Pick & Click

• Bernanke & Co. may have to drive the benchmark overnight rate close to zero to resuscitate the economy

• The Treasury faces unprecedented financing needs in 2009 to fund a growing deficit and a $700B rescue program

• It's time for a reality check on the financial markets

• In what has been a relatively good contrarian indicator - U.S. consumer confidence plunges

• Home prices post record decline

• Recession reality setting in slowly

• All eyes on this week's GDP

• States' tax receipts fell sharply in latest quarter

• One issue not being talked about much - the coming pension plan crisis

• The U.S. unemployment rate between 1920 to 2007

• Much bank aid may not go to loans

• You've got to love this - Wall Street firms are set to pay year-end bonuses despite losses & bankruptcies

• No kidding - investors want banks to take some responsibility for their excessive risk taking

• The bet that blew up Wall Street

• Rescue plan faces delays in hiring asset managers

• "We tell the young people who are looking for a job on Wall Street now, it's either Shanghai, Mumbai, Dubai, or goodbye." - Rich Bernstein

• Changes to accounting rules could put loads of assets back on banks' balance sheets

• This administration and Congress will be remembered like Herbert Hoover

• Timing of Treasury auctions is less than ideal

• "Within the financial sector, de-leveraging is well advanced. In the real economy it is in the early stages." - Satyajit Das

• The LIBOR-OIS spread as a summary indicator

• Donald MacKenzie on the importance of Libor

• What about that magazine cover indicator?

• Have investors already panicked and capitulated?

• The Capitulation Myth

• The real problem with the economy

• "It’s uncanny how often the indices are near important technical levels just ahead of a Fed meeting." - Trader Mike

• U.S. stock-index futures are becoming less reliable as predictors of market moves

• The Dow's October 10th lows have been decisively broken

• "The more times support is tested, more likely it is to fail. The trend remains lower." - Brian Shannon

• "The market has been and remains “oversold” by normal standards. But these are not normal times." - Robert W. Colby

• Baltic Dry Index drops below 1,000 for first time in 6 years

• Parallels seen as 1929 crash anniversary nears

• Forecasters race to call the bottom

• "It’s not surprising that investors have been unwilling to step up. It’s hard enough to catch a falling knife. But it’s nearly impossible when hedge funds are hurling it." - James Surowiecki

• Now is the time to begin the bargain hunt!

• Talk is cheap; stocks aren't!

• Hope for the bottom remains alive and well

• Plunging markets are far from irrational

• "I do think that many U.S. stocks will be proven winners a year from now. So investors can start to nibble." - Michael Kahn

• "Bull markets (up-trending markets) begin when one or more of the major indices are up at least 3% and then have a follow-through 4-10 days later with similar action. This is the first parameter we must look for." - Chris Perruna

• What the Cumulative Adjusted NYSE TICK line is telling us

• What is the High Yield Corporate Bond Market telling us?

• An in-depth look at blogger sentiment

• Insider buys suggest value in retail & financials

• Volatility returns with a vengeance

• An interesting exercise - pretend for a moment that you awoke from a deep slumber for the last year or so and saw that the market had declined to levels not seen since 2002, when the last bull market began. What would you do now?

• Playing the Best-and Worst-Case Scenarios

• Does the value of your stock market holdings depend on which party controls Congress? There is overwhelming evidence it does

• "The conventional view is that an Obama win next Tuesday will have a negative impact on U.S. equities, as the Democratic party is seen as the party of higher taxes for the wealthy, trade protectionism, etc. It was my view, as well, up until recently; I now disagree, however, as circumstances have changed and so has my investment conclusion." - Doug Kass

• "No matter who wins [the election], if history's any guide, for investors the rest of the year stacks up as something less than exhilarating." - Alan Abelson

• Hedge funds face collateral pressure

• As losses mount, Pickens' investors ask for exit

• This hedge fund manager tries to short himself

• Regulate hedge funds now!

• "Many hedge funds have failed to do what they were supposed to: preserve capital and provide absolute returns." - James Rutherford

• What happened to the quants in August 2007?

• Remember this - when anyone offers you a risk free opportunity, run away!

• Institutional investors have bet like desperate gamblers and lost in spades

• Wall Street's next profit opportunity - advising sick companies

• It's too bad we can't trade or invest in defense lawyers!

