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This blog is produced by David Merkel CFA, a registered representative of Finacorp Securities as an outside business activity. As such, Finacorp Securities does not review or approve materials presented herein. By viewing or participating in discussion on this blog, you understand that the opinions expressed within do not reflect the opinions or recommendations of Finacorp Securities, but are the opinions of the author and individual participants. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or other instrument. Before investing, consider your investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Any purchase or sale activity in any securities instrument should be based upon your own analysis and conclusions. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Finacorp Securities is a member FINRA and SIPC.

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At my blog there are two main purposes: teaching investors about better investing through risk control, and tying all of the markets into a coherent whole.

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    Not My Favored Route To Relative Performance

    The Broad Market Portfolio was off 1.8% today. Three stocks were up, and 32 down. Down over 4% were Deerfield Triarc, Barclays plc, SABESP, and Lithia Automotive.

    The US market is only somewhat oversold. Given the weakness in the Asian markets, I would not be surprised to see more weakness tomorrow.
    Full disclosure: long DFR BCS SBS and LAD

    4 Responses to “ Not My Favored Route To Relative Performance ”

    1. Frank Morison Says:

      You’ve said here and on RealMoney that you think the subprime meltdown will be contained to subprime lenders and not spread to the broader financial/banking system. According to Bill Fleckenstein, Citi today admitted to $50 billion in subprime exposure. If true, does that cause to reconsider? I can see an argument that it wouldn’t since even a complete wipeout would be less than half of shareholders equity, but it could still make waves.

    2. David Merkel Says:

      Fleck (like some other financial commentators that I know) tends to be a sensationalist. I would ask him where he got that figure, because I don’t see it in my news feeds on Bloomberg.

      If Citi has $50 billion worth of exposure, that is about as large as Cramer’s dirty dozen as a group. If true, would that make me change my mind? It would make me think again. Citigroup is big enough to affect the entire US banking system. Still, I think they could survive $50 billion of subprime exposure, but could they do it with other problems as well?

    3. Frank Morison Says:

      Fleck admitted today to (a) being taken in by a hoax, and (b) even if it wasn’t hoax being out by an order of magnitude.

      Thanks

    4. David Merkel Says:

      Poor Fleck. I like the guy, but when one gets too bearish or bulllish, it gets easier to get fooled, because you only look for stuff that fits your paradigm.

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