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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Michael Bakunin who wrote (60026)	5/20/1999 2:41:00 PM
From: Michael Bakunin	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 132070

Providian puts on which I had given up @ 130+ are suddenly, gratifyingly in the black. Not to mention the FNM puts I scooped up last week. If only Dell, Intel and Applied Materials would play.. <g> -mb

To: Michael Bakunin who wrote (60026)	5/20/1999 3:14:00 PM
From: Tommaso	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Thanks--that was perfect. This thread is the best search engine I know. And the figures are truly revealing. From 1992 to 1997, margin debt increased about 7% on average for the first four months of each of those years. In the first four months of 1998 it grew a total of 11.2%. In the first four months of this year, margin debt increased by 29%, or about FOUR TIMES as fast as earlier years of the decade. The total margin debt is now $180 billion. Another telling sign of speculation is the increase of turnover from May 1998 through April 1999--from 65% to 86%. On the NYSE, total volume of transactions has reached 86% of total stock outstanding. At the same time, although far outdistanced by margin debt, cash balances in regular accounts and in margin accounts seem healthy, so that a 1929-style massive liquidation seems less likely. But to say that is to ignore all the other sources of credit. Now I guess I wish I had the figures for home equity loans (exclusive of first mortgages). nyse.com