big picture of the market?

[caspian]

"but it seems like the rise in commodity prices has more to do with the falling dollar "

How would the falling dollar effect copper?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at 01:14PM by caspian.

 

[Saks]

I don't love them, but you gotta do Barrons and WSJ just for the fact alone that EVERYBODY else reads it. You may be asked on an interview or even after you get the job on your first day what was interesting that you read that am in the journal.

I prefer FT. Economist is good. When I was prepping for interviews I saved every WSJ & Barron's (I had a student subscription) from Sept to Nov that I didn't get all the way through each issue. Over Thanksgiving break, on my aunt's floor in bumfk USA and in the airport on the way and back, I ripped every relevant article that interested me and put together a scrap book that weaved a nice story about the markets and a few industries _I_ was interested in (oh the luxury).

That stuff really helped me get a feel for the language used and the general market sentiment as well as the outlier views. I was overly fixated on the China story but the beauty is you can be fixated on whatever you want, its your view, just back it up. I don't even work in equities and the thing people like the most around here is opining over what's happening in the markets and why.

Also back in the day Merrill had free monthly research macro pieces on their website (I think its still there but grossly outdated now). You should check around for stuff like that because it can help you see how the analysts frame these questions and answers.

Good luck.

 

[asdffdsa]

caspian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "but it seems like the rise in commodity prices
> has more to do with the falling dollar "
>
> How would the falling dollar effect copper?

fine, maybe not every commodity (i don't follow copper), but i refuse to believe that raging energy prices are attributable to china and more people driving SUVs.

 

[caspian]

Well, while commodities in general are moving higher (generally speaking), I, like you, cant attribute them to one universally convienient reason.

(copper is perhaps the most important commodity to follow from a global standpoint, although obviously oil is pretty important)

 

[CFA_Halifax]

The agricultural commodities have also gone along quite nicely as well. There are pork shortages in China as we speak, and dairy products are going through the roof (I would assume due to the increased demand for corn for ethanol which is driving up all corn and grains).

Another interesting area of the markets I'd like to work in...

Seriously, our grandkids are going to laugh at us, substituting food for fuel when the fuel isn't even economically viable (as sugarcane is) and relies on state subsidies...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at 02:51PM by CFA_Halifax.

 

[CFA_Halifax]

While we're on this topic, does anyone read "Futures Magazine", I'd never heard of it until I saw it athe mag store the otherday

http://www.futuresmag.com/cms/futures/website

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at 02:55PM by CFA_Halifax.

 

[abacus]

www.bloomberg.com has a nice daily write-up on all the market areas. It is the same write-up that they provide to their paying customers, but is free.

 

[TSonam]

Well...thank you very much.

I appreciate all the inputs from every one of you. And I will make it a point to improve my knowledge about the market and analyze it on a daily basis. I have been putting doing this cause of CFA and now, the GMAT....but I must do this. There shouldn't be any excuses....hands down.

All of you have provided me with some very good points here. Just a general question, do you guys invest personally? How much do you have in the market...besides 401K? And when you do invest, do you really break the company (your investment) down applying your valuations or do you rely on someone else's research?

Thanks.

 

[tobias]

I invest personally. I put every last dollar I can into the market except for an emergency reserve that I keep in a high-yield savings account.

I do my own research on some stocks and rely on others for other stocks. If you read my airline analysis from a few months ago I think you can tell I do my own work there. I have at least some background on everything in which I invest, but sometimes a co-worker or someone I repect and trust will be pitching a stock and have a reasonable basis so its not necessary for me to reinvent the wheel on those ones.

For example. I own Google, and it has been one of my largest holdings for quite some time. I don't do a lot of work on that one because there is so much research out there it would be extremely difficult for me to get an edge. All I know is that the street estimates keep going higher and given the growth rate the stock seems ridiculously cheap compared to other internet stocks. I am short some of these other internet stocks as a hedge. As a result, I have a position in which I am rather confident that doesn't require much time in monitoring. Of course I listen to the conference calls and read up on the company, but it's not like I have a detailed model that I am using.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at 05:12PM by tobias.