The headlines say wholesale sales improved and inventories grew. This data series is very noisy, and continues on a roller coaster of one good month /one bad month. Because of this noise, the best way to look at this series may be the unadjusted data three month rolling averages which decelerated for the third month…
This is Part 3 of my 3-part review of The Conference Board’s economic indicators. Monday I reviewed the lagging indicators, confirming that 2014 has been the best year for economic growth since the financial crisis, although sluggish wage growth and rising consumer debt (aided by artificially low interest rates) presented some concerns. Yesterday I reviewed the coincident…
The Dow did not elect any bearish reversals. During a breakout, the market typically falls back to retest the channel from which it broke-out. Any sustainable pause require a closing below 17235 for starters. A close below 17644 will suggest a move back into the upward channel. Nevertheless, the first hurdle remains in the…
Well, yesterday I falsely assumed oil might be nearing some kind of bottom. Nope! This is a bear market which has legs. One idea offered yesterday was to go long Russia as a countertrend play, but as oil continues to collapse, Russia is following right along (since, like Tesla, they’re kind of a one-trick pony).
Internet service providers seem to be doing all they can to provide their consumers some of the fastest internet download speeds, according to Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX). Customers reportedly experienced fewer interruptions when downloading content from the likes of Netflix due to increased speeds, which commenced in November 2013. The company stated that most of its…
Source: Wikimedia Dear Diary, The Dow plunged 51 points yesterday. Gold surged $37.10 – or 3.1% – to settle at $1,232 an ounce. The US stock market is “hideously expensive,” says value investor James Montier at Boston-based investment firm GMO. He’s not wrong about that. But we have a feeling it’s going to be even more…
Gold vs. Oil… Silver vs. Oil… Gold vs. Commodities… And finally, an important one; Silver vs. Gold…
The oil price plunge has brought out bears not seen since the darkest days of the 2008 financial crisis. But are the bears on to something? Or are they overreacting to the current circumstances in the oil market? I think it’s always best to gather insight from those with a lifetime of experience. Here…
When Susan Polgar and I first began working on our book, I asked her what was one of the biggest financial problems that chess professionals have. She told me that the volatile nature of the income stream for someone playing tournament chess, teaching chess, or coaching the game makes it difficult to plan for retirement. If…
I included two “Clean Energy Speculations” along with my annual model portfolio of ten clean energy stocks this year. It’s been a tough year for clean energy stocks in general, with my industry benchmark (Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy ETF (PBW)) down about 15% since I initiated the portfolios on December 27th 2013. Despite this, both the main…
