Overview Social lending is one of the newest and fastest growing segments in finance. Four companies are readily available online: Lending Club, Prosper, Pertuity / National Retail Fund, and Kiva. Below I describe a few differences between them. Please note that Prosper is undergoing regulatory approval for nationwide lending and is not accepting any new loans or funding. Hence their site is currently inaccessible and their program difficult to judge. Primary Mission: Lending Club, Prosper, ... Read Full Story

The markets had a good run in the last few weeks but the trend is reversing. The global economy is shrinking faster than expected; unemployment rates continue to rise; states have huge fiscal problems; foreclosure worries threaten a recovery; these are just a few reasons investors doubt that the markets can continue to rise. Below are a few information nuggets I find interesting and relevant. Historical Comparison Between Depression and Now Martin Wolf has published an excellent article “The ... Read Full Story

I have not predicted much lately on www.predictwallstreet.com. Also, my short-term accuracy has not been the best and I lost most of my four and five star ratings due to my inactivity and being too bullish. Curious to know if my long-term accuracy is as bad, I checked my latest long-term predictions on this blog. In my year-end blog, I recommended four stocks that should be relatively recession proof: Coca Cola, Goldman Sachs, Goodrich and Northrop Gruman. The table below shows that all four ... Read Full Story

January retail sales were published today: up one percent. It seems the street is completely surprised by that number. I have been watching the sentiment for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) on www.predictwallstreet.com quite closely and it has been interesting. The sentiment for the Dow has been extremely up most of the times since Christmas. Price did not follow this pattern other than an initial push early in January. On the contrary, while initially there was a clear resistance for... Read Full Story

2008 is almost over. What a year! I have yet to talk to a person who was invested in the market at the beginning of the year and who has not lost his job, house, investment or retirement, or any combination thereof. We can only hope that 2009 will be better. While trying to be rational, we need to recognize that no rational person would have predicted the financial meltdown of 2008. What are the driving forces for 2009? First, there is a new administration and with it a new outlook. There is ... Read Full Story

There is change in the air. Obama has won. All eyes are on him. Hope. The people’s president has arrived. We are so weary, the news are so bad, we would like Obama to jump in, start governing, get things turned around. Immediately. We need it. Bitterly. His first press release was anticipated. Disappointment set in when he announced that we still have a different president until January. The markets did not like it. But they did recover. They closed up for the day. A good sign. Markets are d... Read Full Story

Oracle’s plan to buy back shares lifts its stock price. But I don’t like it one bit. According to its cash flow statements, Oracle generates quite some cash from operations. So I might think they can afford it. Can they? Should they? Like many other companies, Oracle (ORCL) recently has hit a 52-week bottom. On the other hand, it is close to the market high of 2006 and above the market highs in 2005, 2004, and 2003. In 2000, the stock price was more than twice the amount it is now... Read Full Story

I have worked on my stock picking skills. Now, I am not an investment advisor, but I find the method so straightforward and compelling that I want to share it with you. Moreover, it’s free. There is no seminar to pay for, no classes to attend, no long books to read… What I write below and a free account on www.predictwallstreet.com is all you need to improve your stock picking skills as well. I use two simple guidelines: 1. I only trade securities for which I have a four- or five-... Read Full Story

Yesterday’s rally was great. But it did not last. It could not. The actions the government took so far were purely about investor sentiment. The goal for these actions were to stop the fear, the anti-bubble (is this called a maelstrom or what?) It was necessary to prevent greater harm. However, these actions have done nothing to add value to the economy and cannot stop a downturn caused by systemic problems. Hence, every rally will be short-lived and the markets will continue to fall until th... Read Full Story

Today, the market was bullish after the banking news, but the tide is turning again… It looks like Silverazor was right yesterday when he said “…dow rally mon WAS A CLASSIC BEAR RALLY..I’M THINKING TUES…” You can read the full message on PredictWallStreet’s reputation-based message board. I just quoted him on Twitter. Do you twit? You can follow me or PredictWallStreet by clicking on these links: follow Celia728, follow PredictWallStreet. Bl... Read Full Story