Near the end of last month S&P Dow Jones Indices reported preliminary dividend and buyback activity for the S&P 500 Index for the fourth quarter of last year. For the quarter the dollar amount of dividends paid increased 5.4% versus the same quarter in the prior year. Additionally, for the quarter, dividends combined with buybacks increased 3.1%…
This past week the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released their budget projections for FY 2018 through FY 2028. The budget projections include a host of assumptions on things like GDP growth, potential GDP growth, interest rates, employment, revenues, and expenditures, to name a few. Within the CBO information lies an assumption on a number that can, at times,…
“It’s nonsense that there’s a beautiful free market in the power industry,” Energy Secretary Rick Perry said last week as he pushed for a government bailout of coal-fired power plants. Republicans who for years have voted against subsidies for solar and wind power – arguing that the “free market” should decide our energy future –…
A few weeks ago we wrote that it may not be Gold’s time yet but a few recent developments suggest its time could be sooner than we anticipated. Although Gold failed to breakout last week, we should note the positive action in the miners. Over the past seven trading days, the miners have strongly outperformed…
BTC/USD Bitcoin rallied slightly during the trading session on Friday, breaking above the $8100 level. The market looks like it is ready to continue to go higher, perhaps reaching towards the $9000 level. I believe that the $6500 level underneath will continue to offer support. I believe that the $6000 level underneath is the temporary…
Banks unofficially kicked off the first quarter 2018 earnings season on Friday with results from JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citigroup. All beat due to a combination of volatile Q1 markets, tax reform, interest rate normalization and robust economic growth, but investors weren’t sure how they felt about those numbers, with those stocks initially rising on…
If investor/trader reaction last Friday to financials’ 1Q18 results is any indication, we are in for some interesting weeks ahead. First-quarter earnings season began in earnest last week. For 1Q18, the sell-side expects $35.63 in operating earnings from S&P 500 companies. Estimates have slightly trended lower since hitting $35.81 on March 8, but have risen…
The top 100 cryptocurrencies continued moderate gains over the weekend, with IOTA leading the top 10 with another 18% gain on Sunday. The gains came after IOTA Foundation has brought on-board Fujitsu’s Dr. Rolf Werner who currently oversees the company’s activities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. This move adds on to IOTA’s list of powerful…
Gold ended the week up $11.43 at $1345.01 an ounce, recoding a second consecutive weekly gain, as investors sought refuge from volatility in the wider markets. The yellow metal is being supported not only by a weaker U.S. dollar index, but also by safe-haven demand amid the escalating U.S.-Syria-Russia tensions. The minutes of the U.S….
Asian share markets are lower today as Japanese and Hong Kong shares fall. The Nikkei 225 is off 0.3% while the Hang Seng is down 1.6%. The Shanghai Composite is trading down by 1.5%. Over the weekend, US stocks closed mixed. Back home, India share markets opened the day on a negative note. The BSE Sensex is trading lower by 113 points while the NSE…
