CSCEC China IPO may be signs of bubble, reuters says

The stronger-than-expected debut for China State Construction Engineering Corp's $7.3 billion IPO showed China's booming markets are drawing investors, but it heightened concerns about a speculative stock market bubble forming.

The IPO, the world's largest in a year, surged 56 percent in its Shanghai debut on Wednesday, while building materials groupBBMG enjoyed the strongest listing in Hong Kong this year as ample investor funds chased exposure to Beijing's infrastructure stimulus spending.

Despite the strong debut, the mainland's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 5 percent in its biggest one-day drop this year, after a 90 percent year-to-date surge that had prompted Beijing to reopen its IPO pipeline last month.

The rally has been fuelled by a surge in lending from state-linked banks aimed at helping the economy recover.

Daily Market Notes July 17, 2009

PSEI CLOSED due to strong rains

DOW 95.61 +1.11% 8,711.82
NASDAQ 22.13 +1.19% 1,885.03
S&P 500 8.06 +0.86% 940.74

CNBC: Stocks closed higher after a staging a late rally triggered partly by positive comments from the economist known as "Doctor Doom."After drifting for most of the session, the market began climbing when Reuters reported that Nouriel Roubini, a longtime pessimist, said the recession could be over by the end of the year

PSE Circular: Please be informed that trading today has been suspended due to lack of clearing facilities; government offices have been suspended, including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, due to inclement weather.  

However, Nouriel Roubini talked to CNBC again after markets closed Thursday that earlier reports claiming he sees an end to the recession this year were "taken out of context."

Evil of Capitalism presented in House of Cards CNBC special by Mark Faber

I've watched the CNBC special, "House of Cards" twice and the conclusion I came to only reinforces what we already know but choose to forget: "capitalism is evil".

The show's tagline goes "The economic crisis that has befallen much of the world was born from a credit crisis with roots in the U.S. housing market. It was there that homeowners, mortgage brokers, investment bankers and regulators built a house of cards. Its collapse has rippled throughout the world. Resolving the complex crisis is difficult."

Mark Faber goes out of his way to interview a lot of people to try to get to the root of all this cdo subprime mess.  In his quest for the truth, it was ascertained that former Fed Chairman Greenspan had a hand in making the cost of borrowing too cheap and encouraging people to spend beyond their means.  Read more... (410 words, 2 images, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Rick Sentelli incites bailout revolt

A different kind of no-hold-barred commentator than that asshole Jim Cramer, Rick Sentelli's opinion frequently made sense to me in a non arrogant sort of way.

Sentelli basically protests ordinary ungreedy investor who need to bail out deadbeats who borrowed too much and can't pay for these now that the shit has hit the fan.

One blogger writes, Santelli’s criticism of the mortgage bailout plan is dead on: The plan treats borrowers who sacrificed to pay their mortgages on time the same as those who used their equity for a boat and stopped paying their loans. This moral hazard sends a clear message to our children that they can avoid the consequences of their actions. But this is only one reason the plan is bad policy. Others include:

After so many bottom calls, somebody’s bound to get it right sometime

More than a month after our article on Buffett calling a buy but won't define bottom,  a lot of articles appeared calling their own versions of bottoms.  This latest one is from cnbc.

Stocks Giving More Signs Of Nearing Market Bottom

You never know when a market hits bottom until well after the fact, but there have been a series of hints over the past few weeks that stock market investors may be flirting with one.

For one thing, volatility is easing.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, is down about 8 percent for the month and around 38 percent below its 2008 peak hit last month.  Read more... (781 words, estimated 3:07 mins reading time)

Fox news against CNBC’s choice in calling Jim Cramer their Financial Guru

Fox News all but wages war on CNBC commentator Jim Cramer in their latest ad which focuses on bad advice regarding Wachovia that Cramer apologized for and his dire warnings about the market on the Today show earlier this week.

"The last thing you need is bad advice. The last thing you need is CNBC's Jim Cramer," warns the ad.

The promos are running on FBN and FNC, as well as through local avails on CNBC in many of the biggest markets (including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles). The print ads ran in the New York Times and Wall St. Journal today, in the National section.