GrowYourFunds: March 2008 Archives

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Mar31	First quarter mercifully ends, here's the review Aaron Smith March 31, 2008 Know More: Stocks First quarter review, first quarter stock performance, stock performance, stocks, top peforming sectors, worst performing sectors Finally, the first quarter of 2008 is over. Many investors, myself included, believed it was never going to end. It has been one of the most turbulent quarters ever marred by constant negative economic news and worries about the future. Just how badly did stocks do? Which stocks were hit the hardest? Which did the best? I'll cover all that in a quick review of the quarter that was. Overall the Dow Jones finished down 7.5% for the first quarter. Things were far worse for the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which finished down a little over 14% for the first quarter alone. The small-cap Russell 2000 also saw significant losses, falling by about 10.5%. The financials have obviously been hit very hard in the first quarter with mortgage messes and liquidity trouble all around. Lehman Brothers (NYSE:LEH) was down 42.5% in the quarter, while Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) lost 34%. A big name financial that showed some impressive relative strength is JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) which lost less than 2%. Although the financial stocks were the poster child for the mess that was the first quarter some big name tech stocks saw huge losses. Google (NYSE:GOOG) lost about 36% in the quarter, while Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) lost 28%. Agriculture names pop up when looking for top performing big name stocks from the quarter. Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) gained 8.75% while Potash (NYSE:POT) shares rose 7.8%. Biotech stocks have also bounced very nicely after seeing significant pressure last year. Celgene (Nasdaq:CELG) has shot higher by almost 33% in the quarter and Genentech (NYSE:DNA), which had been left for dead by many, has gained 21%. No matter how you slice it, this was a very negative quarter for the stock market. Uncertainty is terrible for stocks and the first quarter had about as much of it as you will ever see. Will the picture become clearer in the second quarter? If it does, will market participants like what it shows or not? These are questions we will find the answers to over the next 3 months. Posted at 7:11 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar30	Watch out for Friday's jobs report Aaron Smith March 30, 2008 This coming Friday, April 4th, the employment report from March will be released. I am convinced this number is the most important economic number we have seen in months for the fate of our economy. The jobs market seems to... Continue Reading Posted at 10:47 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar28	Story Stock- JC Penney (JCP) Aaron Smith March 28, 2008 Today's story stock is JC Penney Co. (NYSE:JCP). This morning JC Penney slashed its first quarter sales and earnings forecasts and blamed slowing consumer spending for the warning. The statement from JCP said that it expects to earn about 50... Continue Reading Posted at 11:32 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar26	Why couldn't a Great Depression occur again? It could. Aaron Smith March 26, 2008 The economic times are as rough as we have seen in many years here in America, and from all indications they are getting worse very quickly. The talking heads on television are going crazy trying to predict just how bad... Continue Reading Posted at 5:37 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar25	S&P/Case Shiller index and consumer confidence alarmingly weak Aaron Smith March 25, 2008 There were two major pieces of economic data out today, and quite frankly the two of them were both worse than even the most pessimistic economists were expecting. First, the S&P/Case Shiller Index, which is a quarterly measure of the... Continue Reading Posted at 5:27 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar24	XM and Sirius finally get the ok from Department of Justice Aaron Smith March 24, 2008 Sirius Satellite Radio's proposed acquisition of XM Satellite Radio passed a major speedbump today with the Department of Justice giving it the ok. The Department of Justice finished its very thorough investigation and found that there is not evidence that... Continue Reading Posted at 6:12 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Tax rebate plan schedules announced- When you'll receive your check Aaron Smith March 24, 2008 The information that everyone had been waiting for was released by the IRS last week. Everyone has been wanting to know when they will be getting that economic stimulus/tax rebate plan check. Now the answer is out there for all to... Continue Reading Posted at 3:50 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar20	March Madness is here, what stocks benefit from the madness? Aaron Smith March 20, 2008 March Madness is upon the United States. it is the time of the year where everyone fills out their bracket and is glued to either the television or the nearest computer to see how their teams are doing. Today and... Continue Reading Posted at 4:00 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar19	Visa finally makes much anticipated IPO Debut Aaron Smith March 19, 2008 Visa has been the most anticipated IPO for months, and today was finally the day that it started trading. The stock was priced at $44 per share last night, which was above expectations. During the trading day today investors bought... Continue Reading Posted at 6:29 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar18	Use the IRS Rebate Calculator to determine your tax rebate amount Aaron Smith March 18, 2008 One of the most popular posts on GrowYourFunds in the last few month's was the post on the tax rebate plan of 2008. As one would expect, everyone