While the payrolls report (and wage gains) was an unmitigated disaster for anyone seeking “evidence” of an economic rebound (i.e., the Federal Reserve), there was some good news in the Unemployment rate which declined from 4.4% to 4.3%, the lowest going back to 2001. There is just one problem with the above “silver lining”: the unemployment rate declined for all the wrong reasons, because contrary to expectations, the Household Survey reported that the number of employed Americans actually declined by 233K to 152.923 million, the lowest going back to February. So how could the unemployment rate decline as the number of...
The US unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 4.3%, a new multi-year low, but it is a misleading optic for what is a disappointing report. It is likely not weak enough to put much doubt into expectations for a Fed hike later this month, but it will reinforce the caution in the Beige Book and in recent comments from some Fed officials. Besides the decline in the unemployment rate, and a further decline in the under-employment rate (U-6) from 8.6% to 8.4%, there is little positive in today’s report. Non-farm payroll growth fell to 138k, nearly 50k below median expectations, which like our own, had been bolstered by the weekly jobs...
Royalty trusts can be a good place to look for investors focused primarily on high dividend yields. And, many royalty trusts pay dividends each month. Hugoton Royalty Trust (HGT) is no exception – the company has a high dividend yield of 6.4% using its trailing twelve month dividends. You can see the full list of established 5%+ yielding stocks by clicking here. In addition, It pays a monthly dividend which allows investors to compound their dividends more frequently than quarterly or semi-annual dividends. Monthly dividend stocks are a rare breed. There are currently just 21 stocks that make monthly dividend payouts. You can see the enti...
A disappointing US jobs report on all fronts: only 138K jobs gained and wages are up 0.2% as expected but with a downwards revision. Year over year, salaries are stuck at 2.5%. The unemployment rate is down to 4.3% but the participation rate also falls to 62.7%. Revisions are negative but so is the real unemployment rate. All in all, the big miss in jobs is compounded by static wages at 2.5%. The US is falling sharply across the board on this terrible jobs report. May 2017 NFP Data (updated) Non-Farm Payrolls: 138K (exp. +186K last 211K before revisions) Average Hourly Earnings 0.2% m/m, 2.5% y/y (exp. +0.2% m/m, 2.6% y/y, last month...
Here are four stocks with Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and strong value characteristics for investors to consider today, June 2: Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation (BGFV – Free Report) : This sporting goods retailer has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings soaring 16.8% over the last 60 days. Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation Price and Consensus Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation Price and Consensus | Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation Quote Big 5 Sporting Goods has a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 11.58, compared with 16.2 for the industry. The company possesses a Value Score of A. The Children’s Place, I...
For the last several decades, China’s economy has been growing at an extraordinary clip and now stands as the second largest economy in the world. Inevitably that rate must slow, which is exactly what has happened each year since 2010. The absolute rate of growth of the economy is a strong point of pride in China, and authorities in the country have historically made it clear each year what they would like to see as the target growth rate. For the last several years, however, that growth mandate may have come at the expense of stability in the economy. China is unique in that much of the private sector is concentrated in state-owned enterpr...
The S&P 500 is trading at all time highs with some sharp price move up from 2403 that we see as a fifth wave rally, the final part of a five wave recovery from 2345 called an impulse wave*. There are some Fibonacci levels around 2440 that may play an important role for the next few sessions, as we think that upside can be limited and that a new corrective setback could come at the start of June. However, extended fifth waves are very common on stock markets, so do not chase it and call a top until you see a five wave drop from the high. S&P500, 4h *Impulse wave is structured by five sub-waves in the direction of a stronger trend. T...
The premium to bet on the pound’s volatility in the next two weeks relative to one-month wagers has surged to the highest level since the aftermath of the Brexit vote ahead of next week’s U.K. snap election. As Bloomberg notes, even though polls suggest Prime Minister Theresa May remains on track to increase her parliamentary majority… But, so-called butterfly options… Show the pound’s moves in the next two weeks could be the largest since the currency’s flash crash in October, when it dropped 6 percent in just one minute....
The projected risk premium for the Global Market Index (GMI) ticked higher in May. GMI, an unmanaged market-value weighted mix of the major asset classes, is expected to earn an annualized 5.4% (over the “risk-free” rate) in the long run – 20 basis points above last month’s estimate. Adjusting for short-term momentum and longer-term mean-reversion factors (defined below) trims GMI’s ex ante risk premium to an annualized 5.0%, which is slightly above the 4.9% estimate in the previous forecast. Meanwhile, the trend for GMI’s risk-premium performance in recent history held steady May. The benchmark earned an annualized 4.3% for th...
The foreign exchange market is becalmed, leaving the US dollar narrowly mixed. The euro has been confined to less than a 20-pip range through the Asian session and most of the European morning. The news stream is light. The US withdrawal from the Paris Accord may have garnered the headlines, but as a market force, it is difficult to detect the immediate impact. The UK reported stronger than expected construction PMI. Unlike the manufacturing PMI reported earlier in the week, where the decline was not as much as anticipated, the construction PMI rose outright. The 56.0 reading is a new two-year high and compares with April’s 53.1. An...