July 2008

Still listening to the Bernanke testimony ... In my business you hear so many of these testimonies that they start to run together.  You also often hear questions from Congress that are either off-topic or unclear to the day's news.   Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) was neither of those today. Around 11:15am he made a statement of the likes I haven't heard before in one of these generally ... read more

Quick entry.... Listening to the President take questions after his brief speech on the economy and Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE). Many of the reporter questions surrounded Fannie, Freddie and the housing market.   The President reiterated that he and his administration are committed to keeping these companies "shareholder owned." Two quick observations: 1. The market is not ... read more

"Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows, Everything that's wonderful is sure to come your way" Pardon my reference to that awful song by Lesley Gore, but sometimes when you have to discuss the difficult times we are in its nice to have a little escape.   With all the negative news on Fannie, Freddie, and the housing and mortgage markets, I've decided to try to end the week trying to find the ... read more

The big story is the tanking stock of Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE). These GSEs (government sponsored enterprises) are incredibly important to America's housing market because they either aid in the issuance of new mortgages by providing a credit-risk backstop, or being the primary securitizer of mortgages, creating the outlet for the debt to be sold to buyers around the world and thus ... read more

Grain and soybean futures prices reach record highs.   Oil is soaring.   The blame is placed on excessive speculation and there are allegations of manipulation.   Congress begins to consider revising the federal regulatory scheme for commodities. Headlines ripped from today?  Nope.   This is from 1973.  Look back even further, to the great onion run of 1958.  In that year the price ... read more

When bank robber WIllie Sutton was arrested and asked why he robbed banks .. he simply replied "because that's where the money is." Energy policy can learn something from ole Willie.  Boone Pickens has...he's building a giant wind farm -- very simply -- where the wind is. Picken's plan is brilliant in its simplicity.  He looked at his acreage in north texas and realized he had two things: ... read more

Something to think about heading into the long weekend... Courtesy: Bigcharts.com This is a chart of the Dow back to 1970. Take note of one thing: after every bump, big or small, the Dow's bias generally is to go higher over long periods of time. This is in some ways simply logical. As long as U.S. GDP and productivity are expanding, so too should corporate America. The real return ... read more

Last week it was the design and distribution of pumping equipment for the oil and gas industry when we discussed DXP Enterprises (DXPE).   This week its the the filtration industry, as Donaldson Company (NYSE: DCI) came up as meeting the stock and growth metrics I use to find companies for this segment (revenue and EPS growth greater than S&P 500 over 3 years with no significant valuataion ... read more