Kudrna's Stock Market Talk

Our first full week of the new year and even with some red flags, we ended the week slightly higher.  The Europe crisis has shown its face once again and Friday saw a list of credit downgrades dominate the headlines all day long.  Even as I write this days later, you can find articles galore discussing that topic.  The situation is not pretty, but these downgrades should not come as a shock.  (more…)

For the first week of 2012, it was not a bad week at all.  The action wasn’t overly impressive for the bulls, but considering most were expecting a pullback, the bulls held strong. The question everyone is pondering is whether we will have some sort of pullback or are we going to continue to rise.  Friday may have hinted at more upside in the short-term, but we may need bonds to sell-off faster for this to happen. (more…)

A new year begins and 2011 is old news, regardless if it was good or bad.  You must forget about it either way. If you had a bad year, learn from it and make 2012 better.  If you had a good year, figure out why it wasn’t better and don’t be overly confident/reckless going into 2012.  This will help ensure you have better odds of repeat success. This is the time to wipe the slate clean and focus on the upcoming 2012 performance.  This is not about what you did in the past, this is what you can do for me now. Short-term memory, forget the past outside the lessons learned.  (more…)

Right down Santa Claus Lane.  The big man has finally arrived and the markets have rewarded the bulls with profits this past week.  Light volume has continued, but the bulls have remained in control throughout the week.  Bonds have finally sold off, fueling the surge higher in equities.  The enthusiasm and optimism has increased, but this is no time to blindly buy without a plan.  What Santa has giveth, he can taketh away at any time.   (more…)

Finally, a deal has been reached in the EU crisis. The bulls were excited for the news and relentlessly ran the markets up to unforeseen levels. (more…)