Here's something you might be interested in.
Stock of controversial Bridgepoint Education is up 20.94% in early trading today (July 11) as its Ashford University, which accounts for almost all of company revenue, was given accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The threat of non-accreditation from two different bodies has been hanging over the stock. Although its returns have been slumping of late, along with those of other for-profit schools, Bridgepoint is still extremely profitable and has a strong balance sheet. Its stock lagged because inability to get accreditation could have killed the company, which has come under withering criticism for, among many things, spending much more on marketing than on education. At one point the stock was up 27% today.
The overall market is also soaring, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke yesterday told a group of economists that the Fed is in no hurry to raise interest rates. Banks are paying almost nothing for short-term money, and the Fed has been artificially driving down long rates through its purchases of long-term paper, a program known as quantitative easing, or QE. Yesterday's statement would appear to open the gates to another huge market rally. The long term concern, of course, is that since early 2009, stocks have been riding on easy money around the world -- not on economic performance. In the U.S., stocks have more than doubled -- by a lot -- and they have also soared in other major economies as a result of a coordinated central bank liquidity gusher, while the world economies have stumbled. (Full disclosure: I am still buying blue chip stocks with high yields. The monetary gusher should continue to support equities, although I cannot criticize those who believe there will be a crash.)
Stock of controversial Bridgepoint Education is up 20.94% in early trading today (July 11) as its Ashford University, which accounts for almost all of company revenue, was given accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The threat of non-accreditation from two different bodies has been hanging over the stock. Although its returns have been slumping of late, along with those of other for-profit schools, Bridgepoint is still extremely profitable and has a strong balance sheet. Its stock lagged because inability to get accreditation could have killed the company, which has come under withering criticism for, among many things, spending much more on marketing than on education. At one point the stock was up 27% today.
The overall market is also soaring, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke yesterday told a group of economists that the Fed is in no hurry to raise interest rates. Banks are paying almost nothing for short-term money, and the Fed has been artificially driving down long rates through its purchases of long-term paper, a program known as quantitative easing, or QE. Yesterday's statement would appear to open the gates to another huge market rally. The long term concern, of course, is that since early 2009, stocks have been riding on easy money around the world -- not on economic performance. In the U.S., stocks have more than doubled -- by a lot -- and they have also soared in other major economies as a result of a coordinated central bank liquidity gusher, while the world economies have stumbled. (Full disclosure: I am still buying blue chip stocks with high yields. The monetary gusher should continue to support equities, although I cannot criticize those who believe there will be a crash.)