Inside Apple Stores, a Certain Aura Enchants the Faithful

It was 2 o’clock in the morning but in the subterranean retailing mecca in Midtown Manhattan, otherwise known as the Apple store, it might as well have been midafternoon.

Late one night shortly before Christmas, parents pushed strollers and tourists straight off the plane mingled with nocturnal New Yorkers, clicking through iPod playlists, cruising the Internet on MacBooks, and touch-padding their way around iPhones.

And through the night, cheerful sales staff stayed busy, ringing up customers at the main checkout counter and on hand-held devices in an uninterrupted stream of brick-and-mortar commerce.

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WallStrip Video: 12-31-07 Caterpillar Inc. (CAT)

There’s only one way to find out how Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) is doing so well: strap yourself in to a Cat.

New Year Gift for you !!

Hi,
Here is a book I really like and hope that this book will prove valuable to you also. It is a free PDF e-book. "Think and Grow Rich" by Napolean Hill.

LINK:
[ Right Click and select "Save as" and save the file. It is an Adobe PDF file]

Right Click here and save the file

Happy New Year !!

EnJOY,
SanJOY

2007 marked by historic housing slump

Dec. 28 - 2007 witnessed the worst U.S. housing slump in sixteen years -- triggering $80 billion in writedowns. It wasn't just a slow housing market that negatively impacted financial markets this year-- it was also a meltdown in the sub-prime mortgage market-- that forced more than 200 major U.S. lending operations to drastically cut back their staffs, file for bankruptcy or close their doors completely. Jon Decker reports reuters video

Markets muted as housing looms

Dec. 28 - New home sales fell to their lowest level in twelve years, and sent investors fleeing to the safety to U.S. treasuries. The Dow added 6.26 points, finishing at 13,365.87. The S&P 500 gained 2.12 points, closing at 1,478.49. The Nasdaq shed 2.33 points, finishing at 2,674.46. Diane King reports from New York. REUTERS VIDEO

Wall Street bonus breakdown

Dec. 27 - Bonuses this year were the victims of the subprime market, and the pain was widespread. With the exception of Goldman Sachs, Wall Street had a tough year, and the bonuses reflected that. Bobbi Rebell reports REUTERS VIDEO

12-28-07 Cynosure, Inc. (CYNO)

Cynosure, Inc. (CYNO) can burn your fat and stretch your skin and have you back to work in no time.

U.S. Stocks hold steady

Dec. 26 - U.S. Stocks were little changed, but retail stocks hit a bump on the back of a warning from Target about December same-store sales. The Dow added on 2.36 points to close at 13,551.69
The S&P 500 added 1.21 points to close at 1,497.66
The Nasdaq gained 10.91 points to close at 2,724.41
Diane King reports from New York.REUTERS VIDEO

2007: The subprime meltdown

Dec. 26 - After years of massive credit expansion, the debt industry snapped -- taking down major Wall Street figures and hitting corporations with initial loss estimates in the tens of billions. Investors from Wall St to Main St. were left wondering how it all happened. In the prior six years interest rates were historically low and the housing market was booming. The home mortgage industry doled out loans to subprime or more risky borrowers. Loans with loose terms like no-money down or incredibly low teaser rates. Jeanne Yurman reports.REUTERS VIDEO

GI saves Iraqi boy in long-shot adoption

Hi,


This post is not about Finance or stock markets.

But then, Life is not just about Finance and Stockmarkets !!

Wish You ALL a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

EnJOY,
SanJOY

Capt. Scott Southworth knew he'd face violence, political strife and blistering heat when he was deployed to one of Baghdad's most dangerous areas. But he didn't expect Ala'a Eddeen.


Ala'a was 9 years old, strong of will but weak of body — he suffered from cerebral palsy and weighed just 55 pounds. He lived among about 20 kids with physical or mental disabilities at the Mother Teresa orphanage, under the care of nuns who preserved this small oasis in a dangerous place.


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One Laptop per child

Dec. 21 - A non-profit hopes to help children in impoverished countries by distributing low-cost computers. The first shipment of laptops is on its way to Uruguay and Peru. The foundation is running a special holiday program called "Give One Get One" until December 31. Manoush Zomorodi reports.REUTERS VIDEO

The year in stocks

Dec. 24 - U.S. stocks are eying their fifth straight up year despite wild volatility after a credit market crumble. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with triple-digit moves over 70 times. That's almost 1 in every 3 trading days -- something not seen in at least five years, according to the fact checkers at Dow Jones Indexes.

