One little anecdote from within the vast US economy… I received this note from my trash and recyclables collector this morning: “The reason for this raise being larger than normal for us is primarily due to unforeseen increases in our costs, including this past September receiving the largest increase in over 5 years to both…
So, it’s the first real day back after Xmas and the final day in the O’Neil follow-through day (FTD) window (we are allowing it to have today even though officially it is eight days into the rally attempt). Will stocks surge on big volume? That’s what the bulls want, for sure. But think about this:…
The year 2014 has been a mixed bag for energy investors. While the first half was upbeat with crude oil surging past the $100 per barrel mark, the latter half was saddled with disappointment as the commodity plummeted to multi-year lows, dragging down stocks. This is evident from the overall energy sector performance. While the…
While mainstream media desperately played up the fact that oil prices were ‘off the lows’ this morning as some kind of positive news, that narrative is now dashed to winds of under-demand and over-supply. With WTI Crude prices testing the multi-year cycle lows once again, crashing below $54, we wonder how long before the Yellen effect…
People say that, “Everybody loves a winner.” If that is true, then investors must have really been loving their utility company shares in 2014. Total return on the normally stodgy group had been beating the major indices even before Christmas week. In the three and a half-day holiday-shortened week they added an amazing 3.56%, more…
Source: Wikipedia Dear Diary, And so it came to pass that investors saw a bright star in the East… directly over the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building, at the corner of 20th Street and Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. “What comes after me goes before me,” said Janet Yellen, so confusing investors that they…
Sir John Templeton, who knew something about money, once said: “The four most dangerous words in investing are: ‘this time it’s different.’” I recalled the quote when I last regarded the daily inflation chart which reveals a precipitous fall in inflationary expectations over the past year. Inflationary momentum can be gauged by watching the ever-changing…
The US Daily Cash Deficit for Wednesday 12/24/2014 was $5.2B bringing the December 2014 Surplus through 24 days to $2B with 4 business days remaining. Click on picture to enlarge Revenues continue to impress and while they are distorted a bit by the timing of the holiday…as of 12/24 sit at +20% vs 2013 with…
Lost in the bull market euphoria is the reality that economists have been dead wrong about the direction of asset prices, particularly bond prices. Last December, when 55 of the most prestigious economists across a wide range of institutions had been polled by Bloomberg about where the 10-year yield (3.0%) would end the year, each…
<< Read Part 2: M&As To Make Or Break Companies << Read Part 1: Collaborations Rule The Day This past year has been a solid one for initial public offerings and the total amount raised topped 2013 levels by 49%. Of the $204.8 billion raised in 2014, U.S. markets accounted for 39% with the Alibaba…
