There is a financial crisis taking place overseas, which you probably don’t know, or care about. But you should care. The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is a measure of the cost of short-term borrowing in Europe. It is essentially their version of our own Fed funds rate. And here’s the problem. It has been…
If you look at the last 3 days in the VXX (commonly referred to as the ‘fear gauge’) you see that the last 3 days have not shown an ounce of volatility. The VXX 3-day ATR is the lowest it’s been since the end of January (before it exploded higher). Does that sound like what…
Today was an off day in stocks from the overnight, with gold and silver catching a bid in response to a heating of the geopolitical tensions over Iraq. President Trump warned Russia of incoming missiles this morning with a tweet, and Russia pretty much told him to go blow. From trade war to shooting war,…
Some companies have very erratic dividend payments. Not because management is incompetent or doesn’t care about the dividend, but because of the way the business is structured. Based on its last monthly distribution, San Juan Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE: SJT) pays a 12% yield. But that’s misleading because the distribution is variable. Hilcorp Energy Company owns natural…
When most investors and traders purchase stock it is because they intend to profit from the rise in its price. They are familiar with the mantra: ‘buy low and sell high!’ But there are several other ways of profiting from the ownership of stock shares without having to part with them. In this article, we…
In a low inflation world firms tend to raise prices once a year — typically in the first quarter or the first quarter of their fiscal year. Consequently, over half of the annual increase in the not seasonally adjusted core CPI occurs in the first quarter and doubling the first quarter increase gives an amazingly…
“China’s reaction to Mr. Trump’s legitimate defence of the American homeland has been a Great Wall of denial – despite incontrovertible evidence of Beijing’s illicit and protectionist behaviour. Instead, China is attacking American farmers with the threat of retaliatory tariffs in the apparent hope of rattling a key component of the coalition that put Mr….
The ETF industry has witnessed explosive growth buoyed by the rise in “thematic investing” and craze for “smart beta.” It has seen 84 launches and 22 closures so far this year, taking the total number of ETFs to 2,182 and total assets to nearly $3.43 billion in the U.S. market. The rapid growth can be…
Each year the Federal Trade Commission and and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division publish the Hart-Scott-Rodino Annual Report, which offers an overview of merger and acquisition activity and antitrust enforcement during the previous year. The Hart-Scott-Rodino legislation requires that all mergers and acquisitions above a certain size–now set at $80.8 million–be reported to the antitrust…
Mutual funds are a great way for people to invest in the stock market. By allowing for instant diversification, investors without a lot of money are able to control risk and earn a higher return than if they kept their money sitting in a bank savings account. But as much as I like mutual funds, there…