Conway G. Gittens reports from New York. REUTERS VIDEO

Holiday cheer on Wall Street

Dec. 24 - The markets enjoyed a rally in a shortened pre-Christmas session, with financials helping to lift stocks. A new retail survey found stores that were most aggressive in their discounting were the big winners this holiday season, as shoppers paid close attention to prices.

Bobbi Rebell reports.REUTERS VIDEO

The Bear Flu: How It Spread

When the subprime mortgage market began to unravel late in 2006, global bond markets barely flinched.

But when two Bear Stearns (BSC) hedge funds collapsed in June, the event sparked a global credit crisis that has yet to ease.

New evidence sheds light on how those hedge funds—and their managers—became star players in the subprime bust, the biggest financial disaster in decades.

The revelations also show how other players in the mortgage market adopted the Bear funds' tactics, collectively building a financing structure with many of the hallmarks of a pyramid scheme.


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Lessons From The E*Trade Disaster

According to technical analysis, the price itself was telling you to stay away from this (at least, from the long side!). The best thing you can do if you did lose money on E*Trade (ETFC) is to learn from the experience and apply it to the next trade.


Ranges occur because people come to believe that above a certain price, a stock is too “expensive” and below one, too “cheap”. The longer a trading range remains, the more investors and traders become active participants. And the more participants, the more stop-losses which accumulate near the same obvious price points.


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How Goldman won big on mortgage meltdown

The subprime-mortgage crisis has been a financial catastrophe for much of Wall Street. At Goldman Sachs Group Inc., thanks to a tiny group of traders, it has generated one of the biggest windfalls the securities industry has seen in years.

The group's big bet that securities backed by risky home loans would fall in value generated nearly $4 billion of profits during the year ended Nov. 30, according to people familiar with the firm's finances. Those gains erased $1.5 billion to $2 billion of mortgage-related losses elsewhere in the firm. On Tuesday, despite a terrible November and some of the worst market conditions in decades, analysts expect Goldman to report record net annual income of more than $11 billion.

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Hi-tech for the toddler set

Toddlers want to be just like mom and dad, and this year parents are buying kid friendly gadgets for the little ones.Reuters video

WallStrip Video:12-20-07 HAHA

Wallstrip brings you the first “STOK TIKR SING ALNG” (HAHA).

Oscars week end seminar about Head and shoulders

An educational seminar about Head and Shoulders Pattern

PS:
Not related to DreamTai

WallStrip Video: 12-19-07 Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (CHD)

Thanks to Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (CHD), Wallstrippers don’t have to go a single day without baking soda or condoms.

12-17-07 Facebook

Lindsay gets poked into Facebook.

WallStrip Video: 12-18-07 Sigma-Aldrich Corp. (SIAL)

Sigma-Aldrich Corp. (SIAL): For all of your scientific holiday wishes…

Central Bank Gamble

Dec 13 - A new era for the Federal Reserve as it joins other Central Banks to stem global credit crisis.For Fed chief Ben Bernanke - now nearly two years into the job - the stakes are high.REUTERS VIDEO

Stocks trade lower on mixed data

Dec 13 - U.S. equities edge lower on surprisingly strong retail data and a big jump in wholesale prices. REUTERS VIDEO

WallStrip Video: 12-13-07 Abaxis Inc. (ABAX)

Leslie the vampire helps Abaxis Inc. (ABAX) and Lindsay make a bloody good show.

U.S. Fed provides bank-aid

The Fed will work with other central banks to create a temporary auction facility that banks can use to secure short term loans. Fred Katayama reports.REUTERS VIDEO

Roller coaster trading session

Stocks took dramatic swings in Wednesday's trading session, finally ending with modest gains. REUTERS VIDEO

WallStrip Video: 12-12-07 Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

One Johnson just isn’t enough for Lindsay. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

Wall street declines as Feds cut rate

Dec. 11 - A big decline on Wall Street as the Fed cuts interest rates again, but less than some had expected. The US central bank cut interest rates for a third straight time -- lowering the fed funds rate another quarter point to four and a-quarter percent. Many on Wall Street had been betting that a half point cut would be what the economy needed to help it climb out of a housing slump and a sub-prime mortgage mess. REUTERS VIDEO

Fed Rate Cut Disappoints

Dec. 11 - In its final meeting of 2007, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for a third straight time. But Wall Street is saying "It's just not enough".REUTERS VIDEO

WallStrip Video: 12-11-07 Cepheid (CPHD)

Ring around the rosies, a pocketful of posies. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down. Cepheid (CPHD)

WallStrip Video:12-10-07 Shutterfly, Inc. (SFLY)

Today, Wallstrip joins Lindsay on her most recent photography project. Shutterfly, Inc. (SFLY)

Fannie Mae could face more losses

(Fortune) -- Could Fannie Mae be the next large financial company to announce billions of dollars of market losses on bonds backed by distressed mortgages?

