http://www.hedgefolios.com/read Helping equity investors build and manage their own portfolios in bullish or bearish markets Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:21:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en HEDGEfolios year-to-date stock performance for 2008 (through 05/30/08 close) was up 13.17%. Over the same time period, the S&P 500 index was down -4.60%. At the end of May, the HEDGEfolios universe consisted of 3,420 stocks. Commentary: At the end of April, I said that I doubted the soft landing concept and ... http://www.hedgefolios.com/read/performance-through-may-30-2008 Yesterday's oil price decline was impressive given the inventory report. However, this one-day oddity was made out to be some evidence of the bursting of the "oil bubble." The stock market bulls and their spin of the oil bubble is quite a farce. What do we mean by "bubble" ... http://www.hedgefolios.com/read/bubble-spin The old saying goes that "hindsight is 20/20". Many people think that 20/20 vision supposedly means perfect, but it just means "normal." In the ophthalmologic sense - to have 20/20 vision means that when you stand 20 feet away from an eye chart - you can see ... http://www.hedgefolios.com/read/20200-hindsight Investors want to participate in the amazing growth of China and that is understandable. With all the Chinese stocks trading in the US markets, it has become increasingly easy to play along. And for most of the time since listings began, the normalcy of trading these stocks has ... http://www.hedgefolios.com/read/chinese-lessons "This InBev's For You." That doesn't sound right. "This Stella's For You." That doesn't sound right either. Hopefully, this will be the last time I mention how much I dislike rumors about buyout deals being used to sell newspapers and increase stock prices. I doubt it. Maybe the InBev ... http://www.hedgefolios.com/read/this-inbevs-for-you Much of capitalist finance theory is based upon the concept of "maximizing shareholder value." Without a doubt, I believe in decision-making based upon increasing the value of the firm, whether public or private. However, this concept is abused in its use and assumption. There are ... http://www.hedgefolios.com/read/maximizing-shareholder-value With all the oil talk in the media, it's easy to fall into the trap of their One Track Mind. Yes - oil is high relative to the past. Yes - gas prices are high relative to the past. But energy is not the only thing going on in the ... http://www.hedgefolios.com/read/more-than-oil David Walker is on CNBC this morning (click here for bio).  I recommend listening to David regardless of where he is appearing.  Straight talk about what is wrong with America and how to fix it is a rare thing and David is superior in that regard.  If you miss today's ... http://www.hedgefolios.com/read/david-walker While the US is the biggest oil guzzling nation on the planet (nothing to be proud of), we are not the only one with a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (click here) even though ours is the biggest at about 700 million barrels. The US politicians who voted to block the ... http://www.hedgefolios.com/read/global-strategic-petroleum-reserves The bottom callers announced that the Fed bailout of Bear Stearns marked the end of low stock prices. Supposedly, this unprecedented and illegal (in my opinion) action provided a backstop of epic proportions. As a free market capitalist, this whole episode and especially, the happy and comforted reaction ... http://www.hedgefolios.com/read/the-next-bottom