In the rational world of textbook investing, investors should pay up for safety and be compensated for risk, but for the past 20 years, the opposite has been the case in US equity markets. As BofA’s Savita Subramanian notes, the market has tried to get rational, but, as the chart below shows, each time it was thwarted…
In the rational world of textbook investing, investors should pay up for safety and be compensated for risk, but for the past 20 years, the opposite has been the case in US equity markets. As BofA’s Savita Subramanian notes, the market has tried to get rational, but, as the chart below shows, each time it was thwarted…
U.S. consumer confidence soared to an 18-year high in September. Households seem to be pretty confident about the labor market and robust economy in spite of escalating trade war tensions between the United States and China. This is welcome news for retailers, especially as the holiday season is about to kick-off. The Consumer Confidence index…
The refreshing news that the US and Canada had reached an agreement, that would replace NAFTA, encouraged markets across the world today. Starting in Asia the Nikkei managed to add +0.5% even as Confidence (a Bank of Japan statistic) declined yet again. However, the Nikkei rally was at the expense of the Yen, which late…
Below is a snapshot of total returns for various asset classes through the first three quarters of 2018. In September, we saw gains for the S&P 500 and Dow 30, but we saw declines for the Nasdaq 100 and small-caps. The Technology sector was also down in September along with Financials, Materials, and Utilities. Outside…
Shares of Euronet Worldwide (EEFT ) rallied during the session after the company acknowledged press reports of Visa International’s (V) rule change to allow dynamic currency conversion on global ATM transactions. WHAT’S NEW: Euronet acknowledged in a press release this morning the media reports that Visa notified its members on September 27, 2018, that it…
Econintersect’s Economic Index (EEI) moderately declined but still remains well into territory associated with normal expansions. Analyst Summary of this Economic Forecast Overall the decline this month is significant. Last month we warned that we are seeing mixed trend lines – which usually happens when there is an overall reversal in trends. The forward-looking leading…
More than 1,500 stocks have now reported Q2 earnings, and as shown below, the percentage of them that have beaten consensus EPS estimates is down slightly this quarter versus the last two quarters. Forward guidance numbers have been more positive than negative thus far. The chart below shows the spread between the percentage of companies…
Oil prices are rising. We have a falling U.S. oil rig count and a surprise drop in Saudi oil production, against a backdrop of increasing geopolitical risk. Baker Hughes’ oil rig was countdown two, gas rig count dipped by three. Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia pumped around 10.29 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude…
Overnight Markets and News Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU18 +0.05%) this morning are up +0.11% at a 1-week high and European stocks are up +0.56%. Strength in energy producers is leading the overall market higher with Sep WTI crude oil (CLU18 +1.23%) up +1.47% after Saudi Arabia said it cut its crude production to 10.3 million…
