• Stocks yet again closed at records highs, gaining strength right into the close. The rise in stocks this week was fueled by Fed chair Ben Bernanke who suggested that quantitative easing will remain in place for quite some time. On the economic front, the Labor Department said producer prices rose 0.8% in June, beating expectations for a climb of 0.5%. Separately, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers' preliminary July consumer sentiment index fell to 83.9. The final figure for June was 84.1. Expectations had been for a reading of 85.0.

    Two out of three is not bad, especially when it's the larger two of the three. Powerhouse banks JPMorgan (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) beat estimates this morning with release of their quarterly earnings. JPMorgan posted profits of $1.60 a share when estimates were for $1.44. Profits were in fact up 31% from the same quarter a year ago. The company pointed to strength in its investment banking business as well as a reduction in

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  • Opponents of Obamacare are sensing blood.

    And Citizens United now says it's prepared to sue the government. “A small organization took on the entire weight of the federal government and was able to prevail,” says president David Bossie, referring to their successful suit over campaign financing in 2010 (that suit boosted the influence of SuperPacs). He tells The Daily Ticker that health care reform is a similar issue and he expects “many more lawsuits” fighting the Affordable Care Act.

    Related: Obamacare Delay Will Prove 'Jobs-Killer' Label Was Trumped Up: Dean Baker

    Asked whether Citizens United would sue the government on the issue, Bossie says, “We absolutely would if we felt there was an opportunity and that we had standing. We’re studying it.”

    The president himself may have opened the door to those challenges.

    Weeks ago President Obama announced a one-year delay in the mandate for larger employers to provide health insurance for workers, or face penalties. Those companies, with

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  • No sooner had President Obama declared last month that Ben Bernanke has “already stayed a lot longer than he wanted or he was supposed to," then the handicapping began over who will be the next Fed chairman.

    Related: Obama Gives “Taper” New Meaning: So Who’s Next at the Fed?

    This week, much of the chattering class has been focusing its attention on Larry Summers, a former Treasury Secretary and senior adviser to the President during his first term.

    Politico, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and other outlets have done ‘Summers for Fed chair’ pieces this week, generally citing the following rationales for his candidacy: Summers is a “brilliant” economist with extensive international experience who’s respected by the financial markets and has close ties to the President.

    Related: Is Larry Summers Ready To Run The Fed?

    Please let this blog and the accompanying video serve as an antidote to the idea Summers for Fed chair is a good idea. Or, more specifically, a reminder about how this

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  • The stock market is at all-time highs! The simple observation of seems to demand some sort of action; a celebration or period of reminiscence. At the very least individual investors should take the opportunity to buy or sell something, right?

    Not so fast says The Reformed Broker Josh Brown. "I hate the idea that new highs prompt us to have to do something," Brown says, in the attached video. He's not immune to the appeal that yesterday marked the third leg of a triple top, he's just more willing than most to concede that making the Big Market Call is a game for suckers.

    "People have trouble rationalizing being in the market because of where it was six months ago or five years ago. The best thing you can do to overcome that is study history," suggests Brown.

    Of course he's right. Bull markets make new highs almost by definition. "Double tops," like those made in 2000 and 2007, and extended periods of ticking against resistance as the Dow did in the '70s, are the exception not the rule.

    Selling the all-time high made in 1982 would have gotten investors out ahead of the longest market rally in history. Dumping stocks when they hit the Big Round Number of Dow 10,000 didn't work for the long haul.

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