Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:17:13 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Dan Dorfman :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Dan+Dorfman istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/bailout-could-spur-a-new-gold-rush/86693/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST A James Bond villain who would be overjoyed today if he hadn't met the fate of all 007 adversaries is Goldfinger. The words vary, but that's essentially the message from several market watchers who say they see sizable market risk in Uncle Sam's bailout — a $700 billion rescue package they call heavily flawed, strongly indicating the prospects of further dollar weakness and higher inflation. That, in turn, could trigger a new gold rush. One money manager critical of the rescue package, Leonard... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/for-against-uncle-sams-bailout/86297/ Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The exact details have yet to be spelled out, but an internationally known global money manager, Jim Rogers, a transplanted New Yorker now residing in Singapore, is denouncing Uncle Sam's estimated $700 billion rescue package, saying he's convinced the fallout from the bailout would be disastrous. "It's astonishing, devastating, and very harmful for America and American citizens," he tells me. "It means we're in for the worst recession since World War II, as well as higher long-term interest... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/echoes-of-the-1987-crash/86246/ Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Lost in the intense focus on the current financial crisis is a major new market risk that appears to be developing — investor capitulation, a situation in which many investors, fed up with mounting losses, say enough is enough and throw in the towel. While such capitulation helps clear the air, over the short term it's often a forerunner of big declines in stock prices and even market crashes. "There's a very real danger we're in the early stages of it," a veteran San Francisco money manager... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/rescue-plan-may-not-rescue-wall-street/86772/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST News of the $700 billion rescue package intended to bail out the country's floundering financial system was greeted with both cheer and fear by Wall Street's fraternity of market-watchers. The cheer stems from a belief that the rescue plan is a much-needed confidence builder. The fear reflects the awareness that, Washington's life preserver notwithstanding, there is no overnight cure for the bevy of ills that have plagued markets since last October, stripping it of more than $3 trillion of... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/will-crisis-spread-to-other-sectors/85816/ Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST With government and Wall Street officials working feverishly over the weekend to rescue ailing Lehman Brothers Holdings through the sale of parts or all of its assets, the big worry among Street pros is how many more troubled companies will holler for federal help following the bailouts of Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. A host of names have popped up, including brokerage king Merrill Lynch, insurance giant American International Group, and the country's biggest savings and loan... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/icahn-danger-ahead/85724/ Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST "It ain't over till it's over," Yogi Berra famously said, and Carl Icahn agrees. Unlike many of his Wall Street colleagues, the billionaire investor didn't greet Uncle Sam's bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with newfound optimism. Nor does he share the belief prevalent in some quarters that the beleaguered market is nearing a bottom after an 11-month plunge in which it lost about $3 trillion in value. Why such a gloomy Gus? "Because we're far from out of the woods and it... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/time-to-replace-bric-with-brac/85316/ Mon, 8 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Here's a bold recommendation on overseas investing from veteran investment adviser Stephen Leeb: Replace the BRIC countries with the BRAC. The BRIC nations are Brazil, Russia, India, and China, four rapidly growing economies that have drawn big bucks from American investors. They are good investment choices, but BRAC — Brazil, Russia, Australia, and Canada — are better. Mr. Leeb is replacing India and China with Australia and Canada because the latter are rich in resources and offer more... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/beware-september-october-jinx/85269/ Fri, 5 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The struggling stock market is facing another potential source of woe: the September and October jinx. Dating all the way back to 1929, September is the worst month of the year for the stock market, with losses averaging more than 1% a year, and once as much as 11%. October, in turn, has produced numerous devastating crashes, the biggest being the 22.6%, 508-point stumble on October 19, 1987, since dubbed Black Monday. "Just check the facts and you'll see for yourself. It's probably one of the... