The global funding market crisis is getting worse and its contagion is starting to show up in assets that ‘mom and pop’ care about. Bank stocks are being battered… Following bank credit risk’s spike… And European High Yield risk has exploded to one-year highs… European stress is worse than US for now, as Charlie Diebel, head of rates…
Durable goods orders are up, but the bond market is flat, and the equity markets are mostly red as I type. The Census Bureau Advance Monthly Report on Durable Goods shows new orders rose 3.1% from a revised 3.5% decline in January. Was January an outlier? Was February? Perhaps the answer is neither if one averages the…
The first quarter of 2018 provided some long overdue volatility to equity markets while Treasury yields rose across the board. The long end of the yield curve underperformed during the month of January. Roughly 75% of the 35-basis-point move upward in the 30yr Treasury yield took place in the first month of the quarter, while…
iStock.com/hekakoskinen Weekly Gold Price Charts Foretell a 25% Increase If you are a gold bug, it’s important that you pay close attention to gold price charts. They are foretelling that something big could be in the making, and that 2018 could be a stellar year for the yellow precious metal. One chart that gold bugs…
The energy sector has always been a key driver of the quarterly outperformance of the S&P 500 index. In the fourth quarter, the index recorded year-over-year earnings growth of 13.5%. However, excluding Energy, S&P 500’s earnings growth was 11.2%. Also, for first-quarter 2018, we expect Energy to surpass all other sectors, posting earnings growth of…
The 180-day lockup period for Roku, Incorporated (ROKU) ends on March 27, 2018. (Source for lockup expiration date is Edgar Pro. Images above.) When this six month period concludes, the company’s pre-IPO shareholders and insiders will have the ability to sell nearly 16 million shares of currently-restricted stock for the first time….
Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum put the phrase “trade wars” back into vogue. What are trade wars? How do they move currencies? What can we expect going forward? Here are some answers to trade wars. What are trade wars? The term trade war refers to countries imposing tariffs or other trade limitations such as…
Written by John Lounsbury and Steven Hansen The headlines say new home sales declined. Our analysis also shows even more deceleration of new home sales. Sales prices were similar to last month. Analyst Opinion of New Home Sales This month the backward revisions were upward. Because of weather and other factors, the rolling averages are the way to…
Obviously, Powell taking the helm at the Federal Reserve means potential policy changes, but that’s not the only thing that could change. The Fed’s communication strategy could also change. Its communication is how it delivers forward guidance. It’s arguable that the Fed’s forward guidance is the most important tool it has, so any change to…
The best performing currency this past week was the Canadian dollar, which rose more than 1.5% against the greenback. This move drove USD/CAD from a high of 1.3125 down to a low of 1.2825. The loonie’s gains were sparked by a sharp rebound in oil prices, stronger Canadian data and reports that the Trump…
