With the domestic economy recovering slowly but steadily and interest rates expected to remain low in near future, the overall backdrop for US stocks remains positive. But as the bull market approaches its seven year anniversary, the easy money in stocks has already been made. Global growth worries, lackluster earnings, valuation concerns, China stock market…
ECRI’s WLI Growth Index, which had spent 28 weeks in negative territory – is now in its 13th week in positive territory but continues to creep back towards contraction.. Current ECRI WLI Level and Growth Index: Here is this week’s update on ECRI’s Weekly Leading Index (note – a positive number indicates growth): U.S. Weekly…
For quite some time now, I have been publishing a weekly series of articles to this site discussing the trend in oil inventories as found in the weekly report from the Energy Information Administration. Regrettably, I have been somewhat lax in publishing these reports as of late so this edition of my report will include…
Plethora of mid-level announcements Looking at the upcoming Friday session, there are a plethora of mid-level announcements. With that being the case, we believe that there could be a little bit of volatility, but at the end of the day we think that the technical analysis will probably leave the way as Flash CPI out…
De-risking is the trade du jour Sometimes it’s a good idea to keep track of ETF prices even if you have no inclination to buy them. Why? Because they give you clues about investor sentiment. Take the new generation of beta-tilted funds as an example. One of the most popular since its 2011 debut has…
As concerns over a sharp rate hike fade, housing stocks like DR Horton (DHI –Analyst Report) are coming back into focus. Companies like DHI stand to benefit from the continuation of low mortgage rates, while a stronger economy is making homeownership a reality for more people as well. These positive trends can be seen in DHI’s recent earnings…
On January 29th, I did a post called Tiger by the Tail, which pointed out the topping pattern with Exxon Mobil. The stock, like all the energy sector, has stumbled and fumbled its way lower, although certainly not in a straight line. I suspect energy will continue to be weak for many months – maybe…
After nearly three decades of stagnation, Japan in 2013 went all-in, ordering its central bank, the Bank of Japan, to buy pretty much every bond on the market with newly-created yen. The BoJ’s balance sheet — a rough proxy for the amount of money it has created and dumped into the economy — soared at…
Once again the IMF is back in the news in regards to Greece. The IMF staff told the board of directors Greece Disqualified from New IMF Program. Yet, Germany insists IMF be a part of the program. The reason for the latter is Germany will have to pony up lots more money if the IMF is…
This erosion of opportunities to complete life’s stages and core dramas is rarely recognized, much less addressed. The idea that human life subdivides rather naturally into stages is based on our natural progression from childhood into adulthood and eventual (if we’re lucky) old age. Confucian thought views life as a developmental process with seven stages,…
