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  • Finance 0

    For AliBaba, It Is About Mobile Payments

    Photo Credit: hinglish Notes/Flickr.com If there was any worry that the Chinese e-commerce player Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) would be impacted by the result of the Presidential election in the US, it has been laid to rest. Alibaba continues to outperform market expectations and deliver stellar growth. And now, it is shifting gears on its payment affiliate Ant Financial. Alibaba’s Financials Alibaba’s revenues for the third quarter grew an impressive 54% over the year to RMB 53.24 billion (~$7.7 billion), ahead of the market’s forecast of RMB 50.1 billion (~$7.3 billion). EPS for the quarter grew 43% to $2.57 billion, or $1 a share. During th...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Johnson & Johnson: Modest Price Decline Presents Buying Opportunity

    Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is one of the most stable businesses around. The company’s statistics are impressive: 33 years of consecutive earnings-per-share growth (currency-adjusted) The lowest stock price volatility of any Dividend Aristocrat One of only two companies to hold the coveted AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor’s (the other being Microsoft (MSFT)) The third most popular dividend growth stock among dividend growth bloggers 54 years of consecutive annual dividend increases Johnson & Johnson’s dividend history is particularly impressive. The company qualifies to be not only a Dividend Aristocrat, but a memb...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Existing Home Sales Soar To 10-Year Highs

    Following February’s 3.9% drop, March existing home sales roared back (up 4.4% MoM – the fastest growth since Dec 2015) to the highest since Feb 2007 at 5.71 million SAAR. Inventories tumbled (for the 22nd month in a row) and prices rose (for the 61st month in a row) as affordability issues remain ignored (for now). It seems, unlike 2013, that rising rates are not affecting demand for existing homes at all… (yet)   The Details March sales rose in three of four regions, including a 3.4 percent increase in the South and a 1.6 percent drop in the West At the current pace, it would take 3.8 months to sell the homes on the mar...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    A Big Week For The Euro Awaits: Beware The Gap-Risk

    On Sunday, we’ll begin to hear the results from the first round of French elections with polls beginning to report at around 8PM in Paris (2PM in New York). This is a few hours ahead of market open, so be extremely careful with gap risk over the weekend with any asset attached to the Euro. This can include metals such as Gold, as any uptick in geopolitical risk can bring with it macroeconomic implications. But even after markets wade through the first round of French elections, a pivotal European Central Bank meeting is on the calendar for Thursday morning and many are looking for signs or clues that the ECB may be nearing readiness to sta...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    SunTrust Banks Q1 Profit & Revenue Top Expectations Amid Higher Rates

    SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE: STI) early Friday posted market-beating first quarter earnings results, as the company benefitted from higher interest rates....
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Rockwell Collins Tops Q2 Earnings & Revenue Estimates

    Rockwell Collins Inc. (COL – Free Report) is the foremost global supplier of communications and avionics equipment for both commercial and military customers. It follows a strategic acquisition program. Apart from its acquisition-driven growth strategy, Rockwell Collins remains focused to expand its product and service offering through continuous investments in research and development activities. However, dependence on international sales, a highly competitive market and high exposure to fixed-price contracts raise concerns. Estimate Trend & Surprise History Rockwell Collins’ current quarter estimate has remained stable over l...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Another Shot At The 50-Day Moving Average

    Watch resistance at the 50 day moving average, take two Everything looked fine and dandy yesterday for the market, and resistance at the 50-day moving average that I talked about in yesterday’s trading plan, was going to be broken. But with 10 minutes to go, the bears dropped the S&P 500 5 points and, despite a solid rally yesterday, closed the index a half point below the 50-day moving average.  That makes follow through today, extremely, extremely important. And that is one thing that this market has lacked of late is any kind of real follow through. The last bounce that we had on Monday, did not have that follow through and o...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    E USD/CAD Trading In An Uptrend

    USD/CAD may be trading in a correction of a higher degree, now in wave 4, that may ideally unfold as a simple three wave correction. That said current spike can be sub-wave b of 4, that may see limited upside a little above the wave 3 high. Afterward, a new drop into sub-wave c may follow, which may search for support around the 38.2 Fibonacci ratio. USD/CAD, 1H...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Wells Fargo Expands Class-Action Settlement For Retail Sales Practices To $142M

    Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) announced the expansion of its class-action settlement for retail sales practices to include any customers who were impacted by sales practice issues as early as May 2002. The updated settlement will add $32M to the previous agreement for a total settlement amount of $142M. “The expansion of this agreement is another important step to make things right for our customers,” said Tim Sloan, Wells Fargo’s President and CEO. “On our journey to rebuild trust, we want to ensure our customers feel confident that we have heard their concerns about retail sales practices, which includes offering t...
    On April 21, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    One Trader’s Plan To Not Let The French Election Ruin His Weekend

    It’s another one of ‘those’ weekends again, but as Bloomberg’s Mark Cudmore notes, anecdotally, FX traders are significantly less excited by the French presidential election than the commentariat (may exacerbate the reaction to any surprise, though it doesn’t increase its likelihood). With options activity at record highs, what should be the game plan for the weekend if you’re a European-based investor? In the last week of trading before the French election, investors increased bets for European stock volatility, sending the volume of VStoxx Index (European VIX) call options to a record.   The measure that trac...
    On April 21, 2017 / By