Meet Bella and Raul. Yes, they are spoiled rotten. Yet, as I reached for my credit card at the gas station yesterday, to pay nearly 40% more than I did just a few months ago to fill my tank, they looked nervous. Statistically, people rarely stint on their pets, even during recessionary times. However, people…
“As you have willed your house is now yours— but is made desolate.’” Stocks initially rallied, continuing their overnight strength, based on a tweet from Trump about seeking some relief from the sanctions being imposed on a Chinese telecoms company ZTE. However, during the day the Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross cast doubt on this, causing…
A solid performance from Asia with energy, tech and real estate leading the Hang Seng to another 1%+ return day. Although the HSI was the front runner, there were good gains made for all the core. Sentiment in mainland was probably helped by a tweet over the weekend by President Trump suggesting ongoing trade negotiations…
After the launch of its first fund in 1937, Putnam Investments has come a long way. It is now one of the most renowned financial investment companies in the world. Putnam had assets of $172 billion under its management as of April 2018, of which mutual fund assets comprised $79 billion. The fund family allocated…
Yelp (YELP), which publishes crowd-sourced reviews about local businesses and has an online reservation service, has been struggling since reporting quarterly earnings last Thursday evening. Despite reporting a 13% increase in net revenues to $223M, investors are wary of the company’s transition to more flexible, non-term advertising contracts. “We had a great start to 2018,…
Just when you thought the China trade-war was easing… The Dow is up 8 days in a row – longest streak in 8 months…BUT look where the Dow stalled today – at its 50% retrace from the Feb tumble… Russell 2000 ripped up to test its all-time closing high (1615.52), then tumbled back into the…
Last week’s tepid US CPI readings and the weak NFP readings the week before that have cooled traders expectations of Fed rate hikes going forward with the market essentially pricing in the prospect of only 3 hikes this year. Fed officials, however, continue to assume a hawkish stance with Cleveland President Mester reaffirming the view…
Sorry for the radio silence these last 10 days. I was in Switzerland for work (and some fun). It was my first time there for an extended period and proved to be one of the more interesting experiences I’ve had abroad. I am by no means an expert on Switzerland, but here are some thoughts…
I keep up on the global investment marketplace by actively scanning a deluge of charts each week. My ongoing analysis involves major sectors throughout the stock, bond, and commodity categories. As such, it’s rare that I stumble across a chart or trend that completely catches me off-guard. Score one for the forestry and timber markets…
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR TALKING POINTS NZD/USD struggles to hold its ground as market participants digest the fresh developments coming out of the New Zealand economy, and the exchange rate appears to be on track to test the November-low (0.6780) as the bearish momentum appears to be gathering pace. With the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ)…
