Afternoon briefing from RANsquawk. Take some time and listen to this short market recap and look ahead.

HCPG Blog has some very good analysis on the markets. We’re wary of breakouts but at the same time we’re still interested in buying support:  by saying that it means that we’re assuming market will go down more but it won’t experience a straight out rout.   We’re still seeing some rotation, mostly into the stodgy more...

by Karl Denninger It’s common for companies to indemnify their officers and directors against lawsuits.  But what happens when the company gets taken over by the government?  Oh, you know…. Since the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers have spent more than $160 million defending the mortgage finance companies...

Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE:MCP – News), the Western hemisphere’s only producer of rare earth oxides, today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a Phase 2 expansion plan that is expected to double the productioncapacity of its Mountain Pass facility in California. In addition, the Company has filed a registration statement on Form...

An FMX Connect Exclusive H/T Zero Hedge Gold Options activity took a turn towards the bizarre late Friday. Between the hours of 2pm and 4pm Eastern, put buyers came out of the woodwork. We are almost certain that Doug Kass’s interview on Fast Money was the sole cause of this activity. He was interviewed at 5pm. The put buying frenzy came in a...

By: Zev Spiro of T3Live Williams Sonoma Inc. (WSM) began forming a bearish ascending wedge pattern at the end of July 2010. The pattern was triggered by a gap-down below the lower boundary line on November 18th, with added confirmation via a surge in volume. Adding to the bearish tone was a recent break of the long term uptrend line, on January...

Depending what type of trader you are and what you focus on the most for trading you could be either bullish or bearish on the stock market right now. The charts below show how the Dow Jones Industrial Average is bullish while the Small-Cap Russell 2K is bearish. Options expiration last week really mixed the market up as the market makers and the big...

I’ve been forecasting a Mid January top in the SP 500 (Us Markets) for multiple weeks now well in advance. My work had looked for 1285 as a minimal upside rally from the 1173 4th wave lows. The range was 1285-1315, we have been to 1296 but that pretty much should have capped off the rally. Here are some further thoughts: Copper, Gold, Silver- All...

This is killer, there are over 350 comments – long, intensely passionate comments on John Thomas’ last video presentation, How to Trade like a Hedge-Fund Manager.   A few folks wondered if he was “for real” because they’ve been burned by gurus, experts and brokers who lost their money...

Tradermarket247 “There is only one side to the stock market;….not the bull side or the bear side, but the right side” – Jesse Livermore Listen, I am not talking about a CRASH here. All I am expecting is a reasonable size pullback in the next few weeks. Real-Time ETF Trading Alerts: Click Here The chart above are the Major...

AC Investsor ( click to enlarge ) JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) continued its upward surge from Thursday. A quick look at the daily chart of JPM shows us that: - The stock price has been making higher lows since last December. - The volume of transactions has been increasing substantially over the last 2 months. - Trendline is rising - The...

Courtesy of John Nyaradi One of the most intriguing aspects of financial writing is the various colorful aphorisms that abound in this business.  We enjoy comments like “the trend is your friend,” and we hope to “let our winners run” while we watch “bulls and bears” struggle for control of the hearts and minds of the markets. One of...

by Karl Denninger It is not independent, it is an arm of Treasury. Everything you were told was a scam and a lie – yet another time for But the new rules have slowly begun to catch the attention of market analysts. Many are at once surprised that the Fed can set its own guidelines, and also relieved that the remote but dangerous possibility...

After a week ago we learned that the central bank of Tunisia had parted with 23% of its gold stash courtesy of now deposed president who fled the country with a 1.5 ton shipment of gold, it appears that Egypt is preparing for a comparable spike in revolutionary activity. Only unlike the now former Tunisian president whose gold sequestering actions...

Over a month ago I began to issue a warning to traders and investors who were long precious metals that a possible correction was likely. Prices were overextended and nearly every 5 minutes a gold investment advertisement was appearing on my television. Additionally gold advertisements could be heard during commercial breaks of many right leaning radio...