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  • Finance 0

    Blistering Foreign Demand In Blockbuster 2 Year Auction; Highest Indirects In 8 Years

    With the barnburner rally in equities today, the just concluded TSY auction of $26 billion in 2Y paper could have been excused if it disappointed. It did not, in fact it may have been the strongest 2Y auction in years with some truly blistering results. The high yield of 1.280% stopped through the 1.284% When issued by 0.4bps, higher than the previous 6 auction average of 1.154%. The bid to cover of 2.85 was well above last month’s 2.727, the 6 month average of 2.66 and was the highest since May 2016. The internals were just as strong, with Directs taking down 11.4%, as Indirects took down 58.9% – the highest since June 2009 ̵...
    On April 25, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Volatility Crash

    Everywhere you look – – green, green, green, lifetime highs, soaring charts, with one notable exception. Volatility, of course! The fear index VIX has, in just 1.5 years, collapsed from 53.29 to almost the single digits. Indeed, there is only ONE time in the past decade it’s been even a little bit lower, and that was back on January 27th. This is about as low as it goes, folks....
    On April 25, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    5 Best Performing No-Load Mutual Funds Of Q1

    Investors always aim to make the best out of their total invested capital. Although choosing mutual funds with best returns is the principal goal of investors, they also aim to reduce their expenses while buying or selling funds. Due to this reason, no-load funds with low expense ratios are always targeted. In the first quarter, markets registered stable gains, but a weak March remained a concern for investors. That’s when no-load mutual funds were once again in the limelight. Mutual funds with no sales or commission charges are known as no-load funds. This generally happens when funds are traded directly through the investment company and ...
    On April 25, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Strong Momentum Supports Nasdaq’s Break Above 6000

    Not only did the Nasdaq Composite make a new all-time high as it exceeded 6000 by mid-day today (Tuesday, April 25), but it did so on record-high momentum, as shown on the following Monthly chart. As I mentioned in my post of April 21, I believe that the Technology sector (NDX) holds the key to support a new bull equity market, which I discussed on April 24. As such, you can see, from the Year-to-date percentage-increased comparison chart of the Major Indices below, that Technology continues to lead the way. Any further advance of the Nasdaq Composite Index should be accompanied by higher momentum to confirm strong and convi...
    On April 25, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    The Biggest Risk Of Passive Investing

    There’s been a lot of outcry over the years about how passive investing is creating all these new risks. High fee active managers are always critical because they say silly things like “indexing is average” (see my response). Some other people say it’s hurting the economy (see my response). Others have even compared it to Marxism (see my LOL here). Okay, there’s a lot of hyperbole here mainly because there’s a lot of emotion surrounding a debate with huge gobs of fees up for grabs.  But are there real risks from passive investing?  While I think the risks are generally overstated I do think there’s one big risk: Persistent Equ...
    On April 25, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    USD/CAD: Is This Just The Beginning? 1.40 Is Next?

    Trump calls out timber to the northern neighbor. Trudeau says Canada will respond firmly and reasonably. The issues of milk and lumber cause tension. The loonie is higher. What’s next? Here are two opinions: Here is their view, courtesy of eFXnews: USD/CAD: Breakout: A Strong Chance Of Hitting 1.40 – SocGen Societe Generale FX Strategy Research notes that USD/CAD is breaking out higher after President Trump announced tariffs on US softwood lumber imports from Canada, and threatened them for dairy products too. In that regard, SocGen argues that while the Canadian dollar is cheap around current levels, the economy’s hardly charging for...
    On April 25, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Richmond Fed Manufacturing Survey Again Improves In April 2017

    Of the four regional Federal Reserve surveys released to date, all are in expansion. Analyst Opinion of Richmond Manufacturing For the fourth month, the regional Fed surveys seem to be saying uniformly that growth is expanding. The Richmond Fed subcategories were strong – especially new orders. Market expectations from Bloomberg/Econoday was 15.0 to 20.0 (consensus 16.0). The actual survey value was +20 [note that values above zero represent expansion]. Manufacturers in the Fifth District were upbeat again in April, according to the latest survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The index for shipments rose and the index for new...
    On April 25, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    New Home Sales Near Post Crisis High

    New homes sales rose at a seasonally-adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of 621,000 in March vs. an Econoday expectation of 588,000. All elements are kicking in for housing right now with prices showing strength, permits moving up, and also sales on the climb. New home sales came in much stronger than expected, at a 621,000 annualized rate in March which was last exceeded by a 622,000 rate in July last year but is otherwise, by far, the best of the expansion. The surge in sales did not come at the expense of pricing which, on the contrary, was very strong in March, up a monthly 7.5 percent to a median $315,100. The year-on-year rate, at only 1....
    On April 25, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    McDonald’s Corp Reports 4% Rise In Global Sales Including Its Flagship U.S. Market

    McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), says its sales rose in the first quarter, including in the flagship U.S. market where it has been promoting different sizes of Big Macs and drink deals noting that its U.S. business “continues to focus its efforts on driving guest count growth.” By BNN.ca MCD, the world’s largest burger chain, says Q1: global sales rose 4% at established locations, in the U.S., the figure rose 1.7% as the company pushes to revive its business by improving the image of its food. The push includes plans to use fresh instead of frozen beef for its Quarter Pounders starting sometime next year. earnings of $1....
    On April 25, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Here’s Today’s Stock Watch List

    Today’s stock watch list Long American Airlines (AAL) Long Tableau Software (DATA) Short Terex Corp (TEX)...
    On April 25, 2017 / By