Bounce??

We are looking for a bounce today after the market sold off hard in the last 6 sessions. As always, stick to the basics of fundamentally solid companies!!!

Institutional Buying

The levels of "Institutional Trades," which are trades of larger than 10,000 shares purchased or sold, have actually been on the buy side over the last several days. This is generally a positive indicator for the market. With all of the uncertainty in the world and the recent negative market moves, it seems unlikely that a move to the upside is in the near future. A very smart investor once said that "You buy when there is blood in the streets." Take a look at quality positions in companies that have great balance sheets and don't be afraid to allocate there.

PIIGS are still Pigs

Putting Lipstick on PIIGS doesn't make the economy instantly better. The so-called PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain) and the European common currency were slaughtered last week. But, over the weekend, Europeans developed unprecedented measures that have succeeded—so far at least—in reversing the earlier panic. The most volatile day in over 25 years occurred last week when the market fell by more than 1000pts to rally back 700.

BP Oil Spill

With the BP problem in the gulf, the long-term ramifications of the environmental impact cannot be predicted. Cleanup costs are currently being estimated at 10 billion with BP being responsible for 65% of the cost. I believe that it is very likely that the costs will be double the estimate based on the proximity to the light sand beaches that are going to bear the brunt of the oil spill. There are several "talking heads" out there that believe BP is currently undervalued and that is probably true. Although value is usually in the eye of the beholder, in this case carefull investors.