The distinction is that ‘gradual’ means as needed, or as seen to be necessary by the ongoing data. ‘Measured’ was meant to imply a steady 25 basis point at a time rate of increases to an objective which some thought to be 100 bp. So in other words, as suspected, the Fed raised, but it…
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one.Chinese Proverb Wall Street has a new hobby use good money to create the illusion that all is well; only unlike most hobbies, the intent is to distort reality and reward lazy insiders for doing next to nothing. Gone are the days of actually trying…
NIKE, Inc. (NYSE: NKE) focuses in the design, development, marketing and selling of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and services. The Company sells its products through retailer stores owned by them, their main website and through a mix of independent distributors and licensees throughout the world. Nike Inc. Signs LeBron James for a lifetime deal The…
It is perhaps the perfect situational irony of this economic age, with the FOMC set to end its “emergency” policies by raising rates for the first time in a decade the very same day that the very same outfit, the Federal Reserve’s staff, just declared that the past cycle may have long since peaked. The…
The Fed appears to be skipping merrily toward an interest rate hike this afternoon, which is supposed to signal that the US economy has recovered. But as Peter Schiff has been pointing out relentlessly on his Facebook page, the actual economic data tells a completely different story. In fact, the economy isn’t nearly as good as…
The headlines say seasonally adjusted Industrial Production (IP) declined (the manufacturing portion of this index was unchanged month-over-month). Consider this a soft data point that was slightly worse than expected. Our analysis is slightly better than the headline view. Headline seasonally adjusted Industrial Production (IP) decreased 0.6 % month-over-month and down 1.2 % year-over-year. Econintersect‘s analysis using the unadjusted…
Ideally, a central bank would like the party to be rocking when it takes away the punch bowl. This party, however, is not cooperating. For every sign of exuberance (high-end real estate bubbles, equity and bond bull markets, job growth) there are five or six things going wrong, some of them in a big way….
The two stocks in this article both have dividend yields over 6%. Stocks with such high yields tend to have higher-than-average risk. Focus on total return not high yield. Just because a stock has a high yield does not mean it will generate better total returns. In fact, if you put dividend paying stocks into 5…
My friend and colleague, Michael Lebowitz of 720 Global Research, recently penned a response to Larry Summers commentary on the economy’s weakened ability to withstand higher interest rates. To wit: “In his Dec. 7 op-ed, ‘Before the next recession,’ Lawrence Summers correctly said the economy’s weakened ability to withstand higher interest rates is based on the…
Industrial production shocked to the downside this morning with a drop of 0.6%, the most in 3.5 years vs. an Econoday Consensus guess of -0.2%. Moreover, last month was revised lower, from -0.2% to -0.4%. November was another weak month for the industrial economy, in part reflecting unusually warm temperatures that are driving down utility output. Industrial…
