Dow Theory Update…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has remained range bound since Thanksgiving and it currently trades near the top of this trading range. However in the middle of all of this there are some divergences that are worth noting. As both of the other components that make up the Dow Theory (Transports and Utilities) trade near…

Producer Price Index For Final Demand Hits A New Low

Today’s release of the March Producer Price Index (PPI) for Final Demand came in at -0.4% month-over-month seasonally adjusted. That follows the previous month’s 0.2% increase. Core Final Demand (less food and energy) came in at -0.2% month-over-month following a 0.2% change the month before.The Investing.com forecasts were for 0.2% headline and 0.1% core. The year-over-year change…

E

Shares of Puma Biotechnology (PBYI) are down 19% after the company reported mediocre breast cancer results from a poster set to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology — ASCO –meeting being held May 29 to June 2, 2015 in Chicago. Puma’s drug known as Neratinib is in a phase 3 trial treating…

Are American Manufacturers Reshoring?

Are American companies reshoring after years of sending production offshore? It’s not that simple, according to Wharton professor Morris Cohen, “Is the Reshoring of U.S. Manufacturing a Myth?” Cohen confirms some of the points I made last year in Reshoring or Offshoring: U.S. Manufacturing Forecast 2015-2016. The interview is worth watching in its 24-minute entirety for…

3 Things: The Labor Hoarding Effect

The Claims Problem This morning initial jobless claims plunged to the lowest level in the last 42 years. The chart below shows the weekly claims as compared to the 4-week moving average.   Surely, this must be a sign that the economy has turned the proverbial corner as full-employment has finally been obtained. Right? Maybe…

EC Bond Math A

What are you expecting from the bond portion of your portfolio over the next six years? 5%? 6%? 7%? These would all have been reasonable expectations in the past, but past is not prologue, especially when it comes to investing. Whatever number you were thinking of, it is likely too high. Why? The largest Bond…