In their third and final estimate of the US GDP for the fourth quarter of 2015, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that the economy was growing at a +1.38% annualized rate, up +0.38% from their previous estimate for the fourth quarter, but still down -0.61% from the third quarter. The improvement was broadly based, with…
The Zacks Industry Rank assigns a rating to each of the 265 industries based on their average Zacks Rank. An Industry with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1s (Strong Buy) and #2s (Buy) will have a better Zacks Industry Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4s (Sell) and #5s (Strong Sell). Finding…
Even as profits and dividends grew in 2015, share prices fell for these three high-yield REITs. With future dividend increases still in the cards and profit growth continuing throughout 2016, buying these three safe income stocks is a smart investment. In 2015, the markets soured on the hotel/lodging REIT subsector. Even as the benchmark Dow…
Long before “smart beta” was a thing, some ETF providers were playing cute with stock weightings in the hope of squeezing out a little cheap alpha. Witness, for example, the Guggenheim(neé Rydex) S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (NYSE Arca: RSP), launched in 2006. The argument for an equal-weighted benchmark was, and perhaps still is, compelling. A capitalization-weighted index,…
I recently discussed in an article that the per capita income for US population has stagnated or declined in the last 15 years. A direct implication is that living standards have also stagnated or declined for an average middle-class family. This article discusses the wealth inequality in one chart for the United States and the implications of…
Image via International Monetary Fund / Flickr On Wednesday, we could see an intensification of the buying tone in the USD, due to the hawkish comments of Fed’s Bullard. The information pushed the USD/JPY pair into session highs close to 112.89. In the US morning, the dollar cut some slack, but it quickly turned to…
ECRI’s WLI Growth Index which forecasts economic growth six months forward is inching towards expansion.This index now spent 34 consecutive weeks in negative territory. Current ECRI WLI Level and Growth Index: Here is this week’s update on ECRI’s Weekly Leading Index (note – a positive number indicates growth): ECRI produces a monthly coincident index –…
TASER International Inc. (Nasdaq: TASR) is justifiably world famous for its “stun gun” electric weapons. They’re used by more than 18,000 police forces in 107 countries around the globe, including cops in 31 of the United States’ 34 largest cities. According to the company’s own data, their TASER weapons have reduced injuries to officers and suspects by 30% to…
While the final revision to Q4 2015 GDP was so irrelevant it was released on a holiday when every US-based market is closed, even the futures, it is nonetheless notable that according to the BEA in the final quarter of 2015 US GDP grew 1.4%, up from the 1.0% previously reported, and higher than the…
Pershing Square`s Investor Letter provides the backdrop for an analysis or case study on Valeant Pharmaceuticals. (Video length 00:16:14)
