“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” – Thomas Aquinas Both the atheist and the faithful have the same fundamental problem: there is no way either can prove their point because it requires knowledge of the future after death. While both can argue that they…
Most of the consolidation warnings issued for market indexes on 12/9/14 were cleared during the rally last week. Here’s a quick update of the two I consider most important (S&P 500 Index – SPX and Small caps – IWM). The general message is that odds favor higher prices into the end of the year. A bit of…
What took place in Washington over the past two weeks with the repeal of Dodd Frank and then the effective repeal of the Volcker Rule sounds strikingly familiar to at least three previous periods in American History that led to total disaster. There were of course the Northern “carpetbaggers”, whom many in the South…
In the last few weeks, silver has been performing better than gold, which is an indication of the fact that most of the price pressure in precious metals is behind us. Gold miners can profit from this, but there is another factor that could help them: the lower oil price. The decision of…
One would think that plunging oil prices and the resulting mothballing (or bankruptcy) of the highest-cost domestic producers would lead to a collapse in U.S. oil production. And sure enough, if looking simply at headline data like the Baker Hughes count of active rigs in the U.S., then U.S. oil production grinding to a halt would be…
1. Last week’s events (FOMC and SNB) reinvigorated the divergence thesis that was questioned during what appears to have been a technical correction. U.S. data in the days ahead will reinforce the perception of U.S. economic strength. This may also ease concerns that the strength of the dollar is curbing growth. At the same time, more…
Continuing with our analysis of top performers from the country’s biggest fund families, we will be looking into Vanguard this time. Last time we had reported about the 3 Top Performing Fidelity Mutual Funds in 2014. Benchmarks largely continued their winning momentum through this year, tackling most of the international concerns. As of Dec 18,…
The spectacular drop in oil prices means that inflation is going to fall even further below the Fed’s 2% target. Does that raise any new risks for the economy? I say no, and here’s why. Year-over-year percent change in the monthly deflator for personal consumption expenditures. Source: FRED. In economists’ theoretical models, inflation…
Existing home sales in the U.S. are expected to decline slightly to an annual pace of 5.25 million units in tomorrow’s update for November, according to The Capital Spectator’s median point forecast for several econometric estimates. The projection represents a marginal decrease from October’s 5.26 million units (seasonally adjusted annual rate). Three estimates based on…
Aaron’s (AAN) is a consumer goods and electronics sale and lease company. Aaron’s is the largest consumer goods and electronic leasing company in the U.S. with a market cap of $2 billion; slightly larger than rival Rent-A-Center (RCII) which has a market cap of $1.8 billion. Aaron’s is undergoing a transition with the recent acquisition of online…
