Monday, March 25, 2013

Are We Near A Stock Market Selloff?




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Bankrate Inc (NYSE: RATE)

Bankrate, Inc. publishes, aggregates, and distributes personal finance content on the Internet. The company distributes its content and rate information through its online network consisting of Bankrate.com, its flagship Website that aggregates rate information on approximately 300 financial products, and other personal finance Websites; provides Web services to approximately 75 co-branded partners comprising personal finance sites on the Internet; and licenses editorial content to approximately 100 newspapers on a daily basis. Its products and services include providing information on rates for various types of mortgages, home lending, and refinancing options; original articles that cover topics, such as trends in housing markets and refinancing perspectives; and rate information on various deposit products that comprise money market accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as online analytic tools to calculate investment value using customized inputs. The company also offers insurance quotes for auto, business, home, life, health, and long-term care. In addition, it provides credit card information and comparison capabilities, and allows consumers to search for cards; and information on retirement, taxes, auto, and debt management.
To analyze Bankrate's stock for potential trading opportunities, please take a look at the 1-year chart of RATE (Bankrate, Inc.) below with my added notations:
1-year chart of RATE (Bankrate, Inc.) RATE has been trending sideways for the last (5) months. As the stock has bounced along, it has formed a couple of key price levels to watch. The first is the $10 level (blue) that has acted as support on a couple of occasions. The other is the $12 level (red) that RATE is currently trading just above and should act as support on any pullbacks.
The Tale of the Tape: RATE's main level to watch at this time is $12. A long position could be entered at the $12 support with a stop placed below that level. A short play could be made on a break below $12 with an expectation of a fall back down to the $10 level.

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Sprawling and struggling: Poverty hits America's suburbs

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Like many Americans who move to the suburbs, Tara Simons came to West Hartford because she wanted her daughter to grow up in a nice, safe place with good schools.

Her fall from a more financially secure suburban life to one among the working poor also happened for the same reason it’s happened to so many others. She had a bout of unemployment and couldn’t find a new job that paid very well.

As a single mother, that’s made it hard to hold on to the suburban life that is, in her mind, key to making sure her daughter gets off to the right start.

“I’m basically paying to say I live in West Hartford,” she said. “It is worth it.”

It’s a struggle that many Americans bruised by the weak economy can relate to.

The number of suburban residents living in poverty rose by nearly 64 percent between 2000 and 2011, to about 16.4 million people, according to a Brookings Institution analysis of 95 of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. That’s more than double the rate of growth for urban poverty in those areas.  (more)

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Who Is Buying U.S. Treasuries?



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Paul Craig Roberts: Triple Bubble Implosion Coming



Paul Craig Roberts former head of policy at Department of Treasury under Reagan, and the editor at The Wall Street Journal, founder of Institute for Political Economy, and prolific author. We speak about the crashing economy and why it is collapsing, austerity, corruption, Greece, the IMF, and Paul explains some of the complexities of the ill fated money system that is destroying us. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts says, "It's not just unconstitutional, murder is illegal." When it comes to drone strikes on U.S. citizens suspected of terror, everyone should be concerned. Roberts says, "Now the principle is if the government says you are guilty, you are—period. No evidence is needed for your termination." Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with Dr. Paul Craig Roberts.

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Fitch poised to cut UK's AAA rating soon

(Reuters) - Britain looked poised to lose its AAA rating from a second ratings agency after Fitch Ratings warned on Friday it was likely to downgrade the country in the coming weeks, citing high government debt levels and weak growth.

A month since Britain was downgraded by Moody's, Fitch put the country on review and said a downgrade was a heightened possibility. A decision is due by the end of April, Fitch said in a statement.

Sterling fell sharply, dropping half a cent against the dollar.

The review announcement comes hard on the heels of the government's annual budget this week, which halved Britain's growth forecast for this year and raised borrowing projections.

The move by Fitch was not unexpected but will be another setback for finance minister George Osborne. He has staked his reputation on repairing Britain's public finances and had promised to protect its triple-A rating.

Britain's finance ministry, which is three years into an austerity plan, said Fitch's announcement showed "there are no easy answers to problems built up over many years".

"But we are, slowly but surely, fixing our country's economic problems," a Treasury spokesman said, citing a reduction by one third of the budget deficit and the creation of 1.25 million jobs since the government took office in 2010.  (more)

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Is A Gasoline Price Hike Coming?



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US Weekly Economic Calendar

time (et) report period Actual CONSENSUS
forecast
previous
MONDAY, march 25
  None scheduled        
TUESDAY, MARCH 26
8:30 am Durable goods orders Feb.   4.6% -4.9%
9 am Case-Shiller home price index Jan.   -- 6.8% (y-o-y)
10 am Consumer confidence March   66.0 69.6
10 am New home sales Feb.   420,000 437,000
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27
10 am Pending home sales Feb.   -- 4.5%
THURSDAY, MARCH 28
8:30 am  Weekly jobless claims  3-23
340,000 336,000
8:30 am GDP revision 4Q   0.6% 0.1%
9:45 am Chicago PMI March   56.0 56.5
FRIDAY, MARCH 29
8:30 am Personal income Feb.
1.0% -3.6%
8:30 am Consumer spending Feb.   0.6% 0.2%
9:55 am Consumer sentiment March   73.0 71.8
 
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