And So It Begins

July 10 (Bloomberg) -- Moody's Investors Service lowered the credit ratings on $5.2 billion of bonds backed by subprime mortgages and Standard & Poor's said it may cut $12 billion of securities after criticism they waited too long to respond to rising home-loan defaults.
Moody's cut ratings on 399 bonds issued in 2006 and said it may reduce rankings on another 32. S&P is preparing to lower the ratings on 2.1 percent of the $565.3 billion of subprime bonds issued from late 2005 through 2006, citing a deepening housing slump. U.S. Treasuries rose, the dollar slumped and financial company shares led stocks lower.
Ratings changes ``are going to force a lot more people to come to Jesus,'' said Christopher Whalen, an analyst at Institutional Risk Analytics in Hawthorne, California. ``When a ratings agency puts a whole class on watch, it will force all the credit officers to get off their butts and reevaluate everything. This could be one of the triggers we've been waiting for.''

When you push a dollar over a cliff, does it flutter or crash?

Here's another article for you...click-here.
For those of you too lazy to read the gist is this: despite the steady appreciation in the yuan (China's currency) US lawmakers are threatening protectionist measures with the aim of forcing a accelerated yuan appreciation (and dollar depreciation). I especially like Chuck Schumer's comment, "We'll know appreciation is enough when we see it.''

Granted, this tough talk has been going on for a long time and nothing has resulted as of yet. The idea is to correct the imbalances that result in the US hemorrhaging jobs (outsourcing). The correction or dollar devaluation necessary to even make a dent would not be gradual or measured. Buy gold.

We Need Nuclear

Nuclear power is our best chance to keep the lights on long term as it's the only power generation not reliant on fossil fuels. It's not natural gas and it's not coal. Furthermore it's not dirty.
Check the articlehere. A couple points:

1. Nuclear plants are not getting built. Prohibitive costs, mostly upfront.
2. Your electric rates are going higher. We will all be paying more to plug things in.

"The Skeptic" supposes we will eventually have to come around to nuclear. Stay long uranium.

This Week's Stock Pick

This week I'm going to pick the low-hanging fruit. Right now, that's energy stocks. MUR- Murphy Oil explores for and produces oil and gas. The company sports a $11 billion market cap versus something like $487 billion for Exxon. Obviously we are talking about a bit player here.

Better yet, and more importantly to "The Skeptic" anyway, is the $45-$60 range where it's been trading for almost two years appears as if it's about to be surmounted (currently $60.81). Hopefully in convincing fashion.

There are many other names in the energy space that look promising. Some of which I follow that look especially promising right now include SWN, DRQ, SU and VLO. There are myriad ways in which to play this game.

Disclaimer: In no way should this post or any other be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Should you decide to buy this stock based on this post you may suffer from erectile dysfunction.

Random Opinion

Considering the state of the residential real estate market and the ongoing subprime debacle mortgage brokers will need to consider employment alternatives. Frankly, I just don't think there are enough used car lots to take all these guys.