The new week has begun with two macro-economic disappointments. First, after the recent capex data, economists had expected Japan’s 0.4% quarterly contraction in Q3 to be largely revised away. However, the actual report came out worse, showing slightly deeper contraction (-0.5%). Moreover, this was due primarily to the downward revision in business spending to -0.4% from…
How about the price of crude? It’s now down 40% in six months! The oil biz has been knocked on its ass as a result. The oil stocks have been taken behind the shed and beaten with a stick, losses of 20-40% in market cap are common. The fallout (good and bad) from the drop…
Gold got quite a pop intraday, as repeated attempts to take gold below the key support at 1190 failed. Oil was down, stocks were down, but gold was not going lower. And so the metals bears seemed to throw in the towel, and gold rebounded sharply running almost straight up towards the 1210 level. I…
The Chart of the Day belongs to Dentsply International (XRAY). I found the stock by sorting the All Time High list for the stocks hitting the most frequent new highs in the last month then used the Flipchart feature to review the charts. Since the Trend Spotter signaled a buy on 10/27 the stock gained 19.07%. Dentsply International Inc. designs, develops, manufactures…
Bears paid an early visit to Santa with a broad selling. The relative loss was minor, although volume climbed to register to confirmed distribution. The Nasdaq delivered on the ‘bear flag’ breakdown, which will give shorts something to work with. The index finished on its 20-day MA. but this hasn’t played as support in recent…
We are now far advanced into the third central bank generated bubble of the last two decades, but our monetary politburo has taken no notice whatsoever of its self-evident leading wave. Namely, the massive malinvestments and debt mania in the shale patch. Call them monetary Bourbons. It is no exaggeration to say that inhabitants of the…
The mainstream media exploded with excitement last week as automakers reported their strongest sales since 2003. Was it really all that or does this silver lining have a dark cloud hovering overhead? Here’s what the actual, not seasonally adjusted, November data looks like going back a few years. Auto Sales- Click to enlarge We note…
With oil prices plunging to 5-year lows, perhaps it is time to consider the cheapness of betting on the other oil black swan… Via BofA’s Jake Greenberg, In my base case, I remain structurally bearish oil. The world is making huge productivity and efficiency gains (lighter vehicles, new technology, etc.), and we are starting to…
Precious metals investors have plenty of good options when it comes to choosing a precious metals dealer. So putting up with dealers who either can’t tell you when they expect to deliver, or make commitments they don’t keep, isn’t necessary. In fact, it can be downright dangerous. Just ask the jilted customers of Tulving Company,…
Shares of Cubist Pharmaceuticals (CBST) rose as much as 35% after Merck (MRK) announced that it would acquire the company for approximately $9.5 billion. This translates to Merck paying $102 per share for Cubist while also covering $1.1B in debt, and will allow Merck to acquire a new set of antibacterial drugs. The deal makes…
