This morning there were two bits of information which were both positive and negative. The Case-Shiller housing index, which measures either price appreciation or decline around the country showed the housing market has seen price appreciation for the past 6 consequetive months...a national survey conducted by the Case-Shiller company also revealed that an increasingly number of Americans believe the housing market has turned around and prices will continue to improve.
In other somewhat bad news, Caterpillar, the largest earth moving machinery company in the world came out and lowered their global sales forecast for the next several years as they are seeing material global economic weakness and demand for equipment. While this is certainly no surprise to this observer, it still goes to show that the global economy, including those of China and in Europe are still struggling as economic growth continues to show signs of significant slowdown.
I guess we just have to get used to accepting the sweet and the sour during these uncertaint and volatile economic times...and because of such I believe we are not in a buy and hold investment environment, rather one where investors need to be proactive and move their money in and out of stocks. Currently, I think stocks are ripe for a slight downturn, which is why I've been taking profits where I have them. Specifically speaking, I continue to grow more positive on the prospects for the company Yahoo! and at the current price of $15.80/share, it represents a pretty attractive valuation (I'm expecting the company to release some new strategic initiatives later this week as the Board of Directors has met several times over the past week).
