The Freedom Factory

The stock market hit and then furiously bounced off a low on March 9th. Since then it has shot up about 30% nearly uninterrupted. Hope abounds that we may be emerging from one of the worst economic disasters in 20+ years. By many measures the frantic chaos of the last year appears to be subsiding, particularly when looking at the resurgence of corporate earnings, stock prices, and declining value of the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX). Yet it is at times like these when it makes most sense to buy insurance, and it just happens to be cheaper than it has been in a long time. Continue Reading

Funny things have been going on in markets for some time now. Stocks, corporate bonds, commodities, and currencies were decimated in 2008, with the volatility threatening to persist into the New Year. There’s talk of deflation, inflation, stagflation, defaults, bankruptcies, layoffs, unemployment, and the best word of the year: de-leveraging. Wait, is that even a word?

The only thing we know is that we don’t really know what’s happening or where it’ll take us. The more confused people become the more gold they buy. In fact, from peak to trough gold (GLD) has risen 52% over the last 52 weeks. With this kind of bull run, it makes sense to lodge a small bet in the other direction. Continue Reading

I’ve been hearing some glum news of late, many a bloke predicting the imminence of a severe market crash. The bad news seems to come in daily: round two of credit crisis, global inflation exceeding expectations, and real estate prices and sales volume spiraling lower.  Throghout this mess U.S. stocks, as measured by the S&P 500, are down roughly 14.5% since last October, and long term bonds, as measured by the Lehman 20+ Year Treasury ETF (TLT) have dropped 7.5% off March highs. Just as markets seem to be hanging precariously on edge, central banks are whispering about potential rate hikes to stem inflation. Regardless of the direction markets take, there are definite steps prudent investors should take to protect themselves.

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