July 25 Evening Thread

After a day like today, it seems like some jokes are in order.

New Investment Definitions

These terms have been redefined to fit current circumstances:

CEO - Chief Embezzlement Officer.

CFO - Corporate Fraud Officer.

BULL MARKET - A random market movement causing an investor to mistake himself for a financial genius.

BEAR MARKET - A six to eighteen month period when the kids get no allowance, the wife gets no jewelry, and the husband gets no sex!

VALUE INVESTING - The art of buying low and selling lower.

P/E RATIO - The percentage of investors wetting their pants as the market keeps crashing.

BROKER - What my broker has made me.

(S&P) STANDARD & POOR - Your life in a nutshell.

STOCK ANALYST - Idiot who just downgraded your stock.

STOCK SPLIT -- When your ex-wife and her lawyer split your assets equally between themselves.

MARKET CORRECTION - The day after you buy stocks.

CASH FLOW - The movement your money makes as it disappears down the Toilet.

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR - Past year investor who's now locked up in a Nuthouse.

MOMENTUM INVESTING - The fine art of buying high and selling low.

'BUY, BUY' - A flight attendant making market recommendations as you step off the plane.

FINANCIAL PLANNER - A guy who actually remembers his wallet when he runs to the 7-Eleven for toilet paper and cigarettes.

CALL OPTION - Something people used to do with a telephone in ancient times before e-mail.

YA HOO - What you yell after selling all you owned to some poor sucker for $240 per share.

WINDOWS - What you jump out of when you're the sucker that bought Yahoo for $240 per share.

PROFIT - Religious guy who talks to God.

And so it goes.

Wednesday Afternoon

I was flipping through commodity charts last night and found an interesting pattern in Corn that I hadn't noticed yet. When you zoom out to a very long term chart, it's pretty obvious what it looks like.

Corn Weekly

There is some debate over the effectiveness of cup and handle patterns with this long of a duration, but it looks pretty solid to me. If it holds this area and continues higher, it could have major implications for inflation in the future.

Corn Seasonality (Sentmentrader.com)

Seasonality indicates this time of year is generally weak for corn. The recent strength in corn (and other grains) has been primarily attributed to drought conditions throughout the Midwest region. Corn also has the ethanol component and rising demand from Asia. All things considered, it certainly appears that we have a recipe for serious food inflation going forward. This will start filtering through the economy in the months ahead and I thought it was worth looking at.   

Wednesday Morning

Gator's Chart of the Day: RPAI



Retail Properties of America is about as far from AAPL as you can get.  Right now I think that's a good thing.  You may remember that the market has been trading down for the last three days.  Each one was 100+ DJIA points and Wednesday looks like another ugly open.  RPAI has printed green candles each of those days.

The stock hasn't been trading very long ... just since April 5th.  It is pushing on it's all-time high (9.83) and if I wasn't so lazy I would have drawn the flat top triangle but you'll have to use your imagination.  If we get any kind of positive news RPAI could move higher.  It is thinly traded so be careful of you decide to take a position.  (They report earnings August 6th after market.)

"Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust. It engages in acquisition, development and management of properties. The trust invests in the real estate markets of United States. Its portfolio consists of retail properties, including lifestyle, power, neighborhood, and community centers, in addition to single-user net lease properties. Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust, Inc. is based in Oak Brook, Illinois."   Finviz