Simply Put, "Paulson is The Man"

Very interesting article on hedge fund manager John Paulson.

http://www.portfolio.com/executives/features/2009/01/07/John-Paulson-Profits-in-Downturn

This has got to be the trade of the year, maybe decade:

Long before the financial crisis hit, Paulson, according to one person briefed on the trade, invested $22 million in a credit default swap that eventually paid $1 billion when the federal government opted not to rescue Lehman Brothers. That amounts to a staggering $45.45 for each dollar invested. -(Conde Nast Portfolio)

20 Year Charts of the Major Indices

S&P 500

Dow Jones Industrials

Nasdaq Composite

Stocks Holding Up in this Current Market

Visa (V)

MasterCard (MA)

Amazon.com (AMZN)

Visa (V) & Mastercard (MA)

Visa

Mastercard

Mastercard (MA) & Visa (V)

Mastercard

Visa

Reported 1st Quarter results on Wed., Feb. 9th. Posted earnings of $0.74 cents a share vs. estimates of $0.55 cents a share. Net income rose 35% to $574 million, compared to $424 million in the same time period last year. Net operating revenue rose 17% to $1.7 billion. Total processed transactions rose 8% to 9.8 billion. Adjusted operating expenses fell 4% to $728 million due to the company cutting its professional and consulting fees and administrative costs. Has a net profit margin of 33.01% and a return on equity of 10.48%.

Nasdaq Composite

The IV Horsemen Are Back

Apple (AAPL)

Research in Motion (RIMM)

Google (GOOG)

Amazon (AMZN)