That certainly seems possible after the government-sponsored mortgage giant announced plans Tuesday to bolster capital by selling $7 billion of new stock and cut its dividend by 30%. In a statement Tuesday on the capital plan, Fannie Mae said it faced a range of mortgage-related losses, including market losses on the securities it holds



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11/02/07 Weekend Webinar - Outdated but Educational

Another Oscar web seminar..It is a bit outdated (November 2, 2007), still very educative.
Great job, Oscar!!

Wall Street quiet ahead of Fed

Dec. 7 - U.S. stocks barely moved on Friday as signs of a strong labor market offset consumer concerns and investors prepared for at least a quarter-point rate cut.The Dow rose 5 points to 13,625. The S&P 500 slipped 2 points to 1,504. The Nasdaq dipped 2 points to 2,706. Crude oil prices fell to close at $88.28 a barrel.REUTERS VIDEO

2008 investment outlook "cloudy" -analysts

Dec 7 - The investment horizon looks unclear, at least for the first half of 2008, as turmoil in the housing and credit markets threaten to offset a series of rate cuts.The Federal Reserve has signaled its willingness to rescue the economy, but can it rescue a five-year bull run in equities that is showing signs of fatigue? REUTERS VIDEO

WallStrip Video:12-7-07 Wallstrip Chat: Barry Ritholtz

Lindsay sits down with Barry Ritholtz, editor of The Big Picture and CEO of FusionIQ, to discuss how to fix the economy and why most free-market economists are communists in disguise.

A Movie and Protesters Single Out Henry Kravis

Bells will be ringing, and carolers will be greeting the Upper East Side neighbors of Henry Kravis this morning.

It may be Christmastime, but the revelers are not there to embrace the holiday. They will be outside the apartment of Mr. Kravis, a founder of the buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, for a sidewalk screening of the first of a series of short films crusading against private equity firms. Passers-by can catch the film on high-technology sandwich boards being worn by protesters.

The movie, “The War on Greed, Starring the Homes of Henry Kravis,” is a tongue-in-cheek story — think “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” meets “Roger & Me” — detailing Mr. Kravis’s homes and lifestyle, juxtaposed against the homes and incomes of working families.


CLICK HERE TO READ MORE....

Henry Kravis makes $57,000 PER HOUR. You pay more taxes.

http://warongreed.org/

Henry Kravis is a billionaire, the 57th richest person in America. He acquired this wealth by purchasing public companies with borrowed money. To pay off the debt, he cuts benefits at the company, sells its assets, and lays off employees.

This get-rich-quick scheme made him $450 million last year. Meanwhile, his tax rate is lower than teachers, firemen, nurses, even his own cleaning staff!

Yet everyday we hear another story, we live another experience, we see another example of the horrific economic pain our country is being devastated by.

It's time all of us started a WAR ON GREED. http://warongreed.org

WallStrip Video: 12-6-07 Arthrocare Corp. (ARTC)

Arthrocare Corp. (ARTC) sells some of the best medical devices around. It’s too bad they don’t lock them away better…

Every Breath You Take :

Columbia Business School's Dean Glenn Hubbard sings about wanting Alan Greenspan's job that went instead to New Fed Chair Ben Bernanke.

Parody created by Columbia Business School students.

Short term trading with Oscar : 200 Days Average Line Webinar

Wow!! What a guy !! I really love Oscar's style of teaching, energy and enthusiasm.
Like the 200 days moving average, the 20 days and the 50 days moving averages are also really powerful.
That is why, we have the 50 days and the 20 days moving average in DreamTai as a filter. If the stock price is above the 50 day moving average and the 20 day moving average lines (The blue line and the pink line) then it is in an up trend.


Oscar is a short term professional trader. He is not related to DreamTai. You can find his web site at http://www.LIVEWITHOSCAR.COM

Stocks climb as recession fears ease

Dec 5 - Wall Street snapped two-days of selling with a strong force as strong signs from the labor market soothed worries the U.S. economy is slipping into a recession.
REUTERS VIDEO

Clinton: Wall St. must share blame

Dec 5 - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Wall Street was partly to blame for the subprime mortgage mess.Sen. Clinton of New York urged the investment community to back a five-year freeze on resets of interest rates on subprime home loans.

Fred Katayama reports from the NASDAQ Marketsite in New York. Reuters video

WallStrip Video:12-5-07 Google Inc. (GOOG)

How do you get to Google’s campus in California? Innovate, innovate, innovate. Google Inc. (GOOG)

Use ETFs to hedge your bets

It's possible to buy exchange-traded funds for downside protection, cushioning the blow when your stocks drop. Here's how to build a hedge of your own.

