This year, emerging markets have run ahead of the S&P 500 after years of underperformance. Thanks to a declining dollar and continued monthly inflows, emerging markets have been a shining star in the 1st half of the year. Now the question is: will the trend continue? Let’s take a quick look at a couple of…
Value funds are those that tend to trade at prices lower than their fundamentals (i.e. earnings, book value and debt to equity). It is a common practice to invest in value funds for income or yield. However, not all value funds solely comprise companies that primarily use their earnings to pay dividends. Investors interested in…
As the saying goes, if something looks too good to be true, it usually is just that. This can often be applied to unusually high-yielding dividend stocks. For example, Stellus Capital Investment Corp. (SCM) has a 10% dividend yield, which is very attractive on the surface. The S&P 500 Index, on average, has a dividend…
The Lockheed Martin (LMT) Q2:F17 earnings report was released before opening bell this morning. The defense contractor posted earnings of $3.23 per share on $12.7 billion in revenue, compared to the consensus estimates of $3.11 per share and $12.4 billion in sales. In last year’s second quarter, the defense contractor reported $11.58 billion in sales…
Former FX trader Richard Breslow has a good piece out on Tuesday. It’s particularly apt given what we saw in FX markets overnight between the RBA minutes, the Riksbank minutes, soft UK inflation data, and of course, the death of the GOP healthcare bill in the US. All of this would be impossible to trade…
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Housing Market Index (HMI) is a gauge of builder opinion on the relative level of current and future single-family home sales. It is a diffusion index, which means that a reading above 50 indicates a favorable outlook on home sales; below 50 indicates a negative outlook. The latest…
A key driver was the mini-taper tantrum spurred by ECB official comments indicating that the central bank was on a gradual path toward the exit. The yield on the 10-year German Bund, the benchmark in Europe, is lower for the third consecutive day. The ECB may have spurred the rise in yields, but it will likely resist the…
Novartis AG (NVS – Free Report) reported second-quarter 2017 core earnings of $1.22 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.16 but the recorded figure was a penny lower than the year-ago figure of $1.23. Revenues declined 2% to $12.2 billion as volume growth was offset by the negative impact of generic competition and pricing but beat…
TPG RE Finance Trust (TRTX), a mortgage REIT managed by TPG that focuses on commercial real estate debt, is expected to IPO on Thursday (7.20). The New York, NY-based company plans to offer 11 million shares priced between $20 and $21 and expects to raise $225.5 million. The REIT is currently managed by an affiliate…
On Tuesday morning, House Republicans released a fiscal 2018 budget plan that will pose the next major political test for President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda by combining tax reform with controversial spending cuts. While unlikely, the spending plan, which covers the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, aims to move the government from a $472 billion deficit in…
