Fannie, Freddie Up in Smoke

Jeff Macke  Aug 18, 2008 3:45 pm

Fannie, Freddie Up in Smoke
 
Financials running for cover.
 

 

Hello from the NASDAQ market site where I’m back on the two-a-day train for Fast Money during the Olympics. After a refreshing three-day weekend, “that smell” you’re grimacing at is more likely to be the financials going up in smoke (again) as opposed to me burning out.

Here’s what I’m watching while I still have a shine on my shoes and a melody in my heart:
 

  • Is everyone on Earth watching Goldman Sachs (GS) toy with the $160 level? I’ve gotten an earful of it today and, truthfully, I think $160 has roughly zero chance of holding a sustained attack. $150, on the other hand, would start making me interested.

  • Potash (POT) was added to Citigroup’s (C) “Top Picks Live” list. Keep an eye on the name as it continues to try to rebuild. For what it’s worth, I have absolutely no ax to grind. The reason I keep bringing the POT, Crude and Coal names up is simply this: every time I do, I get met with a wall of abuse and emotion. In my experience, that kind of passion seldom ends well. Regardless, watch POT into the close. If an upgrade can’t get it green, even on a down day, be concerned.

  • Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM) down 20% on a slew of “bad news” which could have been more or less sussed out weeks ago. Something to mull the next time you think something, anything, “can’t get cheaper.”

  • Names I continue to watch though I’m not sure why: the casino space. Las Vegas Sands (LVS), MGM Mirage (MGM) et al at this point are trading of a levered up stew of: oil, “the consumer,” the airlines and the dollar. This game’s hard enough even when you can narrow your catalysts down to the knowable.

  • Names which keep getting cheaper: the exchanges. Peep the CME, down huge despite what seems to be a victory at the negotiating table in the Nymex (NMX) merger. NASDAQ (NDAQ) and the NYSE (NYX) taking their beatings as well.

  • What do I like on a day such as this? I like makin’ lists of things to buy, checking them twice and doing whatever I have to do to keep myself from buying stocks based on abstract catalysts. And Batman. I really liked the new Batman. Beyond that it seems like an outstanding day to take it real easy.
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Comments (5) See All Comments »
08-18-2008, 4:03 pm
It seems to me that the round numbers on the BKX seem to trigger intervention by the Fed or the Treasury Dept.. Watch BKX = $60 and especially BKX=$50.

So speak my semi-infallible tea leaves.
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08-18-2008, 5:56 pm
Oh, I just love it when, in the quiet overnight, there is some bad news brewing, such as LEH having to dispense $40B in Real Estate. The futures are in the red big-time and then, at about 0430 Central Time, the futures start to move into the green.
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08-18-2008, 8:21 pm
The consumer--I noticed a marked increase in traffic this week and at eateries as the price of reg gas dropped to 3.40 a gal here in Va.I did purchase 2 more used callaway irons from globalgolf.For the record I have not played golf since I was in sch
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08-19-2008, 9:35 am
I haven't golfed all year. Mrs. Jeffmacke keeps encouraging me to go out for a round. She thinks it will relax me. "I used to try to keep it in the 70's. If I played this afternoon my goal would be to break 100. I'm not g
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08-19-2008, 5:11 pm
Start listening for rumors of government action that will support the GSEs and / or Lehman Bros. If tomorrow is as bad as today odds of intervention will rise.
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