• In a typical market environment, defensive areas such as health care, utilities and consumer staples perform best when the economy is under pressure. But....

• Why traditional recession tactics are doomed to fail this time

• Troubles are brewing in the technology-financing business

• Why this tech recession will be different

• Oil - ready for a rebound?

• Oil's big players have an edge

• Businesses that work to offset global warming could be safer bets in a recession

• For U.S. investors, American Eagles are the bullion coin of choice

• The dollar is king of the hill again -- at least for now

• When Olivier Blanchard, the IMF's chief economist, was asked about the possibility of the world sinking into another Great Depression, he reassuringly replied that the chance was nearly nil

• IMF is running out of money to rescue emerging economies

• How the emerging world copes with the tempest will affect the world economy and politics for a long time

• Evidence is mounting that the credit crunch is obstructing global trade

• Bank of England says lenders may need more capital

• Sharp slowdown in Asia nears

• Iceland central bank raises key interest rate to 18%

• South Korean banks go to Federal Reserve for dollars

• What's up with Singapore?

• Loonie is poised for quick recovery?

• A U.S. Dollar Thesis

• The forex markets remain in a state of chaos

• There are few things forex traders like more than volatility and betting against central banks

• As global prices soar, more people go hungry

• Bailout plan could push insurers into mergers

• Meanwhile, California homeowners are having a hard time finding fire insurance

• More car dealers shut down

• Bankruptcy fears rise as Chrysler, GM seek federal aid

• U.S. working on billions in GM loans

• Payday lenders back measures to unwind state restrictions

• Merrill declares dividend!

• Picking through Lehman's remains

• Holy Batman! A giant short-squeeze in VW

• National Oilwell Varco's big upside

• This week's earnings preview

• Pop quiz - can you name any of the top 10 best performing stocks in the S&P 500 so far this year?

• "In the current environment companies that have low debt, high free cash flow, stable revenue growth, strong cash reserves on the balance sheet, and dividend yields, should fare the best." - Jeffrey Saut

• TheStreet.com's top 5

• Remember the correlation tracker?

• "People want the easiest way out. Good trading takes a lot of training and a lot of work, and most people are not willing to pay for the training or not willing to do the work! They want a simple solution. Thus, people would first prefer to have someone do the trading for them. We find that all the time. People want to put money with the people we’ve trained or worked with. And, of course, we get blamed if they end up losing money. Thus, we don’t recommend anyone any more." - Van K. Tharp

• IB's Traders' University

• Stock market analysis and Fibonacci

• How to gauge earnings quality

• Defining the price-to-cash flow ratio

• How to spot the worst-managed companies

• The importance of two often overlooked types of investment risk: fat tail risk and counterparty risk

• Attention traders - we are all victims of recency effects: the tendency to overweight events that are most recent, because those are freshest in our minds

• Watch out for survivorship bias!

• Trading strategies for volatile times

• 4 rules for trading covered calls successfully

• Indeed - the price at which you buy is the single most reliable factor in your long-term return

• Buffett is already under fire for recent buys

• We now know that investing like Yale isn’t easy

• Hedging-style mutual funds come up short

• "The probabilities for stock market investing right now are very compelling. However, if you cannot afford to lose another penny, then you simply have no recourse but to get out of the stock market." - John Bogle

• "Eeeesh, how many retirees won't be retirees anymore because of their adherence to buy-and-hold?" - Mebane Faber

• Professionals weigh in on what to do now

• When used properly, ETFs can reduce the tax bite

• 7 stock funds with yield cushions

• A safe deposit box is not the best place to stash cash

• Lessons from Great Depression hold their value

• Medical reimbursement plans - big savings for Small C Corporations (and traders who trade under a C Corporation business entity)

• 7 psycho money traps and how to beat them

• Money Manager Ex is a free, open-source personal finance software

• Ameritrade now offers a Pattern Matcher

• Move over Aeron, here comes the Embody Chair

• Get 2 GB of online backup for free

• Return of the $2 Restaurant.com deal

• My Halloween costume this year!

• Forget it, old people. No more TV for you starting in 2009!

• "Those who know how to think need no teachers." - Mahatma Gandhi

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