Amazon keeps expanding its market share. Its “Basics” program and Amazon “Prime” explain why. Time to bust up Amazon? Quartz reports AmazonBasics is Well Beyond the Basics. Amazon launched a house brand, called AmazonBasics, in 2009. It was originally a way for Amazon to sell low-cost, generic versions of electronics accessories, like cables and plugs. Over…
Crude Oil Weekly Technical Outlook: Crude prices rallied though the yearly range highs & confluence resistance at the 55-handle in late-October, shifting the broader focus higher heading into the close of the year. The advance is struggling a bit here with a near-term consolidation break to offer guidance over the next few days. Note that we’ve broken…
The next 24 hours will be a busy one for the commodity currencies with New Zealand and Canadian data scheduled for release. The New Zealand dollar has been incredibly resilient in the face of weakening data. Last night’s trade balance report came in significantly lower than expected with the deficit expanding in the month…
With both the Senate and House passing the GOP tax plan, AT&T (T) reiterated its plan to invest an additional $1B in the U.S. next year if the bill is signed into law, which is now expected to happen soon. ADDITIONAL $1B IN 2018: Once the new tax reform bill is signed into law, AT&T…
While the jury will be out for years whether the Trump tax cuts will boost the economy (they already had an outsized impact on markets, pushing the Dow by nearly 5,000 points higher since Trump’s election), there are several key problems that remain outstanding. The first one, as the following JPMorgan chart shows, is that all…
People Think Their Taxes Will Be Raised, But They Won’t It’s always interesting when vast swaths of people believe something that isn’t true. One example of this is the FOMO involved in cryptocurrencies. The total valuation of all the coins is $606 billion. It’s difficult to rationalize that valuation, but most speculators don’t care. They…
Analysts attribute this year’s stock market gains to tax reform. I also believe tax reform will drive a rally in 2018. I showed the precedent of 1986 tax reform before. We are now halfway through the tax reform rally. This tax reform package lowers the corporate tax rate. It might eliminate some loopholes. It’s still a work in progress,…
With the first overhaul of the US tax code in over 30 years passing this morning, US corporations in particular stand to do very well in 2018, and potentially even top their stellar performance from this year. The S&P 500 saw earnings grow nearly 10% in 2017, a yearly rate not seen since 2011. These…
While the dotcom era was all about small exciting tech startups, 2017 was possibly the year when getting bigger became truly better. It was also a year when competitors decided that imitation was the best form of offence. So Facebook (FB – Free Report) adopted some of Snap Inc.’s (SNAP – Free Report) Snapchat’s best features. Also, Microsoft Corporation…
We’ve used data based on the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which publishes price data weekly on home heating oil in 38 states by dollar-per-gallon before taxes. Unlike natural gas and electricity, home heating oil is provided by independent retailers. The latest price of home heating oil nationwide is $2.91, up three cents from last week and up…
