The DOW climbed over 100 points by midday today, on news that a few positive earnings reports renewed feelings that the economy is continuing to improve.

More at Yahoo Finance:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Stocks-rise-as-earnings-apf-1288027756.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

My ‘portfolio’ shows modest gains from most stocks.

Stephen Colbert on Twitter:

And it was under a buck at the time.
I bought at 94 cents, and it was under 50 cents not long ago.
It hit 2 dollars today, presumably because it released apps for the iPhone and Blackberry.
Almost a 40% increase in a day.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/091005/us_tec_vonage_calling_app.html?.v=11

The other reason I liked this stock is their commercials, like the shark one below.

And as usual, after a large increase the stock has given back about half its gains.

I suspect this is due to high volume traders and short term investors. People are making their money and getting out.
Then they get back in to do the same thing over again.

Increase the capital gains tax rate and perhaps the market would be less volatile.

It would be a risky play, to jump in when the water is the hottest.
But if the price of shares drops below 50 cents – I’m in.
Not for much, but its a gamble I’d be willing to make*

*Don’t follow my advice – I’m a rookie

This is a company who’s stocks were trading in the $40 range within the last two years.
Obviously, if the company survives without going into bankruptcy, the shares will rebound to some degree (eventually)

You can read more about CIT Group here:
Report: CIT Group again on brink of collapse

The following is the leadup to his interview with Jim Kramer.

March 4, 2009

March 9, 2009

March 10, 2009

This is from March 12, 2009

If you have a short attention span, pay attention for the first 3 minutes.
And remember that Kramer has a show on CNBC.

An interesting article about Jon Stewart, and how he’s got a bit more freedom than non-comedy news.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-moore/and-a-comic-shall-lead-th_b_173734.html

Recently trading was halted for a day.

Nasdaq halts CombinatoRx trading pending FDA review

I get the impression that news of their new pain drug will play a big part in their future.

Despite the length of that analysis, here’s one more.

Ford.
Ford was $1.98/share.

That was actually based on a tip from my aunt, who steered me away from GM thankfully.
Ford is the only one of the big three (GM, chrysler) that did not accept bailout money last December.

And looking back, I should have simply dumped everything into Ford.
But I just saw an article about CRXX and its exciting, despite my not knowing much about the company.

Seeking Alpha – Combinatorx-could-move-either-way-on-fda-review-wednesday

Although Combinatorx (CRXX) stock dropped 15% during early trading on Tuesday, a pop is likely if the FDA review of the company’s pain medication, Exalgo, is positive.

UPDATE: October 5, 2009
CRXX jumped from $1.27 to $1.60 earlier before settling at $1.49.
The reason for the  near 20% jump?

Their drug development partner (Fovea Pharmaceuticals SA) may be bought out soon, and that appears to be the reason for the ‘pop’

http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2009/10/05/daily2.html?ana=yfcpc

1. Buy Low
November, 2008
The market was at the lowest point it had been in the last 10 years.
The DOW was in the low 7,000 range.
Almost everything was down drastically.

2. An intelligent, democrat was elected.

At that point, I was convinced we’d see an upswing in the economy – although I had no idea how long before we’d see upward movement.
It turns out, that wasn’t the low point.
March the DOW managed to hit the mid 6,000′s.

Today, the DOW is in the mid 9000′s, and everything I invested in is in the black.
Do I have the midas touch?
No. It was simply a good time to get in.

I’m betting on the US.