CommStock Israel Investor
Insights Newsletter
Monday, February 16, 2009
We are pleased to advise that effective February
1st, 2009, our Fund is being hosted with Altshuler Shaham, ( http://www.invest-as.com/ ) one
of Israel’s leading brokerage firms.
The name of our Fund has now been changed to
Altshuler Shaham (6F) Commstock Commodity
Fund No. 5107966.
We believe that with our new association with
Altshuler Shaham we will be able to provide our customers with
the required level of expertise needed to traverse the difficult
financial challenges ahead.
Our fund is up 3.38 % for January 2009.
Our Fund was one of the two leading Funds for
2008, yielding 21.45% NET.
Details on our Mutual Fund can be found on www.ecommstock.com
Fully regulated, transparent and traded daily
on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
1) Geithner addresses G7 ministers
Tells the group of industrialized nations
that the U.S. is doing what needs to be done
to revive the economy.
Last Updated: February 14, 2009: 11:48 PM ET ROME (Reuters)
-- Timothy Geithner made his Group of Seven debut as U.S. Treasury
Secretary on Saturday with a simple, straightforward message --
the United States is taking strong medicine to fix its economy
and others should do the same.
On the day after Congress approved a $787 billion economic
stimulus package, he had lots to talk about, urging governments
and central banks to maintain bold measures until recovery takes
hold.
His main mission was to explain to G7 colleagues that
the United States was moving swiftly with its unprecedented spending
package and a soon-to-be-detailed bank stabilization plan. He said
G7 countries all realized the gravity of the situation.
"Given the severity of the current economic and financial
crisis, these actions must be forceful and sustained for a period
that matches the likely duration of the crisis," Geithner said
in his closing remarks.
"There is little debate about the scale of the challenges
people face, and we see it in Germany just in the last couple days," he
told a news conference, referring to GDP data released on Friday.
President Obama's plan to rescue the U.S. banking sector
fell flat when the initial outline was announced last week, driving
stock markets lower and raising concerns about whether the new
administration was up to the challenge.
The Treasury Secretary gave little of the further details
economists say are needed to convince investors on the plan.
But off the record, a senior Treasury official said
it had been aware that the plan had been vulnerable to a negative
market reaction but decided to proceed in an effort to get the
plan off the ground.
"That left us necessarily in a position where people
would be hungry for details," the official told reporters, speaking
on condition of anonymity.
"We wanted to help get Congress invested in the basic
objectives and strategy and also, frankly to be fair, we wanted
to come here."
Geithner is a familiar face to many of the G7 ministers,
having worked at the New York Federal Reserve, International Monetary
Fund and in international affairs at the Treasury.
At many G7 meetings as a policy guide, Rome was his
first meeting as secretary, less than three weeks after being sworn
into office.
He said he had sketched out the bank plan for his colleagues
and assured them that the details would be filled in quickly. He
appeared to win the confidence of some leaders.
"We welcomed him very warmly," said French Economy Minister
Christine Lagarde. "On paper (the plan) is great, the principles
are very good, now it needs to start going."
Geithner said he explained that the "buy American" clause,
which requires government-funded public works projects to use U.S.-made
steel and other products where possible, would not violate any
commitments made to the World Trade Organization and affirmed President
Obama's commitment to open trade.
This won some traction with Italian Finance Minister
Giulio Tremonti, who said that while protectionism was a danger,
he believed America's abandonment of WTO policies was not. "At
the G7 we talked about 'Buy America' as just a slogan," he said.
2) Commentary by David Zwebner,
CEO of CommStock Trading
U.S. Economy
The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment fell from
61.2 to 56.2 in February, weaker than expected. The December eurodollars
fell .16 to 98.46.
Grains and Cotton
The USDA said that South Korea bought 116,000 tons of U.S. corn.
May corn closed down 2.75 cents at $3.732.
Orange juice
May orange juice was down .70 at 71.75 with the ten day forecast
for central Florida looking safely warm.
Energies
April crude oil finished down .20 at $41.97, weighed down by concerns
about the economy.
The 6 to 10 day forecast from the National Weather Service is expecting
below average temperatures for the eastern third of the U.S.
Currencies
Eurostat said that real GDP in the Euro area 15 was down 1.2% in
the fourth quarter from a year ago, weaker than expected. The
March euro closed up 1.04 cents at $1.2874.
Statistics Canada said that new vehicle sales were down
14.8% in December and down 22.5% from a year ago.
The March Japanese yen fell .0159 to 1.0900 with many
anticipating that next week's GDP report will show a big contraction
in the fourth quarter.
The Bank of (South) Korea reduced its interest rate
from 2.5% to a record low 2.0%. It was the sixth reduction in four
months.
Mona Liss
CommStock Trading Ltd
PO Box 7777
Jerusalem 91077
Tel: +972-2-6244963
Fax: +972-2-625 9515
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