It's always nice to see stocks in your portfolio hit new highs, and at the end of the week, there were a bunch of them.
The trigger for the rally was Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's announcement of the next round of easing. The Fed will be buying $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities each month until it sees "substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market." Combined with existing programs and principal reinvestment, the Fed will be adding about $85 billion to its long-term securities holdings each month for the rest of the year. If that weren't enough, plans are to maintain the near-zero funds rate until at least mid-2015.
Gold, silver, and dollar charts mark Bernanke's press conference with price spikes up, up, and down. Stocks joined in the party, including the six from my portfolio, as described in haiku.
Chevron (NYSE: CVX)
- Gusher for Chevron.
- Oil up or dollar falling?
- Big bucks for big oil.
RPM International (NYSE: RPM)
- Caulk, paint, and flooring,
- Cheap mortgages, more homes sold.
- Color a new high.
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC)
- Fed move lowers rates,
- More refinancing, more fees.
- Stagecoach rolls higher.
Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE: MMP)
- Pipes and terminals,
- Fed money pumps units up.
- Discover a high.
General Electric (NYSE: GE)
- Gee-whiz! No, GE.
- Trainloads of credit paper,
- And Ben is buying.
Yamana Gold
- Lots more cheap money,
- Digs up new highs for miners.
- Gold bugs buy, buy, buy.
I don't know how long the party will last. More money from the Fed printing presses certainly primes the pump. On the downside, the Fed press release (link opens PDF file) shows deep concerns over a weak economy and high unemployment -- the reasons behind the new easing. Savers and retirees relying on interest income can look forward to a longer stretch of zilch returns on cash.
I own and have outperform CAPScalls on all the stocks mentioned. The new highs are nice. I just wish they came from real economic growth and not monetary growth.
Share your take with a comment below. In haiku, if you'd like.
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- Add Wells Fargo to My Watchlist.
- Add RPM International to My Watchlist.
- Add Magellan Midstream Partners to My Watchlist.
- Add General Electric to My Watchlist.
- Add Chevron to My Watchlist.
- Add Yamana Gold to My Watchlist.
