- It’s debatable whether technicals or valuation are driving stocks higher, but “excessively bullish sentiment is the biggest risk right now,” Barry Ritholtz writes at The Big Picture.
- The ratings agencies’ flaws need to be addressed. “Perhaps the recent attention to the role the ratings agencies played in the crisis will change that, but I’m certainly not counting on it,” Mark Thoma says on his blog.
- It’s hard to see how Palm considering licensing its WebOS platform to other hardware makers could ultimately be successful, especially as Google’s (GOOG) Android popularity rises, Dan Frommer writes at Silicon Alley Insider. “While licensing WebOS might make a sexy story to tell potential acquirers or Wall Street, it’s not going to save Palm.”
- Can’t be too defensive, right? “I do recognize that my credibility in sounding a cautious note would presently be stronger if I had ignored further credit risks and captured some of the past year’s gains,” John Hussman says. “But the awful outcome of this same set of conditions, which we also observed in 2007, should provide enough credibility.”
- Newspaper circulations keep declining, as average weekday sales have dropped almost 9% since last year, NYT’s Media Decoder writes, citing data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. “The reality facing American newspaper publishers continues to look stark.”
- “It’s ironic how the ‘Goldman was so smart to have shorted subprime’ meme is now being turned on its head…as Goldman’s conduct in the run-up to the crisis is being re-examined in a new light, Yves Smith writes at naked capitalism.
- Felix Salmon details the continuing Goldman wars.
- Whirpool (WHR) shares soared after its blowout 1Q report. “I continue to think that the panic a year ago was greatly overdone, as individuals and companies cut costs wherever they could, while waiting to find out if forecasts of Great Depression II were going to be borne out,” NYT’s Floyd Norris says. “But now the spending — and the hiring — is coming from people and companies that overreacted in the panic.”
- Google’s (GOOG) decision to scrap plans to sell Nexus One through Verizon Wireless seems a bit curious.
- The current bull market has now gone 400 days without a 10% correction, Chad Brand notes.
