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  • Finance 0

    Barclays Ups GM Price Target To $57 After Tech Day

    Barclays analyst Brian Johnson raised his price target for General Motors (GM) to $57 from $55 following yesterday’s tech day. The automaker closed yesterday down 72c to $43.09. While some view GM’s target of commercially launching at scale autonomous ridesharing in dense urban environments in 2019 as an unrealistic target, similar to the timelines pushed by Tesla (TSLA), time with management indicated this seems possible, Johnson tells investors in a research note. GM’s technology is real, and the company has a fail-safe with the autonomous vehicles to be monitored by humans at control centers, the analyst contends. The tec...
    On December 1, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Stock Exchange: Is It Time To Be Contrarian?

    This Week: Is It Time To Be Contrarian? So far, volatility has ticked up this week, and the stocks that had been performing best all year (e.g. momentum, technology, growth, FANG) are underperforming this week, thereby leaving some investors wondering if it’s time to get contrarian. Considering momentum and FANG-type stocks have been performing so well since last November’s election, and considering a new pundit comes out every day claiming the market is overvalued, and considering we’ve entered the final month of the year where talk of profit-taking and rebalancing is increasingly discussed, and considering some value stocks are arguab...
    On December 1, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    E USDCAD Trading Near 1.2916 Resistance Zone; A Drop Can Follow

    USDCAD was on the rise for the last week or so, it moved nicely from 1.2660 towards 1.2900 where pair may find resistance. The reason is a three wave recovery from November low that can be wave B) as part of an Elliott wave flat correction. In flats wave B) will usually find a turn at the starting point of wave A) which in our case is 1.2916; so it’s close enough for a switch into lower wave C). Fall below 1.2800 would support the bearish view towards 1.2700, or even 1.2600. USDCAD, 4H...
    On December 1, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Tax Bill Adds $1 Trillion To Deficit (Without Cutting Taxes For Most)

    Nonpartisan analysis, from several places, shows the Senate tax bill will all $1 trillion to the deficit. What’s next? The stock market surged today on news that Senator John McCain would vote for the tax package. As it stands, however, the bill does not remotely come close to passing budget rules. Automatic tax hike triggers is one option if the bill does not bring in the anticipated revenue. And here’s an advance hint: It won’t. However, tax triggers may very well happen in the middle of the next economic downturn. And Republicans are loathe to pass tax hikes under any circumstances. Deficit Fiasco Please consider The Sen...
    On December 1, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Sensex, Nifty Trade Flat; Energy & Metal Stocks Top Losers

    Indian share markets continue to trade flat with a negative bias during the morning trade. Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note with FMCG sector and capital goods sector leading the gains. Metal stocks and energy stocks witness the majority of the selling pressure. The BSE Sensex is trading lower by 25 points and the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 9 points. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.4% while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.6%. The rupee is trading at 64.43 to the US$. Small caps have comfortably outperformed the Large caps and how. Small Caps – Outperformers in Current Financial Year Exp...
    On December 1, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Brexit: Irish Border Is Far From A Done Deal – Will GBP Fall?

    Optimistic reports on a deal around the thorny Irish border issue were probably premature. An agreement that has a lot of “creative ambiguity” in it worried the DUP party that holds the British government intact. They threatened to bring down the May government if the union is in danger. And now it seems that such an agreement between the Republic of Ireland and the UK is not really agreed. Simon Coveney, the recently named deputy PM, said that “we cannot be asked to leap into the dark”. He wants reassurances on regulations and gave the impression that avoiding a hard, physical border is still an open issue. It is important to reme...
    On December 1, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    An Update On Polly: She May Be Coming Back To Life

    A Twitch of a Toe In our recent update on credit spreads we proposed to use the seemingly deceased Monty Python parrot Polly as a stand-in for the suspicion of creditors in today’s markets.The question was whether Polly was indeed dead or merely in a deep coma. Depending on this, one should be able to gauge how powerful a miracle will be required to resurrect her. Meet Polly. Is she alive? In the first half of November there was actually a small sign that Polly is perhaps not completely dead just yet. Essentially one of her toes could be seen twitching a little bit. In short, credit spreads started to widen, eventually challenged near...
    On December 1, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    No Trigger: The Umpire Strikes Back

    The Senate parliamentarian ruled the trigger to prevent a revenue shortfall as unacceptable, thereby temporarily stymieing the bill. This is just as well, as the trigger would have been procyclical, raising tax rates if the economy hit a recession. The current working concept — to reduce the tax reduction by $350 billion — makes a lot more sense from a macroeconomic perspective. That’s because we’re already at full employment. Cutting taxes in this situation risks overheating the economy if the Fed does not respond, and worsening trade deficits if the Fed does not. Figure 1: GDP (blue) and potential GDP (gray) in bn. Ch.2009$ SAAR...
    On December 1, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    S&P 500 And Nasdaq 100 Forecast – Friday, Dec. 1

    S&P 500 The S&P 500 rallied again during the trading session on Thursday, slicing through the 2650 level but pulling back towards the end of the day. Ultimately, this is a bullish market but we are a bit overbought it on the stochastic oscillator, so I suspect it’s likely to see selling pressure, but that selling pressure should end up being a buying opportunity. Longer-term, looks as if the 2600 level under current level should be a nice “floor” in the market, and I think that the support extends down to the 2550 level as well. At this point, I look at a pullback as an opportunity to take advantage of what has been a very stron...
    On December 1, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    US Dollar At The Mercy Of Senate Tax Cut Vote Outcome

    A lackluster offering on the European economic data docket seems likely to put the fate of US tax reform in the spotlight once again. November’s manufacturing ISM survey is also on tap but its impact may be dulled with a Fed rate hike all-but-fully priced in for December. Next year’s tightening path seems to be the central object of speculation, and the fiscal policy trajectory is seen as a key ingredient on that front. Lawmakers in the US Senate are expected to begin voting on their version of a tax cut plan after last-minute fissures in the Republican-led consensus forced a postponement yesterday. Opponents of the plan are worried t...
    On December 1, 2017 / By