L.A. Times - Tom Petruno

Market bulls take a rough ride

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Despite the sharp rebound in share prices, wary investors remain fearful about the economy.

Stock mutual funds just racked up their biggest quarterly advance in six years.

Jobless rate is awful, but it's not a good stock market barometer

Sat, 4 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The government's ugly report this week on June employment showed that U.S. companies still are cutting jobs at a fast pace.

Is it time for underwater homeowners to be given a get-out-of-debt-free card?

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Some housing experts believe there is no alternative but outright forgiveness of a substantial chunk of mortgage debt for many people who are at risk of foreclosure.

Government and private-lender attempts to stem the home foreclosure crisis so far have mostly focused on loan modifications or refinancing -- giving borrowers a temporary or permanent reduction in their monthly payments.

Should bonds still get the love?

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street's rally since mid-March has been strong enough to persuade many Americans to stop selling their stock mutual funds and start buying again.

Markets' worries now are relative

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Rising interest rates and oil prices are threats, but stock investors know they've faced much worse.

Three-dollar-a-gallon gasoline is back, and nobody's happy about it.

Reality check for U.S. bond binge

Sat, 6 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Here is the way it was supposed to work: Uncle Sam would borrow and spend trillions of dollars to save the economy and the financial system, but interest rates would stay near rock-bottom and nobody would worry about the potential side effects of all that spending -- like, say, inflation or a devalued dollar.

Investors face their fears in muni debt

Sat, 23 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Harvey Kauffman isn't looking for excitement in his investment portfolio. So the retired La Costa septuagenarian has almost all of his savings in bonds -- including California tax-free municipal issues.

Up from the abyss

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The market s rebound cuts stock funds losses and maybe forces investors to rethink their fears

For stock mutual fund investors, the first quarter of this year had been looking a lot like the fourth quarter of last year: an Acapulco cliff dive. ¶ But this time around, the equity market landed on a trampoline. Since blue-chip indexes including the Dow Jones industrials sank to 12-year lows March 9, the market has rebounded for five straight weeks. ¶ The comeback dramatically pared stock fund investors' first-quarter losses, turning another catastrophe into a mere extremely painful pummeling. The average domestic stock fund lost 8.2% in the quarter ended March 31, according to investment research firm Morningstar Inc. ¶ By contrast, at the market's lows last month the loss for the new year had been about on par with the fourth quarter's devastating collapse of about 22%. ¶ The numbers have just gotten better with the start of the second quarter, as stocks have continued to rally. The average domestic stock fund's loss had been trimmed to 1.8% by the end of last week.

Executives' outlook will set the tone

Sat, 4 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Investors mostly are counting on companies to offer some relatively upbeat comments about the future -- or, at a minimum, to sound less dire.

It's a simple matter in our capitalist economy to explain why so many people have lost their jobs in recent months: Companies have been desperate to slash costs to protect what's left of their bottom line.

Markets again bet the worst is past

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

This is the fifth time U.S. blue-chip stocks have risen more than 10% since October 2007. The previous four rallies all gave way to more selling and new market lows.

Did they cancel Great Depression II? So soon?