After years of monthly payroll reports padded with excessive minimum wage waiter, bartender, educator or retail worker jobs, the just released April jobs report, disappointing as it may have been on the top-line, showed surprising strength in most components even if some negative surprises were also present. Of note: the biggest jobs growth in April…
It was another volatile week on Wall Street as investors digested a slew of economic and earnings data. Apple was the big standout winner last week as the stock shot up to new highs after reporting earnings and legendary investor Warren Buffet announced he was increasing his position in the stock. In other news, the bulls…
A balanced jobs report on Friday spurred a rally to bring stocks back to about even for the week. Official unemployment dropped to 3.9%, but soft wage gains may encourage the Fed to pursue a slower path of interest rate hikes. Apple, the world’s most valuable public company, rose 13% for the week, driven by…
My guess is that a short-term uptrend has started, but I am not ready to make the call quite yet with a couple of themajor indexes still below their 50-day average. Much healthier new highs/ new lows in today’s market. New 52-week lows diminished to a harmless level, and new highs perked up. The ultra…
First-quarter results of pharma bigwigs like Pfizer PFE, Merck MRK and Allergan AGN stole the limelight this week. Other than that, Novartis NVS gained FDA approval for the second indication of its CAR-T therapy, Kymriah. While AbbVie ABBV submitted a regulatory application in the EU for its psoriasis candidate, risankizumab, Merck’s PD-L1 inhibitor, Keytruda gained FDA’s Priority Review status for yet another label expansion…
Today’s surge in AAPL stock, when news of more purchases by Warren Buffett in the first quarter unleashed a buying frenzy, sending the stock to a new all time high, had a secondary effect of accelerating the entire FAANG sector (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google), which now makes up a bigger piece of the tech pie…
This week we are focused on rising interest rates and a strengthening dollar as the narrative of synchronized global growth fails; rising prices from tariffs, troubles in the oil markets and wage pressures; equity weakness despite earnings as investors become more bearish, fearing this is as good as it can get. Markets First, let’s recap…
