Monthly Archives: December 2014

Out With 2014, In With 2015, And Up With People

Running length 00:02:40 We’ve made progress this year — raising the minimum wage in dozens of states and cities, providing equal marriage rights in a majority of states, limiting carbon emissions. But there’s far more to do.  The economy looks like it’s improving but most Americans are still stuck in recession, and almost all the…

Visiting Buffett’s Nude Beach

Warren Buffett’s classic aphorism “You only see who’s swimming naked when the tide goes out” is being tossed around more frequently these days, as the world gets yet another deflation scare. David Stockman just published a great piece on this topic, which should be read in its entirety. In the meantime here’s a summary of…

Value-Based Trading On A High Yielder

Recognizing ‘fair value’ is the key to investing success.  In Sonoco Products’ case, investors should send its shares packing. Many investors gravitate towards time-tested dividend growth stocks without understanding the value, or lack of value, that they may offer at various points in time. Specialty packaging firm Sonoco Products (SON) meets the consistent dividend grower criteria but…

2014 In Review: Hot Or Not?

We introduced the “Hot or Not” segment last year as a lighthearted way to break down important themes for individual investors. Rather than looking at page views or ratings, we want to review economic, market, and public policy themes that could help you most in the new year. In this illustrated review of the year, the…

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Shares of NeuroDerm (NDRM) surged as much as 100% during the trading session on December 30, 2014 after the company announced positive results from an early stage trial treating Parkinson’s Disease. Parkinson’s Disease is a mental disorder in which patients shake and lose their ability to control movement of the body. The drug used in…

2014 Was A Remarkable Year

  These are the last days of 2014 and it is interesting to line up a couple of important things that happened over the year. More than a few remarkable twists and turns have happened, and it makes us more excited about 2015. Think about the surge of the Chinese stock market out of the…

Chicago PMI Misses, Drops To 5-Month Lows

Only 1 of MNI’s Chicago Business Barometer components rose in December as the headline index tumbled from October’s multi-year highs at 66.2 to today’s December print of 58.3 – lowest in 5 months and missing expectations for the 2nd month in a row. While new orders, prices paid, and production all fell, employment (the sole improvment)…

Chicago PMI Misses, Drops To 5-Month Lows

Only 1 of MNI’s Chicago Business Barometer components rose in December as the headline index tumbled from October’s multi-year highs at 66.2 to today’s December print of 58.3 – lowest in 5 months and missing expectations for the 2nd month in a row. While new orders, prices paid, and production all fell, employment (the sole improvment)…

Euro – From Bad To Worse

Europe is a mess, and in spite of all the papier mache offering a pretty facade, it’s just going to get messier. From a charting perspective, the big break took place at the place marked with an arrow (which I nailed to the day for my Slope+ subscribers). There’s nothing to suggest this downtrend will…