It’s December, Time to Start Guessing About Next Year
It’s that time of the year again for everyone’s favorite guessing game: Where’s the market going next year? Barron’s did its part this weekend by airing the views of several leading market strategists. We don’t put much stock in this stuff but thought we’d include the outliers in the group, Prudential’s bullish Ed Keon and J.P. Morgan’s pessimistic Abhijit Chakrabortti. Think either of these guys is onto something?
Try, Try Again [Barron’s]
TheStreet.com, Internet Survivor, May Have Buyer
Maybe this whole online Wall Street thing has a future after all (hear that, honey? I smell retirement). Shares of mad money man Jim Cramer’s Internet-era online news site, TheStreet.com, have been rising in anticipation of a pending acquisition by big media. The company had brought on media-insider i-bankers Allen & Co. earlier this year to help “explore strategic alternatives” and rumor has it there’s a deal in the works. Is there anything to the buzz? “We never comment on rumors,” says CEO Tom Clarke.
The Street’s Sweet Spot [NY Post]
A Little Bit of the Old “In-Out” at Morgan Stanley
There's a whole lot of shakin' goin' on over at Morgan Stanley. Head of U.S. Equities? Shel Johnson out, Rich Portogallo in. Head of Stock Research? Dennis Shea out, Juan-Luis Perez in. Head of Fixed Income Research? Ryan Marshall out, Steve Penwell in. What's all this supposed to accomplish? According to acting President Zoe Cruz, the changes "will enable us to identify and help capture new business, particularly by working more effectively with clients across asset classes." Oooh, we get goose bumps just imagining all the synergistic possibilities and economies of scale. Not! More like: "We're desperate and will try anything at this point." MS Plans to Combine Some Units [Wall Street Journal]
Freshly Canned Acampora Regroups at Knight Capital
Less than a month after getting canned by Prudential, veteran technical analyst Ralph Acampora has found a new home at trading and asset management firm Knight Capital. Acampora brings along with him three sidekicks from Prudential, Peter J. Martin, Phil N. Choremi and Peter W. Austin. The technician made a name for himself when his 1997 prediction that the Dow would hit 10,000 came true two year later; unfortunately, his 1999 prediction that the Dow could reach 13,500 in 2000 didn’t quite happen. Whoops.
Knight Capital Hires Acampora [Wall Street Journal]
Prudential Ends Technical Research [Marketwatch]
