- The selection of the extremely conservative Congressman Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's VP candidate could further separate the political left and right which would cause further policy gridlock out of Washington
- Gov. Mitt Romney remains well behind President Obama in the polls...Romeny is viewed as pro business and positive for stocks
- Growth out of China is tepid and looks to be slowing at a faster pace than many have forecasted. Chinese imports and exports last month were very dissapointing. China has been the engine of economic growth around the world and it appears that the "engine" isn't running so well (cheesy I know).
- Geopolitical risks are rising, especially in the Middle East, which has caused the price of gas to increase by almost $0.20 over the past two weeks (this acts as a tax on the consumer).
- The financial crisis in Europe still abounds and it appears the recession Europe in may be deepening.
- While corporate earnings have been generally flat, American Express, Mastercard and Visa earnings were horrible which indicate a slowdown in consumer spending (it was also just released that the credit card companies have said that the average American is carrying elevated debt levels).
I hate to be so negative but I have to call it like I see it...meanwhile there has been little news on some of my favorite stock holdings (Etrade/Yahoo/Chimera/KKR Financial).
Boring post I know but hopefully my next couple will have a more positive tone to them; in the meantime however I would be cautious and conservative in your approach to the markets.
