Econintersect: The Chicago Business Barometer improved and is now in expansion. From Bloomberg, the market expected the index between 49.5 to 53.8 (consensus 50.0) versus the actual at 54.7. A number below 50 indicates contraction. Chief Economist of MNI Indicators Philip Uglow said, The recent weakness in the Chicago Business Barometer had sounded a few alarm…
The rise in short-term bond yields seemed to result from everybody getting in line and giving the FOMC its due respect (hey, they are going to raise the Funds rate… some day!). Here is the 3 mo. T Bill and the 1 year yield as of yesterday (weekly chart). But the Utilities (which generally…
Grexit concerns, Puerto Rico debt problems and the China meltdown were chasing the U.S. economy, when it entered the second half of the year. Luckily within weeks, the Greece bailout agreement, a rebound in the Chinese stocks — and a spate of upbeat economic data and strong earnings reports, especially from Google (GOOGL – Analyst Report) and…
Because nothing says “sell vol with both hands and feet” and buy Biotechs like a collapse in the wage growth meme and consumer sentiment… Investors flood into the safety of Biotechs… As they dump any kind of protection en masse… Who could have seen that coming? S&P green. Next: VIX < 12 — zerohedge (@zerohedge)…
There are a number of great companies in the market today. By using the ModernGraham Valuation Model, I’ve selected the five lowest PEmg (price / normalized earnings) companies reviewed by ModernGraham. Each company has been determined to be undervalued and suitable for the Defensive Investor according to the ModernGraham approach. This is a sample of one screen…
I had a very interesting conversation with one my colleagues yesterday about the markets and the economy. Essentially the discussion centered around the markets remaining near their all-time highs as economic data remained soft. Much like the“300” that defended Greece against the massive invading force of Persia, it is only a question of time before the…
The storage solution provider, Seagate Technology Public Limited Company (STX – Analyst Report) is mainly known as one of the largest manufacturers of hard disk drives (HDD) which caters to the needs of individual and small businesses. However, for the past few years the company is focusing on the larger enterprise segment, where technology upgrades and cloud-related…
The University of Michigan Final Consumer Sentiment for July came in at 93.1, a decrease from the 96.1 June final reading. Investing.com had forecast 94.0 for the July Final. The Index is at its highest eight month average since 2004. Surveys of Consumers chief economist, Richard Curtin makes the following comments: Consumer confidence slipped a bit in…
US economic momentum continues to print at a modestly positive level through the end of July, based on a markets-based estimate of macro conditions. The Macro-Markets Risk Index (MMRI) closed at +5.9% yesterday (July 30). The current level is in the lower range for the past year, although MMRI remains comfortably above zero, which implies…
I’m happy to report that I’ve never been in prison. I can only imagine that the first few days and weeks are a terrible period of adjustment. There is no freedom, you cannot choose when to go outside or when to turn the lights off at night, and the food, I’m guessing, is awful. But…
