is possible we’ve seen a bottoming in real estate shares. And if that turns out to be the case, we’ll see a very nice surge in the value of IYR. Playing the bounce off the bottom is what our bottom fishing strategy in IYR is all about.”

Each day, Steven Halpern’s TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest market commentary and favorite investment ideas from the nation’s leading financial newsletter advisors.

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New York Say Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo has been twisting the arms of major banks to get them to put up $15 billion or so to bail out Ambac Financial Group (NYSE: ABK) and MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBIA). If the muni bond insurers cannot maintain their high ratings with agencies like S&P, the value of the bonds that they insure could drop sharply, leading to more write-offs at Wall Street firms.

S&P has now stated that the $15 billion may be just fine. “The dollars we understand that he’s talking about — $5 billion immediately and $15 billion ultimately — those are substantial numbers and I think could give us a fair degree of comfort relative to resolving any issues about capital adequacy,” S&P analyst Dick Smith stated in an interview with Reuters.

The fact of the matter is that no one knows how much money will be needed because no one is certain how much worse the credit crisis and mortgage debacles might get. That, in turn, is prone to make huge banks gun-shy about writing checks for money that they may not have themselves. Most are in the market raising funds to save themselves.

The value of the two massive muni bond insurers could still go to zero and the large banks my not want to see all of that capital disappear.

If New York Say wants to act, it should bring capital of its own to the table and not ask the banks to carry the whole load.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Trio Finance' states Lions Hill SPV defaults on 400 mln usd facility - Forbes

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I Don’t Believe in Imaginary Property writes “‘Hollywood’ Howard Berman (D-CA), who chairs the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property appears to be on the way out. He’s slated to move over to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, leaving his chair on the Internet subcommittee vacant. Long known for wanting to strengthen the DMCA and backing copyright grabs like the PRO-IP Act, Berman will be missed by huge media. The good news is that Rick Boucher (D-VA) may be the one to replace him. Rep. Boucher has been interviewed on Slashdot and is in favor of copyright reform. They still need to win their upcoming elections and the full subcommittee will still be chaired by John Conyers (D-MI), though.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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penguin_dance writes “Ready to put on your thinking cap? There’s a report out of the UK regarding an ‘experimental helmet which scientists say could reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease within weeks of being used’. The helmet is to be worn for ten minutes each day and stimulates the growth of brain cells using infra-red light. The article explains, ‘Low level infra-red red is thought to stimulate the growth of cells of all types of tissue and encourage their repair. It is able to penetrate the skin and even get through the skull.’ Human trials are due to start this summer.” I wont make any nomad-based predictions, but I’ll remain on the skeptic side of the fence for now.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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ScienceDaily reports that scientists have identified the cellular point of entry for anthrax spores. This discovery could go a long way towards providing treatment or preventing infection.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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gnick writes to mention Wired is reporting that an Illinois startup is claiming they can make ethanol from most any organic material for around $1/gallon. Coskata, backed by General Motors and several other investors, uses a process that is bacteria based instead of some of the other available methods. The bacteria processes organic material that is fed into the reactor and secretes ethanol as a waste product.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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REDS ‘COMPLETE REFINANCE DEAL’
Sporting Life - The £350million will be used to repay the money Hicks and Gillett initially borrowed to buy the club last year, as well as 2007 Sporting Life UK Ltd, All Rights Reserved. Email the Editor / Sign Up - Advertise With Us - About/Contact Us Terms

Intrasphere Technologies Launches PharmaCM: Content Management for
PR.com - Life sciences organizations can spend a significant amount of time and money reformatting content to meet specific regulatory requirements,” said Mike Naimoli, U.S. life sciences industry solutions director, Microsoft Corp. “PharmaCM addresses

Ex-WellPoint Exec Accused of Womanizing
AOL - Car Insurance Health Insurance Home Insurance Life Insurance Interest Rates Finance Talk Money Coach Jean Chatzky Loans Auto Loan Saving for College Personal INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - David Colby was one of corporate America’s most admired executives before he was

Turning an illness into an asset
CNN Money - All his life Foyer had trouble focusing: he describes himself as “fidgety,” with “tons of nervous energy.” Foyer hovered Like the Nielsens, you may dream of having enough money to quit your job well ahead of traditional retirement age. Here’s

About ‘life estates’ and ownership
Newsday - He owned the house, but his mother had retained a life estate. I’ve been advised by an attorney, a financial planner and other Real Estate Money Professions Technology Columnists Blog: Business Beat AP Business AP Investing Executive Pay Top Companies Print

Sweet way to spend a day
Hampton Roads Daily Press - History: Rowena Fullinwider, once known as “the cake lady,” started baking cakes to raise money for local charities. She Thought Obituaries Business Sports Video Entertainment Metromix Life Family & Consumer news HR HealthBeat Gardening Home Taste Special

Leading Pharmaceutical Company Selects STARLIMS for $2.1 Million
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Pic clues lead to camera’s owner
MSN MoneyCentral - Market Wire PrimeNewswire PRNewswire News by Topic Companies Stock Market Economy Industry Commentary This Week Index MSN Money Experts Suddenly everything Ascher had seen on the camera came to life. The Caseys recently had hosted relatives and friends from

Sun Life Financial announces offering of Subordinated Unsecured
MSN MoneyCentral - Market Wire PrimeNewswire PRNewswire News by Topic Companies Stock Market Economy Industry Commentary This Week Index MSN Money Experts TORONTO, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX/NYSE:SLF) announced this day that it intends to issue

Sharapova all business in winning Australian Open
Sports Illustrated - She’s serving well, pounding the ball from the baseline, and, as usual, competing as though her life depends on her match results. She absolutely tore through this draw, beating the first, third, fourth, and eleventh seed (and Lindsay Davenport

Dance contest’s dedicated to bhangra
Miami Herald - Tropical Life So, how happy are you? Dance contest’s dedicated to bhangra Here’s what it means to live with three teens Late But they do it for the rush, not the money, states Channa. ”When you hear bhangra, you just want to jump in,” he says. And jump

Economy dominates S Carolina choice
BBC News - Eugene Dickson, 42, who helps run the shoe and clothing repair store that has been in the family his whole life, says: “Thanks to the economy, everyone is trying to save money, so instead of buying something new they fix something old.” He is

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