Starting on January 1, 2015, a one year-delayed component of Obamacare kicks in: according to the health care law, businesses that employ at least 100 full-time workers — or full-time equivalents, including part-time workers — must offer health benefits to at least 70% of those working at least 30 hours a week by Thursday, or…
Over the years, studies have consistently shown that investing in both domestic equities and foreign stocks reduces portfolio risk while enhancing returns. In addition, the primacy of the U.S. equity markets has greatly diminished with its share of the global stock market capitalization declining steadily. This is why investors can no longer limit themselves to…
2015 started with a fresh US dollar rally, as the DXY dollar index jumped nearly a percent on Friday. The dollar strength and its consequences will be a key theme for the economy and markets this year. Source: barchart One of the consequences of course is continuing pressure on commodities markets, as Brent crude…
The two big stories of 2014 were the crash in oil prices and the decline in US interest rates. Both were opposite of consensus expectations. The S&P 500 charged ahead for a 14% gain, but West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil crashed by nearly 46%; and US 10-yr Treasury interest rates declined by over 27% (from…
There’s an amusing pair of headlines back-to-back today on what a Greek exit from the Eurozone might mean. One view is catastrophic, the other is along the lines of no problem. Let’s start with the catastrophe. Economic historian Barry Eichengreen says Greek Euro Exit Would be ‘Lehman Brothers Squared. A decision by a new Greek…
Jan. 2 MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) announced today that it has agreed to acquire the stock of Pennsylvania-based High Pressure Equipment (HiP) company for $160 million. The acquisition of HiP is subject to customary regulatory review and Graco expects to complete the transaction in the first quarter of 2015. In addition, Graco announced that it…
On October 17, 2014, I purchased shares of Avago Technologies (AVGO) for inclusion in my Covestor Growth and Momentum model at a cost of $75.54. AVGO closed at $100.09 on January 2, 2015. Thus far, this has been an absolutely terrific purchase for this Covestor Model. It deserves a closer look here on this blog….
Investors with new money, look no further for an investment opportunity that doesn’t come around but once in a long while. The fall in oil has caused share prices to crumble, but this one player is poised to reward shareholders with growth going forward and a solid 10% yield to boot. On Friday, January 2, Linn Energy LLC…
The IMF is increasing the pressure on the EU and stopping further loans to Greece. The IMF is trying desperately to scare the Greeks into staying inside the Euroland. The Troika will no longer provide loans to the current government. The European Commission and Wolfgang Schäuble want to let the Greeks know that the previous course…
In November 2010 Ben Bernanke made boosting the stock market part of the official economic policy of the US Federal Reserve. He announced the policy change publicly in a Washington Post Editorial, saying: The FOMC intends to buy an additional $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by mid-2011 and will continue to reinvest repayments of…