wants to know just how much they are going to be receiving... Continue Reading Posted at 5:37 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Dow gains over 400 after broker earnings and Fed rate cut Aaron Smith March 18, 2008 It was a great day for the bulls on wall street. Yes you read that sentence right. One has only been able to say that a couple times in the past few months, but today was definitely a day to... Continue Reading Posted at 4:42 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar17	On Deck: The Federal Reserve Aaron Smith March 17, 2008 After all the action in the markets over the past few days it is time for the most important event of them all, the Federal Reserve monetary policy decision. Since the last time the Federal Reserve cut interest rates the economic... Continue Reading Posted at 7:52 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Jamie Dimon and JP Morgan pick up what's left of Bear Stearns Aaron Smith March 17, 2008 Many people are calling it a bargain, others are calling it an absolute steal, whatever you want to call it Jamie Dimon and JP Morgan have picked up Bear Stearns under circumstances that as recently as last week no one... Continue Reading Posted at 5:03 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar16	Around the investment blogging world Aaron Smith March 16, 2008 It has been a while since we have done any around the investment blogging world, so I thought today would be a great time to get some insight from some great blogs as to what exactly is going on right now.... Continue Reading Posted at 10:20 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Bear Stearns liquidity issues, will they spread? Aaron Smith March 16, 2008 On Friday the story of the day was Bear Stearns and their liquidity issues. The Federal Reserve, along with JP Morgan Chase came to the rescue with emergency funding for the company. The Federal Reserve has taken an unprecedented step... Continue Reading Posted at 9:44 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar13	Spitzer picks Ashley Dupre as his favorite, finally takes the fall Aaron Smith March 13, 2008 Eliot Spitzer made a career out of going after the bad guys, but after the news of this week it has been shown that he was one of the worst guys of all himself. Spitzer started out as the New... Continue Reading Posted at 4:17 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar12	How will gasoline prices affect you? Aaron Smith March 12, 2008 I've written several times already on this blog about how the high gasoline prices across our country are leading toward serious inflation problems in the economy. The affects on the broader economy are very real and they are undeniable, but... Continue Reading Posted at 5:40 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar11	Stocks post biggest jump since 2003, what's next? Aaron Smith March 11, 2008 Today was the day that stocks staged a massive turnaround. Sentiment had gotten extremely negative and a little good news gave buyers some reasons to look for bargains. It also gave short sellers a good reason to take some profits... Continue Reading Posted at 5:25 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar10	Oil prices tearing down the market and economy Aaron Smith March 10, 2008 The daily surge to new all-time highs that has become like clockwork is the breakout that continues to occur in the energy sector. Crude oil prices have absolutely rocketed higher of late, surging another $2.75 today to close at a staggering level of $107.90.... Continue Reading Posted at 6:25 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar 6	Forbes 400 list says Warren Buffett is richest in the world Aaron Smith March 6, 2008 Bill Gates has been surpassed by the most legendary investor of them all as the richest man in the world. Warren Buffett, the most famous investor in the world, saw his fortune rise by $10 billion, reaching a new high of... Continue Reading Posted at 4:46 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar 5	Commodity prices surge, inflation around the corner? Aaron Smith March 5, 2008 It seems there is no stopping the rise in commodity prices of late. Just yesterday the news was about the steep drop in commodity prices due to concerns about economic growth. One day later, and we have hit new highs... Continue Reading Posted at 5:32 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar 3	Warren Buffett speaks out on CNBC, says we are in a recession Aaron Smith March 3, 2008 When Warren Buffett talks, people listen. Today, there was an almost unprecedented amount of access to Warren Buffett and plenty of news was made. This morning CNBC sent Becky Quick to Omaha, Nebraska to be with the Oracle of Omaha.... Continue Reading Posted at 7:33 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Should you buy high growth stocks in recessions? Aaron Smith March 3, 2008 This question is often posed in wall street circles and among the millions of investors throughout the world, should high growth stocks be bought going into and/or during recessions? There are two schools of thought for this issue, which I... Continue Reading Posted at 4:58 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar 2	Please- No rash decisions inside those 401k plans Aaron Smith March 2, 2008 In this difficult and trying time in the economy and the stock market, I found it a great time to remind readers of the importance of staying away from rash decisions with your 401k or any type of retirement plan.... Continue Reading Posted at 6:18 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Caution: Don't buy into bad news is good news too much Aaron Smith March 2, 2008 Aside from Friday's massive selloff on the street I have noticed a trend on wall street in the last couple of weeks. The street has gotten into the frame of mind that poor economic news is good news because it... Continue Reading Posted at 10:24 AM \| Permalink \| Comments