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/mergers-acquisitions-surge-may-spur-markets/85108/ Wed, 3 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST America's mergers and acquisitions craze — a major market catalyst that virtually vanished about a year ago amid the rapidly expanding credit crisis — may be mounting a comeback, Wall Street pros say. Evidence that a more feverish M&A pace is taking shape includes the Korea Development Bank's confirmation yesterday that it is considering injecting capital into struggling investment bank Lehman Brothers, possibly joining a number of other overseas banks making sizable investments in big American... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/investors-may-want-to-take-a-passage-to-india/84881/ Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Jittery investors are racing to temper their losses by seeking hiding places in some of the fastest-growing overseas markets until the shakeout is over in America. It's a dangerous game of international hide-and-seek, as markets around the globe are taking a thumping this year. China, for example, is down more than 50% since October, while India has fallen about 29% this year and Russian has been pounded lately in the wake of its invasion of Georgia and amid mounting fears of a conflict with... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/energy-stocks-oil-drop-may-be-over/84522/ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST A former adviser to Carl Icahn in hostile takeover attempts of such oil biggies as Texaco and Phillips Petroleum, Alan Gaines, says he is not buying into the Wall Street view that the run-up in the prices of crude and energy stocks is nearly over. On Friday, when oil tumbled more than $6 a barrel, to $114.59 — the biggest one-day decline since mid-January 1991 — many energy pros took it as a sign that oil and energy stocks, which mirror the movement in oil prices, are in hot water. Mr. Gaines... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/forecasts-for-the-markets-turn-ultra-bearish/84396/ Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST In August 2007, when I last caught up with David Tice — the president of the Prudent Bear Fund, a Dallas-based $1.7 billion mutual fund that caters to bearish investors — the Dow Jones Industrial Average was in the 13,000s, and the 53-year-old money manager told me that the market faced major problems. At the time, he said, "I would sell all stocks now." His timing was somewhat off, but basically he captured the mood and direction of the market, as the Dow scooted to an all-time high of 14,164... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/wall-street-frets-over-cuban-missile-crisis/84066/ Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST While Russia and Georgia have agreed to a truce, albeit an uneasy one at best, the rapidly deteriorating relations between America and the Kremlin are adding a frightening new worry: speculation in financial circles both here and overseas that Russian missiles could reappear in Cuba, just 40 miles from Florida's shores. Addressing himself to these reports, Mark Leibovit, a veteran analyst and Internet commentator on events that could affect the financial markets, took note of the missile... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/russian-assault-raises-market-risks/83982/ Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST For the moment, at least, Wall Street is greeting the Russian invasion of Georgia and the Kremlin's broken promises of a cease-fire and a withdrawal of its troops from the former Soviet state as just ho-hum. Oil prices, in particular, have been falling despite the invasion, with light, sweet crude down $0.99 yesterday, to close at $115 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A former Merrill Lynch strategist, Bill Rhodes, argues that Wall Street's dismissal of the burgeoning conflict in... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/prescription-for-an-ailing-market/83574/ Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The stock market's latest roller-coaster ride, a wicked 224-point loss in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday followed by a rousing 302-point gain on Friday, is a loud-and-clear signal that if you want to preserve your assets, this is the time for defense and safety, not offense and risk. So what's a sound prescription for beleaguered stock players anxious to protect their wealth, minimize their losses, and possibly even make a buck in the process? According to Morgan Stanley, you... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/oils-skid-makes-bulls-of-bears/83453/ Fri, 8 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Although Wall Street is suffering through a slew of worries — among them failing banks, volatile credit markets, slowing worldwide economies, housing slumps, rising inflation, and mounting job losses — some market insiders who have been bearish are now reversing themselves. The reasons are Tuesday's monster 331-point rally in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the recent skid in oil prices, and indications from the Federal Reserve that there would be no more rate hikes this year. Among the bears... