While buffer has a specific meaning in chemistry, I am using the word in the broad sense of a reserve resource that absorbs the initial destructive impacts of crises or system overloads. Marshland along a sea coast is a buffer against destructive storm waves, for example. A savings account acts as a buffer against financial drawdowns or losses of income that would otherwise quickly cascade into a full-blown crisis. Redundancy of resources can act as a buffer. If an airline maintains an aircraft in reserve, this reserve plane acts as a buffer against the disruption to the airline’s scheduled flights should one of its aircraft be unex...
I’m noticing a terribly interesting breakdown happening place in real estate, encapsulated nicely with the sector fund shown below. Take note of how the long-term trendline is already broken, and as I’ve shown in the inset, we’ve got a nice little breakdown taking place on a short-term basis as well....
Industrial Production & Export Boom Slowing The economic boom has been underway for several quarters. Industrial production and exports are up from Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. These companies are major semiconductor producers. They are a health gauge for the global economy… as semiconductors are a sign of growth. You can see Korean and Japanese industrial production in an uptrend through April 2017. Japanese industrial production and semiconductor billings have also been in an uptrend. Taiwanese and Korean exports too. Depending on the sustainability of the boom, central banks in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea can choose to tighten...
Stocks opened sharply higher and remained there throughout the day. In the process, the Dow hit a new all-time high. The averages moved in a fairly narrow range for most of the day but stretched its upper end of the range late in the day. The catalyst was testimony by Fed Chair Janet Yellen who advocated the trimming of the Fed’s balance sheet sooner rather than later, and the release of the Fed’s Beige Book report which said growth continued across all regions. Oil prices also moved higher following a report Saudi Arabia would limit oil exports because of its own increase in demand. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., EIA inventory dat...
Remember back in May when all the hedge funds were short Canadian Dollars up the wazoo? At the time, I was worried the excessive pessimism might cause CAD to rally (Loonie Bears are the New Cool Kids). Well, since then, the Loonie has rallied 6.50% even in the face of a collapsing oil price and increased worries about the popping of the Canadian real estate bubble. This morning the Bank of Canada hiked rates, the first time since their 2010 early attempt to normalize rates in the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis. The Loonie is streaking higher like a Canuck on a breakaway, and suddenly, all the Canadian Dollar bears are strangel...
TM Editors Note: This article discusses a penny stock/microcap. Such stocks are easily manipulated; do your own careful due diligence. Written by SmallCapPower.com Katanga Mining Limited (TSX: KAT) continues to ride the strong upsurge in cobalt prices over the past one-and-half years. While the cobalt price has zoomed nearly three times over the mentioned period reaching almost US$30/lb, the share price of Katanga Mining has skyrocketed five to six times to reach $0.70 a share from about $0.14 on January 4, 2017. We believe there is more upside potential in Katanga Mining stock as the outlook for the cobalt price is robust on increasing usa...
Perhaps the market is finally entering that 5th stage of disbelief. To review the five stages, the market has surpassed the first three. Stage One-Sellers experience exhaustion. Stage Two-Investors who were long early on go to cash. Stage Three-Bears begin to buy as optimism emerges. Stage Four, Bears begin to call a top because they cannot believe the market’s strangeness. They think the Bulls are delusional. But Stage Five, the Bears finally throw in the towel and buy! And that’s not all. Retail investors pile in. The economy begins to run hot. The market becomes crowded. Everyone has something to crow about. After a 10% correction in ...
On Tuesday, Fed Governor Lael Brainard downplayed past talk of numerous rate hikes from the federal reserve and suggested that he Fed may “not have much more” to do in terms of rate hikes. “In light of recent policy moves, I consider normalization of the federal funds rate to be well under way,” Brainard said. Today, speaking before Congress, Janet Yellen built upon Brainard’s earlier comments, but simultaneously suggested that there will be “gradual rate hikes” over “the next few years,” and hinting that many more rate hikes won’t be necessary because “the neutral rat...
Despite growing its dividend every year since 1963, Lancaster Colony (LANC) is a relatively unknown company with most income investors. Lancaster Colony is one of the dividend kings here thanks to its 50+ consecutive years of payout growth, but it is unlike many of the other kings, which are generally large and relatively slow-growing companies. Let’s take a closer look at one of the rare small cap dividend kings, Lancaster Colony, which just raised its dividend for the 54th straight year, a feat matched be just 14 other U.S. corporations. Specifically, learn why this specialty food maker deserves to be on your radar and if its valuation...