After reporting a positive earnings surprise of 14.3% in the final quarter of 2017, Office Depot, Inc. (ODP – Free Report) delivered in-line earnings in the first quarter of 2018. Meanwhile, the top line came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the third straight quarter. Favorable results and strategic initiatives, including strengthening of core businesses and expansion of…
Top tickers for midday: WFT, BAC, BP, GE, ABBV, RIG.
Wholesale inventories rose less than economists expected. The advance estimate was simply too high. The Econoday consensus range for wholesale inventories was 0.5% to 0.6% in line with the advance estimate. Instead, the Census Department reported March Wholesale Inventories at +0.3%. February was revised a tad lower, to +0.9% from +1.0%. Sales: March 2018 sales of merchant…
The AUD/USD reached the lowest levels in 11 months and began recovering as the US Dollar finally takes a breather. However, the pair may run into massive resistance. The Technical Confluences Indicator shows that the 0.7477 level is the convergence of the Simple Moving Average 200-15m, the SMA50-1h, the Fibonacci 38.2% one-day, the one-month low, the one-week low, and the…
In July of 2015, CNN Money featured an article with the optimistic and intriguing title “More American teens are getting jobs. That’s good for everyone.” The article opens with an example of 16-year-old Lauren Miller, who loves her minimum wage job at Hershey Lodge in Pennsylvania, “roasting s’mores and organizing activities for kids.” The article goes on…
There are some signs US consumers are beginning to save up a little and cut down on credit card debt. If – big IF – sustained, this will have consequences for the economy, not to mention stocks. In general, a drop in money-market fund assets tends to bode well for stocks. Not of late, though….
In recent months, the dollar has continued to strengthen against all the major peers. The dollar strength is as a result of several factors. First, the US treasuries have continued to climb, with the ten year yields reaching a high of 3%. This was the highest level since 2014. Secondly, there have been a divergence…
Yesterday, I discussed the “compression” of the market being akin to a “coiled spring” that when released could lead to a fairly decent move in one direction or another. To wit: “As you can see in the ‘reddish triangle,’ prices have been continually compressed into an ever smaller trading range. This ‘compression’ is akin to coiling a spring. The more tightly the…
My Swing Trading Approach Some resistance lingering overhead that I note below, and providing issues for the overall stock market. I will consider adding another position to the portfolio today, but won’t allow myself to stretch too far out. I will look to protect profits on existing positions as my #1 priority. Indicators VIX – Fell…
According to a May 2, 2018, article from ETF.com,1 there have been more than 100 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that have more than doubled their asset totals since the beginning of 2018. However, the fastest-growing one, on a percentage basis, comes from the fixed income universe: the WisdomTree Bloomberg Floating Rate Treasury Fund (USFR(. The fastest-growing ETF year-to-date…