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/wall-streets-energy-romance-fading/83080/ Mon, 4 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Love affairs die fast on Wall Street. Take energy stocks, everyone's darlings early this year, when the price of oil passed $100 a barrel. After that milestone, many energy shares boomed, racking up gains of as much as 30% to 50% as oil surged to a mid-July record of $147.27. But then many tumbled as oil reversed course, skidding to the low 120s. Indicative of a love affair turned sour, last month the S&P 500 energy index fell 14%, its biggest monthly decline since Standard & Poor's began... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/wanted-a-panic-to-slay-the-bear/83037/ Fri, 1 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The rousing two-day rally in the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 452 points undoubtedly lifted the spirits of many bloodied investors, although yesterday's tumble of more than 200 points may have put a damper on the optimism. And yesterday's downturn may be just what's needed. One savvy Florida investment adviser, Michael Larson, contends that a scary, drastic, and painful action is needed to restore investor confidence and get them back into a sustained buying mood. That action is a... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/doomsday-warning-from-the-heavens/82708/ Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST As if there weren't enough economic and stock market bears around, we've got some new ones — the moon, the sun, and the stars. That's what I discovered over the weekend in pursuing a response to an unhappy reader, Hal Simmonds, who wrote me, "Why don't you lighten up and chill out. You're way too bearish. The world is not going over the cliff. I just finished reading your front-page piece [last Friday's column on a Standard & Poor's study] predicting another 12% market decline. I can only... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/this-bear-market-may-have-more-bite/82642/ Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Yesterday's wicked 283-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average lends renewed credence to the increasingly worrisome view that the bear market may have a lot more teeth. Supporting this argument is an intriguing study by the chief investment strategist of Standard & Poor's, Sam Stovall, which looks at more than half a century of data to conclude it's far too soon for the bear to hibernate. Last week's three-day, 528-point jump in the Dow may have been little more than a short-lived... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/industrials-pegged-as-next-to-falter/82268/ Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST In a market riddled with fear and uncertainty, it is understandable that SOSs are flashing all over Wall Street. They're especially conspicuous from brokerage research departments, whose latest alerts are rife with warnings to jittery investors about the next potential shoes to drop. Such action raises a critical question: With one sector after another getting smashed in the latest bear market — chief among them financial companies, real estate-related firms, automakers, retailers, and airlines... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/the-dow-at-7200-superbears-scary-roar/82182/ Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST "The bear is dead; long live the bull." The words varied, but that was the prevalent message — or perhaps hope — throughout Wall Street following Wednesday's 207-point surge in the Dow Industrials and yesterday's spirited follow-up stock buying. In brief, the market's renewed strength, spurred largely by a sudden retreat in the price of oil from the recent all-time high, has created the belief a major and sustained rally is under way. Such a view is hardly astonishing, as most Street pros rate... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/reality-bites-economic-fairy-tales/81760/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST An increasing number of signs suggest the widely projected recession — as officially heralded by two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth — may be finally under way. Likewise the deteriorating economy is poised to soften even more, with no end expected to the swelling job losses, 438,000 of which have been recorded so far this year. That's what I hear from Wall Street's economic fraternity. As a result, their bevy of cheery economic forecasts earlier this year — notably, for a... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/survival-ideas-for-a-bear-market/81670/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST In this increasingly dangerous bear market — each passing trading session makes it look like a free fall — where does one turn for protection? That's the $64,000 riddle confronting investors. Clearly, nothing is invulnerable in a steadily falling market, but the name of the game in such an environment is to latch on to investments that can limit the downside. In search of a bear market survival kit, I raised the protection issue with five pros, some of whom believe the market's 20%-plus... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/yes-stocks-will-rally-but-beware/81326/ Mon, 7 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST After being stung by wicked drops in the Dow Jones Industrial Average — nearly 3,000 points in the past 12 months, including an abysmal showing in the first half of the year — Wall Street pros are expecting the arrival of a market rally. They are absolutely right to do so: Stocks simply don't go down forever. The key question about any rebound, though, is its staying power. "There is no staying power right now," a Los Angeles money manager, Arnold Silver, says. "There are too many obstacles and... