Archive for July, 2010

  • Some Numbers from Today
    , July 1st, 2010 at 1:49 pm

    Goldman Sachs (GS) has traded as low as $129.50 today. Their book value is $128.33.
    Morgan Stanley (MS) is now 17% below its book value.
    A two-year US Treasury will yield you about 0.5%. One share of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) yields about seven times that.

  • The Dow Yields More than the 10-Year
    , July 1st, 2010 at 11:35 am

    Thanks to an ugly day in the markets, the yield on the 10-year Treasury stands at 2.899%. The indicated yield for the Dow is 2.97%.

  • ISM Index Drops
    , July 1st, 2010 at 10:09 am

    The ISM report came out today and it showed a drop from 59.7 in May to 56.2 for June. As I’ve written before, the ISM report is probably one of the best indicators for telling us if the economy is in a recession or not.
    Any reading above 50 indicates that the economy is growing. Below 50 means it’s shrinking. Even though the reading is still above 50, this was a big drop from May. This is the biggest drop since late 2008. Wall Street was expecting a drop but only to 59.
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    The Institute for Supply Management noted in today’s press release that “if the PMI for June (56.2 percent) is annualized, it corresponds to a 4.8 percent increase in real GDP annually.”