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  • Finance 0

    Rig Count Rise Continues To Lead US Crude Production To 20-Month Highs

    With WTI prices back below $50, it appears stocks and NOPEC production are trumping any OPEC hype/hope and today’s Baker Hughes’ rig count merely adds to those concerns. For the 13th week in a row, the number of US oil rigs rose (up 5 to 688, the highest since April 2015). *U.S. GAS RIG COUNT UP 5 TO 167, BAKER HUGHES SAYS :BHI US *U.S. OIL RIG COUNT UP 5 TO 688, BAKER HUGHES SAYS :BHI US Though the rig count increased, it is the smallest rise in 3 months… US Crude production reaches its highest since August 2015 as it tracks the lagged rig count higher… At this pace, US crude production will be at record highs (a...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    EC HH The Lowdown On Long-Short ETFs

    EMAIL INBOX: Dave – read your article today.What is your take on the long-short ETF space at this point in the market?Products like DYLS and DYB are looking more appealing in my opinion.Interested to hear your take. The long/short ETF category is one that many investors may not even know exists. These strategies have typically been the realm of institutional portfolios and sophisticated hedge funds. Now, they are readily available in the form of a diversified and liquid investment vehicle.  Long/short funds should be considered “absolute return” strategies because they seek to mitigate downside risk when the market takes a turn lower....
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Barclays Upgrades Costco After Protection From Amazon Shown In Survey

    The shares of Costco (COST) are rising slightly after Barclays upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight. After reviewing the results of its consumer survey, the firm says that Costco is “very protected from” the Amazon (AMZN) threat impacting so many others in brick-and-mortar retailing. SURVEY RESULTS AND ANALYSIS: Barclays’ survey of 600 consumers showed that more than 80% of them go to Costco in order to buy food, reported Barclays analysts Karen Short and Matthew McClintock. As a result, the analysts believe that Costco is “very protected” from Amazon. OTHER FACTORS: Easier comparisons, increased in...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Existing Home Sales Best Since February 2007: Good As It Gets?

    Existing home sales beat expectations with a climb to 5.71 million units, seasonally adjusted annualized (SAAR). Econoday calls this an acceleration, is that what’s happening? Highlights The resale market, after a period of steady sales, is now accelerating to new expansion highs. Existing home sales rose a very sharp 4.4 percent to a higher-than-expected annualized rate of 5.710 million. This is the best rate since February 2007. Both components show strength with single-family sales up 4.3 percent to a 5.080 million rate and condo sales up 5.0 percent to a 630,000 rate. And year-on-year sales are moving higher, up 5.9 percent divided b...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    WTIC: Get Ready To Trade The Departure From $50.00 Per Barrel

    Written by Corey Rosenbloom Crude oil (StockCharts:$WTIC) has plunged toward the $50.00 per barrel level, collapsing from negative divergences into resistance. This was our forecast play for Oil – a bearish swing “down away from” the $54.00 level for members. Let’s see how it developed, study the pattern, and plan the next swing: Here’s a quote from our membership strategy planning report: “Buyers, take profits into this level and aggressive sellers can step in here for a possible sell-swing down toward $51.00 again.” I called for buyers to take profits into the $54.00 higher frame resistance and allowed for an aggressive shor...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    French Elections Preview And Gold

    The first round of presidential elections in France is held on Sunday. What can we expect from that event and how can it affect the gold market? In the recent edition of the Market Overview, we wrote that centrist Emmanuel Macron and nationalistic Marine Le Pen were expected to move on the next round. However, the situation has complicated a bit since then. As you can see on the chart below, actually four candidates have pretty good chances to advance to the next round. It’s because both hard-left Jean-Luc Melenchon and conservative Francois Fillon have gained momentum recently. Chart 1: Opinion polls for the first round of voting (smoothe...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    E Market Briefing For Friday, April 21

    The ‘cat leaped like a tiger’ over the 50-Day Moving Average, and held it with a lot of help from a stronger Dollar, firmer Oil despite ongoing Contango in Brent and certainly the ongoing policies to improve forward US growth. There are many issues; political, fundamental, technical and even statistical, that pervade presently. Not to mention the obvious sensitivity to geopolitical news, and any hint of progress (or lack) toward healthcare and tax-reform. I hasten to mention we are dealing also with sporadic terrorist attacks, that in a sense are reminders that we’re at war, even as some fret embarking on a different (more c...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Waiting For A Direction – Friday, April 21

    Over the past week, my core market health indicators bounced around, but had no significant changes. With most of the indicators compressing near the zero line, it appears that the market is waiting for a direction. One thing of note, is that my measures of market quality are very close to going negative. I suspect that the market will need to rally next week or this category of indicators will cause us to change the core portfolio allocations (raise some more cash or add more hedges). However, the volatility hedged portfolio is still a long way away from a negative reading. This means it would take substantial perception of risk in the marke...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Our State-Corporate Plantation Economy

    We’ve been persuaded that the state-cartel Plantation Economy is “capitalist,” but it isn’t. It’s a rentier skimming machine. I have often discussed the manner in which the U.S. economy is a Plantation Economy, meaning it has a built-in financial hierarchy with corporations at the top dominating a vast populace of debt-serfs/ wage slaves with little functional freedom to escape the system’s neofeudal bonds. Wal-Mart and the Plantation Economy (August 24, 2010)Since I spent some of my youth in a classic Plantation town (and worked on the plantation as a laborer in summer), the concept of a Plantation Econom...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Brick & Mortar Retail Struggles Attributable To Growth In E-Commerce

    Today another retailer announced it will be closing up shop, Bebe Stores, Inc. (BEBE), making it the 15th retailer to go under this year. By the end of May BEBE plans to liquidate its approximately 180 stores. This nearly matches the 18 retail bankruptcies for all of 2016. Source: S&P Global: Market Intelligence With the consumer accounting for nearly 70% of economic growth in the U.S., are the struggles of brick and mortar retailers a sign of a weakening consumer? What the data seems to be suggesting is overall retail sales are growing at a decent pace. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s most recent report on retail ...
    On April 21, 2017 / By