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/city-faces-more-anguish-at-the-pump/81228/ Thu, 3 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Every driver is experiencing pain at the gas pump, but the anguish is more severe in New York City, where prices are among the highest in the nation. The latest figures from the American Automobile Association show that prices for city residents are running nearly 6% to 10% higher than the national average on grades of gasoline ranging from regular unleaded to diesel fuel. Across the city, for example, prices now are: o$4.38 a gallon for regular unleaded, versus $4.08 nationally. o$4.69 for... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/new-threat-the-obama-market/80913/ Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST As if investors didn't have enough to worry about, a new land mine is lurking: "the Obama market." That's what I heard over the weekend from a veteran investment adviser, Charles Allmon. "Political ramifications represent a significant added market risk that should not be ignored," he says. Initial polling suggests that Senator Obama will be the next president, a view Mr. Allmon shares. An Obama presidency is certain to mean a big tax increase, he says. He also points to the likelihood that the... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/bears-see-darker-outlook-for-bad-news-banks/80825/ Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST One of the most outspoken bears, global money manager Jim Rogers, who boasts a strong international following, is not only gloomier than ever, but he's warning that the bloodbath in the financial sector is far from over. He re-enforces the growing view that we're now in the reign of the bear. Mr. Rogers, 62, who last August packed his bags, left New York City, and moved with his family to Singapore, told me the other day in an interview: "I wouldn't buy an American stock." Even scarier, he says... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/chances-slim-for-a-fed-rate-cut-insiders-say/80489/ Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Hidden land mines, a perennial Wall Street risk, may apply Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve wraps up a two-day meeting to determine whether it will raise short-term rates. An informal poll by yours truly, however, finds that any rate hike is unlikely, a conclusion seconded by the Fed fund futures, which suggest an 8% shot of a boost. "I doubt there will be a rate increase," a Los Angeles money manager, Arnold Silver of A. Silver Associates, says, "but if I'm wrong, there will be hell to pay... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/shock-market-lightning-strikes/80416/ Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Sure things die fast on Wall Street. Take Wednesday, when Goldman Sachs reported better-than-expected results prior to the opening, prompting many pros on TV's morning business shows to predict a strong, up market that day. They spoke as though it was practically a sure thing. It wasn't. The Dow tumbled 108 points as Goldman Sachs declared banks would have to raise $65 billion in new capital. In response, money manager Tom Postin quipped: "This isn't a stock market any more; it's a shock market... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/investing-small-is-beautiful/80040/ Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST If we're to believe such financial honchos as the chief of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, and the CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., James Dimon, the worst of the credit crisis is behind us. Maybe so, but the steady stream of mammoth losses and dire warnings of billions more to come raises some doubt. In any event, swelling loan losses suggest credit availability is constrained, giving credence to a broadly held view on Wall Street that the stocks of smaller companies, which are synonymous with... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/microsoft-bid-for-yahoo-probed-by-sec/79927/ Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Suspicions that illegal insider trading may have preceded the year's biggest and most publicized corporate takeover attempt — Microsoft's hostile $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo — have prompted the Securities & Exchange Commission to commence a trading probe, knowledgable regulatory sources say. The investigation is just one of nearly a dozen stock trading probes that were recently initiated by the SEC, The New York Sun has learned, and they include trading in some of the best-known names in... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/additional-panic-selling-is-feared/79528/ Mon, 9 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST "We saw the beginning of a selling panic today," a semi-retired Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., trader, Fred Guerin, told me in an e-mail message Friday. "The $64,000 question is how long will it last? That's what people want to know, and that's what you should be writing about." He's right about panicky selling. Struck by a leap in the price of oil during the day to a record $139.01 a barrel and a surge in unemployment to 5.5%, the highest level in 22 years, investors Friday went on a selling binge... