The combination of the outright deflation in the eurozone and the seemingly immunity of the US economy to the poor global developments has encouraged investors to extend the dollar’s gains. The euro has been pushed below $1.18. Sterling neared $1.50. And the dollar, which was at three week lows against the yen on Tuesday, near JPY118,…
To question money-printing as the one-size-fits-all solution to every economic problem is to question the power structure of the status quo. It is tiresomely obvious that we live in an era dominated by the idea that virtually all economic difficulties can be fixed by printing more money. There are various means of distributing the new money,…
by Richard Stavros Utility investors should be forgiven for popping the champagne a little early this year, as they have much to celebrate: Utilities produced a stunning 33.1% total return in 2014, outperforming all other sectors in the S&P 500, while more than doubling the broad market’s return. This performance has once again proved that…
Dear Diary, A man puts a single bullet in a revolver and spins the chamber. He puts the gun to his head. He pulls the trigger. Nothing happens. He spins the chamber again. Gawkers watch. Speculators take bets on whether he will live or die. Again, the man pulls the trigger. The gun clicks. But…
The price of oil has fallen by more than half since its 2014 high over $100/barrel. The crash has been a boon to consumers and sectors heavily dependent on fuel, such as airlines and trucking. It has not been so kind to developing countries with economies heavily oriented towards natural resource extraction. The US is…
Gold eased on Wednesday, ending a three-day winning streak, as the dollar and equities strengthened and minutes from the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting in December showed the U.S. central bank maintaining the status quo on interest rates. The minutes contained few surprises, with policy makers pressing ahead with plans to begin raising rates this year after…
Since 2010, the best scoring names in our weekly mid cap report have outpaced the S&P 400 by a median 362 bps in the following year. The best performers from our list one year ago include SWKS up 166%, SKX up 70%, and ILMN up 61%. The best mid cap sector is utilities. The top…
Peter Schiff appeared on Benzinga’s Pre-Market Prep show last week. He explained why the Federal Reserve is going to be forced to keep interest rates at zero in 2015 and maybe even start QE4. What the United States really needs is the tough love of higher interest rates that would push the economy into a…
Earnings estimates have been falling for Colfax Corporation (CFX – Analyst Report) after the company provided weak guidance at its annual investor day conference in December. The company also reported disappointing Q3 results in October that prompted analysts to reduce their estimates as well. Colfax is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) stock. Investors searching for value here will…
Our core measures of risk have been bouncing back and forth across the zero line this week. The category closed today barely above. A weekly close below zero will cause us to change our allocations in the long / cash portfolios to 100% cash. The long / short hedge portfolio will go 50% long and…
