At the start of the last trading week for 2017 last Friday’s positive sentiment for the USD appears to have evaporated, as our USD index based on the euro, British pound, Japanese yen and Aussie continues to pull back sharply ahead of the crucial vote on the US tax reform bill, despite news that the…
Oil prices are on the rise into the holiday as a Nigerian oil worker’s strike and the ongoing problems with the Forties pipeline system lend support. We also have a successful launch of the CME Group’s Bitcoin future as well as a risk-on sentiment as it looks like tax reform will pass and soon be…
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the US topped a generally rising tide in last week’s market action for the major asset classes, based on a set of exchange-traded products. The lone weak spot over the five trading days through Dec. 15: US junk bonds. Vanguard REIT (VNQ) was up a strong 1.2% last week, the ETF’s…
Bitcoin grabs all the headlines with its attempts to break 20K and as trading on BTC futures, including shorts, begins today. With all the fuss, the “second” cryptocurrency is certainly worth watching. The price of Ethereum made a big jump last week, hitting a high of $800. Yet after the huge leap, ETH/USD seems to…
JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth upgraded Twitter (TWTR) to Overweight and raised his price target for the shares to $27 from $20. The stock closed Friday down 35c to $22.23. The analyst calls Twitter one of his top mid-cap ideas for 2018. Both the company’s investment story and financial results will strengthen in 2018 as…
The US Dollar Index fell on Monday trading, largely as a result of cautious optimism that Donald Trump’s tax reform bill could be moving closer to ratification. While on Friday the bill had passed the negotiating committee, there is now some uncertainty as to whether it can be enacted as there has been spirited disagreement…
If you want the upside potential of Bitcoin with minimal downside risk, then silver may well be your answer. The precious metal has offered not just centuries, but millennia of intrinsic monetary and industrial value. And despite that inherent worth, silver sometimes goes through frenzied buying manias, not unlike Bitcoin’s 2017 run-up. In my view,…
After opening the day deep in red, share markets in India made a smart recovery and witnessed buying activity throughout the day to end on a positive note. Gains were seen across most sectors with stocks in the metals sector and stocks in the auto sector, leading the gains. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 139 points (up 0.4%)…
Japanese exports boomed in November 2017, rising +16.2% versus a year earlier and beating consensus expectations of +14.7%. It was the fifth straight month of double-digit growth and the strongest since August. Last month, growth of +14.0% had undershot expectations of +15.7%. Imports in November grew slightly less than expected at +17.2% versus the consensus…
The market is currently trading at record highs, boosted by the prospect of business-friendly tax reforms. According to JPMorgan quant guru Marko Kolanovic, a successful Republican tax overhaul will give equities a huge boost in 2018. “The upcoming reduction of US corporate tax rates may be one of the biggest positive catalysts for US equities this cycle,” says Kolanovic….