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/cashing-in-on-castros-cashing-out/79461/ Fri, 6 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST For 49 years, Fidel Castro has shouted to the world: Cuba Si, Yankee No. In February, though, the seeds for dramatic change were planted, when the ailing Cuban dictator called it quits — a departure that some Wall Street pros say could lay the groundwork for a boon for investors. Adding credence to the idea that America-Cuba relations will change for the better is a recent statement by Senator Obama that if he wins the White House, he would be amenable to one-on-one talks with Raul Castro, who... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/chevron-hula-hoop-or-gusher/79032/ Mon, 2 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Most stocks at some point become overpriced, often due to greed, exuberant market valuations, or a lot of hype. Rarely, though, does this overvaluation last. I recently created a mini-storm of protest among some readers after I quoted an investor, Oregonian Mark Heller, who manages $3.5 million of his family's assets, as saying he felt oil-producing giant Chevron had joined the overpriced category. A definite risk-taker, Mr. Heller sent me an e-mail message a few weeks ago in which he mentioned... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/chinas-stock-market-a-life-and-death-ride/78904/ Fri, 30 May 2008 00:00:00 EST China has had its hands full lately with tornados, floods, and earthquakes, and its stock market recently suffered its own calamity, plummeting 50% between November and its March lows before rebounding some 20% in the past month. "Playing the Chinese stock market is like playing Russian roulette," a Los Angeles money manager, Arnold Silver of A. Silver Associates, says. "You can get killed at any moment, but the problem is you've got to be there because you can't ignore the enormous growth... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/gas-price-help-may-be-on-the-way/78736/ Wed, 28 May 2008 00:00:00 EST A bold and long-overdue move aimed at curbing the spread of the latest economic cancer — the seemingly unstoppable rise in oil and gas prices — may soon be on the way. That's the sunny forecast from one of the country's leading heavyweight investment strategists, Bill Knapp, who tells me relief could be coming via a sharp increase in margin requirements for the purchases of oil futures, an event he sees occurring in the next two to three months. Speculative trading fueled by low margin... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/betting-on-energys-rocky-balboa/77344/ Fri, 23 May 2008 00:00:00 EST With oil topping $135 a barrel and signs clearly flashing that it's headed even higher than this record level, a hot debate on Wall Street centers on how to make money in energy stocks, many of which have ballooned 25% to 30% in recent months — and 50% to 100% over the past 12 months. For an energy stock candidate, the word from the East and West coasts is that attention should be turned to trading symbol E on the New York Stock Exchange, a company that, while relatively unknown, is performing... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/slowdown-in-europe-bodes-ill/76579/ Mon, 19 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Slowing growth in Europe is a new market risk that can be added to the bevy of concerns weighing on American investors. The dampening of economic growth in Europe is being driven by a lackluster American economy, a weakening euro, falling home prices in Britain, tightening credit conditions, and slowing European corporate profits. With some 8% of the total revenue of the S&P 500 index generated in Europe, a slowdown there almost certainly means a pullback for companies in America, according to... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/energy-whiz-on-a-selling-spree/76527/ Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Building a stock portfolio worth more than $100 million is probably every market player's dream. Savvy stock-picker Alan Gaines, a onetime guitarist, has done just that. What makes his feat even more noteworthy is that he has amassed his nine-figure portfolio by doing what just about every financial adviser says investors should never, ever do: putting all their money into one industry. Mr. Gaines has invested most of his assets in the energy sector. It was a smart choice. As most investors... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/fuel-prices-pumping-up-city-food-costs/76218/ Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Look for pain at the gas pump to spread to the city's restaurants, supermarkets, and fruit stands. Meat lovers, for example, should get ready to shell out perhaps as much as 10% to 20% more for such popular items as steak, veal, pork chops, hot dogs, and hamburgers. The price hikes — the result of rising fuel prices leading to higher transportation costs — will soon be arriving at city restaurants and supermarkets, according to Martin Weiner, the chairman of Atlantic Veal, the New York area's... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/crack-technicians-indicators-yell-sell/76136/ Fri, 9 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Almost as certain as death and taxes of late are the day in, day out declarations from one market expert or another assuring investors that the worst of the stock market decline is passed and that a sustained, significant rally is just around the corner. The market's recent vigor may indeed give some credence to such a rosy view, but one of the leading online technical voices in the financial markets, Mark Leibovit, brands such assertions as hogwash. More importantly, the crack technician tells... