What Drives Bond Yields And The Fed? Since the Fed is the largest player in the bond market, it plays a big role in the direction of interest rates. However in the end, interest rates are determined by all bond market participants. If consumer prices are stable, conservative bonds are more attractive. Conversely, if prices…
A terrific day for the equity bears (so far, at least). I’m short Dicks (DKS) – – which reminds me of my college days, when there were stores all around this valley with this name: Dick’s Electronics, Dicks Carpet, and my favorite – Linoleum Dicks. (I’m serious). Apparently their sports outlet was the success story,…
Finding the right combination of factors for an investable tungsten operation is no easy matter, says Robert Baylis, managing director of London-based Roskill. Much of the tungsten space is held privately, but some publicly traded equities offer leverage to future demand growth. In this interview with The Gold Report, Baylis says investor success in this space depends on finding…
(from my colleagues Dr. Win Thin and Ilan Solot) Falling commodity prices and better US economic data are the biggest macro drivers for EM, overriding just about all idiosyncratic variables – perhaps with the exception of the weaker yen for Korea. We note that aside from the huge fall of over 40% in the price…
In Washington’s coming budget battles, sacred cows like the tax deductions for home mortgage interest and charitable donations are likely to be on the table along with potential cuts to Social Security and Medicare. But no one on Capitol Hill believes Wall Street’s beloved carried-interest tax loophole will be touched. Don’t blame the newly elected…
Though the market may have gotten off to a bad start with Monday’s 0.7% stumble, the bulls took charge again the very next day to hammer out a gain for the week. Granted, it was less than a 0.4% gain when all was said and done, but a gain is a gain. On the other…
The third quarter earnings season for companies in the S&P 500 officially comes to an end today, with H&R Block reporting after the closing bell. Both Estimize and Wall Street are expecting earnings per share (EPS) to come in at $-0.42, with revenues of $145M. Tomorrow, Autozone will be the first company from the S&P 500…
On Dec 4, 2014, we issued an updated research report on Comstock Resources Inc. (CRK – Analyst Report). The energy explorer finds maintaining profitability a challenge amid declining production levels and weak commodity pricing. Operational issues also add to the problems. These are reflected in Comstock Resources’ current Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), implying that the stock is expected…
Pssst! Want the inside scoop? Follow the money. Insider money, I mean. Bank directors started their Christmas shopping last week—some in stocking stuffer bits and pieces, some in wholesale lots—with outright purchases of their companies’ shares. Five community banks and holding companies—Sussex Bancorp (Nasdaq: SBBX), Brookline Bancorp (Nasdaq: BRKL), First Merchants Corp. (Nasdaq: FRME), Access National…
The S&P 500 Energy sector stocks are down over 12% year-to-date, tumbling over 3% today to fresh 20-month lows. The spread (or risk) of high-yield energy credits surged again today, breaking above 850bps for the first time… The overall high-yield credit market is being dragged wider by this contagion as hedgers try to contain the collapse that…