« February 2008 | Main | April 2008 »

Mar31	First quarter mercifully ends, here's the review Aaron Smith March 31, 2008 Know More: Stocks First quarter review, first quarter stock performance, stock performance, stocks, top peforming sectors, worst performing sectors Finally, the first quarter of 2008 is over. Many investors, myself included, believed it was never going to end. It has been one of the most turbulent quarters ever marred by constant negative economic news and worries about the future. Just how badly did stocks do? Which stocks were hit the hardest? Which did the best? I'll cover all that in a quick review of the quarter that was. Overall the Dow Jones finished down 7.5% for the first quarter. Things were far worse for the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which finished down a little over 14% for the first quarter alone. The small-cap Russell 2000 also saw significant losses, falling by about 10.5%. The financials have obviously been hit very hard in the first quarter with mortgage messes and liquidity trouble all around. Lehman Brothers (NYSE:LEH) was down 42.5% in the quarter, while Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) lost 34%. A big name financial that showed some impressive relative strength is JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) which lost less than 2%. Although the financial stocks were the poster child for the mess that was the first quarter some big name tech stocks saw huge losses. Google (NYSE:GOOG) lost about 36% in the quarter, while Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) lost 28%. Agriculture names pop up when looking for top performing big name stocks from the quarter. Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) gained 8.75% while Potash (NYSE:POT) shares rose 7.8%. Biotech stocks have also bounced very nicely after seeing significant pressure last year. Celgene (Nasdaq:CELG) has shot higher by almost 33% in the quarter and Genentech (NYSE:DNA), which had been left for dead by many, has gained 21%. No matter how you slice it, this was a very negative quarter for the stock market. Uncertainty is terrible for stocks and the first quarter had about as much of it as you will ever see. Will the picture become clearer in the second quarter? If it does, will market participants like what it shows or not? These are questions we will find the answers to over the next 3 months. Posted at 7:11 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar30	Watch out for Friday's jobs report Aaron Smith March 30, 2008 This coming Friday, April 4th, the employment report from March will be released. I am convinced this number is the most important economic number we have seen in months for the fate of our economy. The jobs market seems to... Continue Reading Posted at 10:47 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar28	Story Stock- JC Penney (JCP) Aaron Smith March 28, 2008 Today's story stock is JC Penney Co. (NYSE:JCP). This morning JC Penney slashed its first quarter sales and earnings forecasts and blamed slowing consumer spending for the warning. The statement from JCP said that it expects to earn about 50... Continue Reading Posted at 11:32 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar26	Why couldn't a Great Depression occur again? It could. Aaron Smith March 26, 2008 The economic times are as rough as we have seen in many years here in America, and from all indications they are getting worse very quickly. The talking heads on television are going crazy trying to predict just how bad... Continue Reading Posted at 5:37 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar25	S&P/Case Shiller index and consumer confidence alarmingly weak Aaron Smith March 25, 2008 There were two major pieces of economic data out today, and quite frankly the two of them were both worse than even the most pessimistic economists were expecting. First, the S&P/Case Shiller Index, which is a quarterly measure of the... Continue Reading Posted at 5:27 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar24	XM and Sirius finally get the ok from Department of Justice Aaron Smith March 24, 2008 Sirius Satellite Radio's proposed acquisition of XM Satellite Radio passed a major speedbump today with the Department of Justice giving it the ok. The Department of Justice finished its very thorough investigation and found that there is not evidence that... Continue Reading Posted at 6:12 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Tax rebate plan schedules announced- When you'll receive your check Aaron Smith March 24, 2008 The information that everyone had been waiting for was released by the IRS last week. Everyone has been wanting to know when they will be getting that economic stimulus/tax rebate plan check. Now the answer is out there for all to... Continue Reading Posted at 3:50 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar20	March Madness is here, what stocks benefit from the madness? Aaron Smith March 20, 2008 March Madness is upon the United States. it is the time of the year where everyone fills out their bracket and is glued to either the television or the nearest computer to see how their teams are doing. Today and... Continue Reading Posted at 4:00 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar19	Visa finally makes much anticipated IPO Debut Aaron Smith March 19, 2008 Visa has been the most anticipated IPO for months, and today was finally the day that it started trading. The stock was priced at $44 per share last night, which was above expectations. During the trading day today investors bought... Continue Reading Posted at 6:29 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar18	Use the IRS Rebate Calculator to determine your tax rebate amount Aaron Smith March 18, 2008 One of the most popular posts on GrowYourFunds in the last few month's was the post on the tax rebate plan of 2008. As one would expect, everyone wants to know just how much they are going to be