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/15-year-old-dances-into-the-dow/75798/ Mon, 5 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Thanks to his dancing skills, 15-year-old Henry Chang is about to buy his very first stock. In a recent e-mail message, the would-be Gene Kelly wrote: "For coming in first in my high school dance contest, my dad said he would buy me 200 shares of a single stock that I have to choose on my own from the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average. I am checking around with different people for ideas and my mom thought I should e-mail you. This will be my very first stock purchase... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/doubting-soros-on-china/75721/ Fri, 2 May 2008 00:00:00 EST The two-day, 13.5% surge in the Chinese stock market last week was reminiscent of a moon shot. To put the spectacular rise in perspective, the Dow would have to jump about 1,800 points to equal that gain. It's a noteworthy sign that the enticing, go-go Chinese market — a reflection of the planet's speediest economic grower — has recaptured its lost momentum and is ready to roar again following a bloody 45% decline from its recent high, some international investment trackers say. Maybe so, but... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/gasoline-may-soon-cost-a-sawbuck/75363/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Get ready for another economic shock of major proportions — a virtual doubling of prices at the gas pump to as much as $10 a gallon. That's the message from a couple of analytical energy industry trackers, both of whom, based on the surging oil prices, see considerably more pain at the pump than most drivers realize. Gasoline nationally is in an accelerated upswing, having jumped to $3.58 a gallon from $3.50 in just the past week. In some parts of the country, including New York City and the... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/bell-signals-its-time-to-buy/75334/ Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Unfortunately, no one on Wall Street rings a bell when it's time to buy or sell stocks. Veteran strategist Bill Rhodes, one of the more thoughtful and perceptive investment minds around, figures that JPMorgan Chase & Co. may have rung a buying bell on March 16 when it announced it would buy the ailing Bear Stearns. He may be right, given a subsequent speedy but erratic 8.9% rise in the S&P 500 from its mid-March lows. Mr. Rhodes, a former Merrill Lynch strategist who now is head of Boston-based... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/next-shock-a-missed-rate-cut/74990/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST The last thing the stock market needs is another shock. But if a heavyweight investment strategist, William Knapp, knows what he's talking about, one could be on the way next Wednesday. That's when the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee holds its next meeting to decide whether to cut the key interest rate. While most Wall Street pros think another cut is about as certain as death and taxes, and the futures market also suggests that it is highly likely, Mr. Knapp disagrees. He... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/rolling-the-dice-on-oil-prices/74913/ Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Given the recent gusher in oil — it streaked to a record-breaking $115 earlier this week in an increasingly roller-coaster market — Wall Street is hotly debating what to do with energy stocks. The shares are off an average of about 8% this year, but over the past three years, energy was the darling of the stock market, with many stocks posting gains of 50% to 100% or even more of their portfolios in the industry. Marc Heller, an Oregonian who manages $3.5 million of his family's assets, is an... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/financial-infidelity-is-booming/74635/ Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST The unhappy wife of a well-known, workaholic Wall Street trader, a man who is out with clients practically every night, passed by Tiffany's and saw a $10,000 necklace she liked. So, ignoring an agreement with her husband that she would never make a big-bucks purchase without first checking with him, she went into the store and bought it. This incident can be classified as financial infidelity, a phenomenon that is a ballooning part of the American economy, especially in New York City. I heard... DAN DORFMAN http://www.nysun.com/business/surge-in-bears-may-signal-bull-run/74590/ Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST The glum mood on Wall Street could be summed up as follows: "I wouldn't put any new money into the stock market now," the treasurer of Tishman Realty & Construction Co., Larry Schwarzwalder, tells me. "I'd rather go to Las Vegas, it amounts to the same thing because they're both a crapshoot." Against this background is a raging debate that could drive anyone bonkers. On one hand, the bulls offer compelling arguments that the worst is over and that any decline is a buying opportunity. The bears...