Author Archives: Bret Rosenthal

About Bret Rosenthal

Interpreting the news that moves markets. Principal of RCM, LLC, and founding partner of the Fortune's Favor Family of Funds

Honduran Coup, Jump In Mortgage Rates

News That Moves Markets   RCM Comment: In a world seemingly full of bad news, during a news cycle full of Madoff, Iran and North Korea, I thought you could use a little lift. I thought you would appreciate a story where good triumphs over evil and where a constitution is protected from a despotic leader. Finally, the people of […]

Economy Not in Good Shape; Recent Changes to the Way the U.S. Treasury Tallies Demand at its Bond Auctions

News That Moves Markets   RCM Comment: O.K. we have a lot to get to today, so let’s get started. First, I’ve put together a list of economic numbers recently released to offer more evidence in support of my pronouncement that “the economy is not in good shape”. I know this proclamation is not the favored view at the moment. […]

Coping with Government Sponsored Market Manipulation

RCM EDITORIAL RCM Comment: We live in a world where markets are manipulated by governments. To argue this point is to howl at the moon. We are not conspiracy theorists; we are realists. In order to successfully manage a portfolio in this environment one must understand the playing field and the rules. There is no point in complaining about the […]

RCM Editorial: Democratic Lawmakers Urge Reduction in Lending Standards / Barney the Dino Strikes Again

RCM Comment: We here at RCM have uncovered the mystery behind the housing troubles in the U.S. We have heard countless explanations and witnessed our colleagues struggle with the conundrum. Well, the super sleuths that we are, we have leaped the why in a single bound and here it is, get ready… “Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat, is chairman of […]

RCM Editorial: US$/US T-Bonds/Gold, The Con. Game In Quotes

RCM Comment: As readers you may recall in March we advised shorting the US$ and US Treasury Bonds while maintaining and/or building a long position in Gold. We believed (and rightfully so) that the $300 billion quantitative easing announcement by the Fed would have negative implications for the US$ and Bonds. However, over the last week or so we have […]

News that Moves: Single Biggest Development – BRIC Countries Dumping Treasuries

RCM Comment: The following stories represent the single biggest development effecting the markets today. I’m dedicating the blog to this development in the hopes that you, the reader, give this story the respect it deserves. There will be those among you who try to minimize the story or wish to overlook it in the vain hope that our government rescue […]

News That Moves: Clarity on the Jobs Report, Integrity of the US$ In Question, Rule of Law vs “Shared Sacrifice”

RCM Comment: A little clarity on the Friday Jobs report… Fleckenstein Capital: Unfortunately for the economy, the headline job-loss number is somewhat bogus. It was helped by a birth/death model that assumed 220,000 jobs had been created last month. Even more suspect is the fact that this 220,000 plug factor was boosted 27% year-over-year. The BLS assumed new jobs were […]

News that Moves: Specious Jobs Report, Yellen Concerns, Carnage in State Budgets

ECONX Jobs Report Surprises The market got a kick out of the May employment report, as it cheered the news that “only” 345K nonfarm payroll jobs were lost during the month. That was indeed much better than the consensus estimate of -520K. Moreover, the April nonfarm payrolls data was revised up to show a decline of -504K positions versus an […]

News that Moves: GM Bankruptcy & Obama Comments, Fed Mortgage Efforts, California’s ‘A’ rating in question

Securitization is like fertilizer. You can grow tomatoes or blow up buildings. -Simon Mikhailovich RCM Comment: The government sponsored bankruptcy of GM goes into effect today. President Obama tried to give an encouraging speech this morning from the White House stressing his desire not to run a car company. He tried to make it clear that government ownership of corporations […]

RCM Editorial: Should Ben Bernanke Be Reappointed? And Other Questions on Bloomberg TV’s, ‘No Visibility Ahead’

RCM Comment: Today on Bloomberg TV a promotion is running urging viewers to watch the 7:00 pm show, No Visibility Ahead: Predicting What’s Next, during which a moderator will question a panel about the current economic situation and the credit crisis. This panel will include the likes of Jack Welch and Meredith Whitney. I imagine this will be an interesting […]