The March US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index conducted by Markit came in at 55.6, up from the 55.3 final February figure. Today’s headline number was below the Investing.com forecast of 55.7. Markit’s Manufacturing PMI is a diffusion index: A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector; below 50 indicates contraction. Here is an excerpt from Chris…
UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE: UNH) trades at an EBITDA multiple of 11.5x, which is lower than the Healthcare sector median of 16.1x. While this makes UNH appear like a stock to add to your portfolio, you might change your mind after gaining a better understanding of the assumptions behind the EV/EBITDA ratio. In this article, I…
The Dow Jones Industrials is now down over 3300 points from its highs, and has broken below February’s spike-crash lows to the lowest since Nov 20th… The Dow is now the worst-performing major index for 2018 – down almost 6% YTD… VIX is back above 25 and the curve is notably inverted.
Shares of Nike (NKE) are in focus after a report that athletic apparel giant is working to address and correct its “boys club” culture. “BOYS CLUB” CORRECTION: Nike is in the process of trying to address and correct a “boys club” culture, holding an event on March 20 as part of an initiative to “encourage…
Anyone anticipating a rate hike in Canada this year will have to explain away the slowdown in last quarter of 2017 and now the January 2018 contraction in GDP. Statistics Canada’s monthly data reveals an economy in some distress, as major components either contracted or weakened resulting in a 0.1 per cent decline in total…
The following monthly chart of the S&P 500 Index (SPX) simply shows the monthly closes from its inception. January’s (2018) close of 2823.81 nearly tagged its long-term 140% trend-based Fibonacci extension level of 2836. As of 2:03 pm ET today (Monday), its price is currently below its 1.27% Fibonacci extension level of 2625. Failure to recapture and hold 2625 could see price eventually decline further to 2220 (its 1% Fib extension level), or…
There are 2 ways to define a “bear market” vs a “bull market”. A state of mind (investors’ psychology) A quantitative method. In terms of investor psychology, a bear market is “prolonged period of falling market prices in which the downwards decline becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy”. This means that there is widespread pessimism among investors…
In volatile markets, investors look for both growth and income in their portfolios. This can be achieved by zeroing in on companies that not only pay dividends but also have been consistently increasing their payout. Why Dividend Growth? Stocks that have a history of enhancing shareholder returns through consistent dividend hikes make an investor’s…
Tesla (TSLA ) was down 6% on Monday morning after the market decided that CEO Elon Musk’s April Fool’s tweet about the company going bankrupt wasn’t actually that funny. Factoring into today’s move lower is the company’s announcement that they recalled 123,000 of the popular Model S, due to an issue with power steering. As…
Economists expected a jump of 0.5% in construction spending. Instead, spending came in at 0.1%. The Census Bureau’s Monthly Construction Spending Reportshows February spending rose 0.1%, well under the Econoday 0.5% consensus. Total Construction: Construction spending during February 2018 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,273.1 billion, 0.1 percent (±1.2 percent)* above the revised…
