Markets are pretty quiet this morning – both equities and interest rates. I know that I am not paying very close attention to the markets, partially because of the level of investments I have in fixed income vehicles at favorable rates. I can see it in the website traffic as well. During the summer traffic is always down from the colder winter months as people can get out and about. A good old fashioned ‘panic’ really drives website traffic. If I Iook back to August of last year website traffic here was up over 100% compared to previous months (an exception to the normal down summer traffic)–during August preferreds and baby bonds fell 20% – folks panic and come here to see what our very wise participants have to say and I have to say that folks on this website invest about as good as any I see anywhere.
Well we get some economic news in 10 minutes – a few of the stats relate to housing and I watch these closely as housing is one important driver of the economy. Because markets are pretty sleepy it is unlikely that we see any sharp market reaction.
As mentioned yesterday I am in a holding mode until next Monday as I await maturities of CDs and treasuries on Friday. I am not really looking for more banking preferreds, but I still believe it is an area of great opportunity. Fortunately we will be getting earnings news from many bankers next month and with it will come data on commercial real estate–on the flip side as one awaits further data the best ‘bargains’ will likely evaporate–if the data gives one the green light prices will be higher leaving the maximum capital gains in the rear view mirror. We’ll see what the market presents us in the next few weeks.
Not looking for a wild Mr Toads ride! But nice 5-10% pull back would be nice. 50/50 chance of a 1/4 point raise by the Fed? Crap-shoot.