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Innovating Our Way to Financial Crisis

The financial crisis that began late last summer, then took a brief vacation in September and October, is back with a vengeance.

How bad is it? Well, I’ve never seen financial insiders this spooked — not even during the Asian crisis of 1997-98, when economic dominoes seemed to be falling all around the world.

This time, market players seem truly horrified — because they’ve suddenly realized that they don’t understand the complex financial system they created.

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Subprime Debacle Traps Even Very Credit-Worthy

One common assumption about the subprime mortgage crisis is that it revolves around borrowers with sketchy credit who couldn't have bought a home without paying punitively high interest rates. But it turns out that plenty of people with seemingly good credit are also caught in the subprime trap.

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The dollar's perfect storm worsens

Europe's inflation is likely to prompt its central bank to raise interest rates -- five days before the Fed is expected to lower them here. That's bad news for the buck

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Credit woes keep stocks down

Dec 4 - U.S. stocks finished lower for the second consecutive session on growing fears the credit crunch is spreading beyond financials to threaten economic growth.REUTERS VIDEO

Dawn of a Solar Age?

Solar power may soon be cost-effective for US businesses and consumers thanks to new technologies. Germany leads the world in solar power consumption but as the price of conventional power rises in the US, energy alternatives like solar power are intriguing investment firms. Solar is finally being taken seriously in the US.

Manoush Zomorodi reports.Reuters Video

Big rally doesn't mean all is well

Investors have jumped at shadows before and lost out on profits. But not all shadows are cast by imaginary monsters. Earnings reports will get worse soon, so don't get too excited by the past week's rally.

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Download SnagIt for Free - Full Licensed Version

In addition to distributing free Camtasia Studio licenses, TechSmith is now giving away retail editions of SnagIt screen capture software for free - no strings attached.

Other than regular screenshots, SnagIt can capture scrolling long web pages, extract text from windows, annotate images and more. Read detailed SnagIt review.



CLICK HERE TO GO TO DOWNLOAD PAGE...

Have Investors Learned Their LBO Lessons?

In tracking buyouts over the past few decades, S&P finds that dealmakers are taking on ever-higher levels of risk

Leveraged buyouts are the amazing process of using other people's money to take control of a company. You can easily parlay a modest investment into a large enterprise if you know what you're doing and the timing is right. For example, in the 1980s, financial sponsors were able to finance LBOs by contributing a modest investment of 10% to 15% and borrowing the rest.

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Banking: This Disaster Was Guaranteed

Money-back assurances on subprime-linked securities are costing some leading banks billions

Although refund policies have long been standard practice for retailers, they've rarely been given for financial investments--and for good reason.

A closer look at the mortgage meltdown reveals Citigroup (C) and other big banks offered a type of money-back guarantee to buyers of nearly $100 billion of subprime mortgage-linked securities, according to a BusinessWeek analysis.

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Factory data sink Wall St.: (Dec 3)

Dec 3 - U.S. stocks posted modest losses after a national manufacturing survey showed growth stalled at a January low and traders doubted a plan in the works that could help clean-up the subprime mess REUTERS VIDEO

WallStrip Video: 12-4-07 Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ONXX)

Is life worth living? That depends on the liver… and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ONXX).

Video game sales rock solid

Video game sales are looking rock solid this holiday season, thanks to smash hits like Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band. Guitar Hero 3 is the veteran-- the third edition of a solid performer released by game maker Activision. Rock Band, distributed by Electronic Arts, is the rising star. Bobbi Rebell reports.REUTERS VIDEO

Stock Market Status as of Sunday Dec 2, 2007

All the indices are at the critical point. If they cross over the 50 day moving average, the trend will turn bullish. Or else, they can drop down again back to bearishness.

DOW JONES INDEX




SPY



DIA



QQQQ




GOOG

Google touched the 50 day moving average and bounced back up again.





AAPL
Apple also touched the 50 day moving average and bounced back up again.

Reuters Business Week

Nov. 30 - November was the worst month for the Dow and the S&P 500 in 5 years, but things looked more promising at month's end as hope for lower interest rates spurred end-of-the month buying. The Federal Reserve provided a clear sign it could ease interest rates in December. Oil prices tumbled $10 as supply fears retreat
Citigroup to sell $7-1/2 billion stake to Abu Dhabi investment vehicle
Mixed signals from consumers as they spend less in retail outlets, but spend more online.

SPEAKER: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke

Conway G. Gittens reports from New York REUTERS VIDEO