Michael Ashton

E-PIPHANY

Contributor since: 26 Feb 2010

Contact Contributor

• Food Fights

  Published 11 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  A day after oil prices spiked, they turned around and plunged. The net effect was small: +$2.49 on Friday, -$2.87 on Monday (although at this…

• Tragic Comedy

  Published 08 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  There were two tremors today, but the one that was expected is likely the one which will have bigger long-term effects. The unexpected tremor was…

• It's A Big Graveyard

  Published 06 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  For some time now, the markets have been 'whistling past the graveyard,' impressively ignoring and/or shrugging off a fair pile of news that ought definitely…

• The Fed's Latest Word On Inflation

  Published 05 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  As I look with ever more confusion at the equity market, I am thankful that my expertise after all is in the bond market. Sure,…

• Disciplined or Delusional?

  Published 04 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  If you feel as if this comment has become a little less regular over recent days, it is because it has. Partly, that is because…

• Take Me Out - Going To The Ballgame

  Published 01 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  The day before Employment is often a quiet day, and today it also happened to be the Yankees' home opener.[1] Had it not been quarter-end…

• When Velocity Feels Like Acceleration

  Published 29 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Continuing the list of exciting news that equity investors consider to be bullish, today the debt of Portugal and Greece were downgraded by S&P, and…

• Deranged, Faithful, or Phony?

  Published 28 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Happy days are here again! Well, perhaps not. Over the weekend riots in London's Trafalgar Square highlighted the fact that unrest over government cutbacks is…

• The Least-Ugly Sister

  Published 24 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  It's good to be the least-ugly sister. American markets powered ahead again today, despite ongoing tensions in Europe and very bad economic data. Stocks rallied…

• Ask Not For Whom The Toll Toils

  Published 23 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  The good news about housing is that it has fallen so far that a contraction in that sector doesn't have the same impact it once…

• Taking A Punch

  Published 22 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Many things have happened since I last wrote, on the day of CPI. Libya declared a cease-fire. Libya immediately violated its own cease-fire. A number…

• Still More Regime Change?

  Published 17 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  A second surprise higher on inflation was the most significant event of the day from the standpoint of U.S. investors. It also was completely ignored.…

• Cracking The Containment Vessel on Inflation?

  Published 16 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  ...and now, I'm supposed to be a nuclear engineer? Financial engineering is in some ways similar to nuclear engineering, which is one reason we use…

• America The Irrelevant

  Published 16 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  It is a bit bewildering as a predominantly U.S. analyst to spend every day analyzing events in different parts of the world. Of course, the…

• Surrounded

  Published 14 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  The American economy and markets are now beset East as well as West. Battle still rages in Libya and Saudi troops moved into Bahrain as…

• Dreams and Nightmares of Debt

  Published 10 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  The stock market fell, fairly hard. The S&P ended the day down 1.9%, just a smidge above the lows from late Feb although the actual…

• The High And Flighty

  Published 09 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Wednesday was another day without any scheduled economic releases of note; it was not, though, a day which needed it since there were some interesting…

• General Versus Specific

  Published 08 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Stocks jumped 0.9% in what has become a rather normal response to a decline: an aggressive, almost in-your-face rally with (often) little provocation other than…

• Where Is The Breaking Point?

  Published 07 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  A small aftershock is rippling through EU bond markets these days. Today Moody's downgraded Greece 3 notches to B1, citing lagging tax collections and "implementation…

• Core Inflation And Hard-Core Unemployment

  Published 06 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  The Employment data released today are relatively clearer than the data we have seen over the last couple of months. When we're discussing economic data,…