EQUITIES Editors' Blog

The Wall Street Journal has the full excerpt from former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's new book "On the Brink". The excerpt is a fascinating look into the 48 hours before Lehman imploded and the financial crisis became public.

Check it out!

What Happened In the Hours Before Lehman’s Collapse?

Two Days That Upended Wall Street

The shock upon reading this New York Times article was two-fold, as I had sort of assumed that Osama bin Laden was dead by now...Granted, the "authenticity of the tape could not be immediately confirmed, and Al Jazeera, which is based in Qatar, did not say how it had obtained the message", but still...this reads like an Onion article.

Osama bin Laden Reproaches U.S. For Not Halting Climate Change

Bin Laden Rebukes U.S. on Climate Change

Netflix stock had the biggest gains in seven years--since October 2005, just five months after their IPO.

Shares flew after the company, the largest U.S. mail- order movie-rental service, announced higher-than-expected profits for 2010.

Check out the numbers below!

Netflix Stock Jumps Through the Roof

Check out this article on how to invest in China's environmental clean up!

Analysts are saying that government support of clean energy is going to create a booming cycle for clean energy and natural gas operations. Investors can jump on that bandwagon by investing in gas distribution companies, companies that supply equipment to energy producers and certain companies in the nuclear power industry.

How Can We Help Clean Up China

Cleaning Up China

Yes, he was talking about the Kraft-Cadbury deal which was announced this week, and yes he was trying to make a show of his disapproval, but perhaps the second richest man in the world (behind Bill Gates) should choose his words more carefully in a post-financial-crisis world.

Thoughts?

’I Feel Poor Now’ Says Warren Buffett

Cadbury Kraft Deal Marks End of an Era

Buffett Objects Share Issuance, Kraft Raises Cash Component to Cadbury Deal

James Chanos, the man who bet that Enron was a fraud and made millions when he was proven right and the stock collapsed, is looking for ways to short China's economy before its bubble bursts.

New York Times op-ed columnist Thomas L. Friedman disagrees, saying that, though the country has numerous problems, it "has a political class focused on addressing its real problems, as well as a mountain of savings with which to do so (unlike us)."

James Chanos might be the most famous and successful short seller of all time. His firm Kynikos (Greek for "cynic") made a fortune from short selling Enron stock in 2001 before its collapse.

Is China the Next Enron?

Hedge Fund Manager Jim Chanos Continues to Sound the Warning on China

Kiplingers has an article about how playing poker can make you a better investor.

Frank Murtha, a behavioral-finance consultant with a PhD in counseling psychology says that by playing some poker, “ you can find out your tendencies to make emotional mistakes, and then you can guard against them.” Writer Bob Frick explains: “By playing poker while keeping in mind the psychological errors that are also common to investing, you can get a lifetime’s worth of training in one evening.

The article outlines the five most common errors as being greed, overconfidence, regret, seeing patterns, and holding onto losers.

Read the full article here

There are currently 15 actively managed ETFs on the market, a number that is expected to balloon to 40 in the next year.

Suddenly, everyone seems to be talking about actively managed ETFs. Check out these articles for more information:

Surge in exchange-traded fund offerings

Will Stock-Picking Managers Be the Next Big Thing for ETFs?

Actively managed ETFs pique interest of big fund companies

EQUITIES Magazine CEO, Matt Jennings rang the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday morning! He was accompanied by the Advisor Shares and Fund.com teams to celebrate the success of their product, the Dent Tactical ETF.

Click Here to Watch Matt Ring the Bell

Despite last night's address from a confident President Obama, stocks fell back today after yesterday's brief recovery. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 107 points, the S&P 500 was off by 11 points, at 763, and the Nasdaq declined 18 points. Analysts blame lower-than-expected home sales data and the start of bank stress tests. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales in January declined to 4.49 million, the lowest level in nearly 12 years. Sales were down from 4.74 million in December, falling below the expectation of 4.79 million.