receiving... Continue Reading Posted at 5:37 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Dow gains over 400 after broker earnings and Fed rate cut Aaron Smith March 18, 2008 It was a great day for the bulls on wall street. Yes you read that sentence right. One has only been able to say that a couple times in the past few months, but today was definitely a day to... Continue Reading Posted at 4:42 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar17	On Deck: The Federal Reserve Aaron Smith March 17, 2008 After all the action in the markets over the past few days it is time for the most important event of them all, the Federal Reserve monetary policy decision. Since the last time the Federal Reserve cut interest rates the economic... Continue Reading Posted at 7:52 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Jamie Dimon and JP Morgan pick up what's left of Bear Stearns Aaron Smith March 17, 2008 Many people are calling it a bargain, others are calling it an absolute steal, whatever you want to call it Jamie Dimon and JP Morgan have picked up Bear Stearns under circumstances that as recently as last week no one... Continue Reading Posted at 5:03 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar16	Around the investment blogging world Aaron Smith March 16, 2008 It has been a while since we have done any around the investment blogging world, so I thought today would be a great time to get some insight from some great blogs as to what exactly is going on right now.... Continue Reading Posted at 10:20 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Bear Stearns liquidity issues, will they spread? Aaron Smith March 16, 2008 On Friday the story of the day was Bear Stearns and their liquidity issues. The Federal Reserve, along with JP Morgan Chase came to the rescue with emergency funding for the company. The Federal Reserve has taken an unprecedented step... Continue Reading Posted at 9:44 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar13	Spitzer picks Ashley Dupre as his favorite, finally takes the fall Aaron Smith March 13, 2008 Eliot Spitzer made a career out of going after the bad guys, but after the news of this week it has been shown that he was one of the worst guys of all himself. Spitzer started out as the New... Continue Reading Posted at 4:17 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar12	How will gasoline prices affect you? Aaron Smith March 12, 2008 I've written several times already on this blog about how the high gasoline prices across our country are leading toward serious inflation problems in the economy. The affects on the broader economy are very real and they are undeniable, but... Continue Reading Posted at 5:40 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar11	Stocks post biggest jump since 2003, what's next? Aaron Smith March 11, 2008 Today was the day that stocks staged a massive turnaround. Sentiment had gotten extremely negative and a little good news gave buyers some reasons to look for bargains. It also gave short sellers a good reason to take some profits... Continue Reading Posted at 5:25 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar10	Oil prices tearing down the market and economy Aaron Smith March 10, 2008 The daily surge to new all-time highs that has become like clockwork is the breakout that continues to occur in the energy sector. Crude oil prices have absolutely rocketed higher of late, surging another $2.75 today to close at a staggering level of $107.90.... Continue Reading Posted at 6:25 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar 6	Forbes 400 list says Warren Buffett is richest in the world Aaron Smith March 6, 2008 Bill Gates has been surpassed by the most legendary investor of them all as the richest man in the world. Warren Buffett, the most famous investor in the world, saw his fortune rise by $10 billion, reaching a new high of... Continue Reading Posted at 4:46 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar 5	Commodity prices surge, inflation around the corner? Aaron Smith March 5, 2008 It seems there is no stopping the rise in commodity prices of late. Just yesterday the news was about the steep drop in commodity prices due to concerns about economic growth. One day later, and we have hit new highs... Continue Reading Posted at 5:32 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar 3	Warren Buffett speaks out on CNBC, says we are in a recession Aaron Smith March 3, 2008 When Warren Buffett talks, people listen. Today, there was an almost unprecedented amount of access to Warren Buffett and plenty of news was made. This morning CNBC sent Becky Quick to Omaha, Nebraska to be with the Oracle of Omaha.... Continue Reading Posted at 7:33 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Should you buy high growth stocks in recessions? Aaron Smith March 3, 2008 This question is often posed in wall street circles and among the millions of investors throughout the world, should high growth stocks be bought going into and/or during recessions? There are two schools of thought for this issue, which I... Continue Reading Posted at 4:58 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Mar 2	Please- No rash decisions inside those 401k plans Aaron Smith March 2, 2008 In this difficult and trying time in the economy and the stock market, I found it a great time to remind readers of the importance of staying away from rash decisions with your 401k or any type of retirement plan.... Continue Reading Posted at 6:18 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Caution: Don't buy into bad news is good news too much Aaron Smith March 2, 2008 Aside from Friday's massive selloff on the street I have noticed a trend on wall street in the last couple of weeks. The street has gotten into the frame of mind that poor economic news is good news because it... Continue Reading Posted at 10:24 AM \| Permalink \| Comments

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