USD/JPY Daily Technical Outlook: USD/JPY responded to a key resistance range this week at 114.37/60. The pair is loaded with technical considerations into the 115-handle which include the 100% extension of the April rally, the 61.8% retracement of the 2017 range and the May high. The pullback is in focus with the broader outlook weighted to the topside while above the highlighted support confluence around 111.57/79 where the 100 & 200-day moving averages converges on the June opening range highs. A breach higher still has to contend with key resistance targets at 115.52 & 116.08 before we the next big leg higher. USD/JPY...
The Producer Price Index (PPI) was up 0.1% month over month and 2.0% year over year, the latter down from 2.4%. The Econoday parrot was not happy. Inflation data, wherever one looks, are weak. Producer prices edged only 0.1 percent higher in June as did the less food & energy reading with year-on-year rates moving down noticeably, to 2.0 for a 4 tenths decline overall and to 1.9 percent for the core and a 2 tenths dip. The less food, energy and trade services reading did rise 0.2 percent but this on-year rate still slipped 1 tenth to 2.0 percent. Service prices are in fact the best news in the report though the overall gain is only 0.2...
Every investor wishes to have a magical portfolio of stocks with a one way ticket to success. But this is easier said than done. And when the market is as volatile as it is now, things may take a turn for the worse any moment. No matter how disciplined and systematic investors are, equity market volatility will always manage to get the better of them. While a few lucky ones rake in the moolah, others fall victim to ad hoc strategies. One could resort to commonly used techniques to find beaten down stocks that have the potential to recover faster than others. However, even such investment choices bear the risk of disappointment. Particularly, ...
Shares of Tiffany & Co. (TIF) have jumped in early trading after the luxury goods retailer named a former Bulgari executive as its new chief executive officer. The newly appointed CEO will face challenges, including turning around sales and getting its “cool” reputation back. BOGLIOLO NAMED CHIEF: Tiffany said this morning that it has named Alessandro Bogliolo, who spent 16 years at Bulgari SpA and once served as that company’s COO, as its new CEO. Most recently, Bogliolo was the CEO of Diesel SpA, an apparel and accessories company, and before joining Diesel in 2013, he was COO at Sephora for a year. Bogliolo is expecte...
When it comes to the markets, the slightest change in the narrative can make all the difference at times. And based on the market action yesterday, this might be one of those times. I wrote on Wednesday that rising bond yields (if the move were to continue, that is) could become the next problem for the stock market. I suggested that rates have been movin’ on up recently due to the idea that the era of global central bank support was coming to an end. At least part of this assessment stemmed from the belief that the U.S. Fed was on a mission to (a) return rates back to more “normalized” levels and (b) begin reducing the massive portfoli...
Yellen testified yesterday before the Congressional Committee on Financial Services. What do her remarks mean for the gold market? On Wednesday, Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve Chair, testified before the Congress. In her prepared remarks, she noted that since her last appearance before this committee in February, the labor market had continued to strengthen. Although economic growth has been moderate so far this year, it has rebounded in the second quarter. Inflation has been soft recently, but these lower readings are “partly the result of a few unusual reductions in certain categories of prices; these reductions will hold 12-month in...
Even as both the Fed and Wall Street are gripped by a raging debate over when, how and how much the Fed should shrink its balance sheet, most appear to be ignoring the $2.1 trillion elephant in the room: the fact that every incremental increase in the Fed Funds rate (also an increase in the Interest On Excess Reserves, or IOER, currently at 1.25%) is a handout to US commercial banks, but that the direct recipient of this explicit Fed subsidy are a substantial number of foreign banks. Here are the numbers: as of the week of July 5, there were $2.1 trillion in reserves (of which the vast majority is “excess”), the largest liabili...
Earlier this week I sold two cash secured puts for L Brands Inc. This morning I decided to buy 100 shares and sell a covered call. Retailer stocks have been hit hard this year, especially so the past 30 days. Amazon is kicking everyone’s butts. L Brands is suffering too. The company stock is hovering just above its 52-week low at $45.30. This is $2.26 above the 52-week low and $34.37 below its 52-week high. The puts I sold were at strike prices of $35 and $40. I don’t think the stock will fall to these levels and I’d like to own shares. Because of this I bought the 100 shares today at $45.30 and a $1 transaction fee. Total p...
Sterling’s advance today is being attributed to comments by a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee McCafferty. However, we suspect it was a news item that was used to justify the price gains that was already underway. Sterling had been sold to a two-week low early yesterday as BOE Deputy Governor Broadbent confirmed our suspicions that he would side more with Governor Carney than the hawkish wing. Sterling rebounded after the employment report. After reaching almost $1.2810, sterling recovered almost a full cent. Today it set the week’s high of $1.2955. McCafferty is a hawk. He was ...
The big money when investing is when you can pick the beaten down stocks that will come back in a few years and net you a hefty profit. The great Peter Lynch called these “triplebaggers” as you triple your initial investment. One beaten down stock to look into is Cenovus Energy (NYSE: CVE). There are many factors that have caused the stock price to plummet to its current sub $10 stock price, many of which I will get into later in this post. But the company has some things going for it and if it can put it all together, you should be handsomely rewarded with a much higher stock price in the coming years. Let’s dig into Cenovus Energy a...