Emerging market (EM) equities sold off sharply following the election of Donald Trump last November, perhaps owing to the protectionist rhetoric and tough trade talk from the president-elect. With that, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 4.2% in the final quarter of 2016, breaking a streak of four consecutive positive quarters. That sell-off represented a pause in the party, but certainly not the end of it. After the fourth quarter’s breather, EM came roaring back in the first quarter of 2017, returning 11.5%—capping the best quarter for the asset class in five years. A core tenet of behavioral finance is that flows tend to follow per...
The final amendment in Donald Trump’s healthcare bill as offered late last month was apparently not of much help in calming the healthcare economy from the upheaval caused by the first version of the proposed American Health Care Act (AHCA). The original AHCA proposal was grossly criticized by both Democrats and Republicans, as reflected in last month’s House poll. The Democrats pointed to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) analysis that there would be 24 million more uninsured in a decade from now under AHCA. Republicans too were of the view that AHCA will not bring the desired results. Though from the House vote results it wa...
Stock Swing Trades to keep an eye on, based on strong trending movement or consolidations that could breakout. Stocks mentioned: $S $EXTR I don’t want these articles to be viewed as trade signals, but rather a learning device. There is a lot more to trading than just buying at price A and selling at price B. There is risk management, position sizing, trading psychology (sticking to a plan, etc), being aware of earnings, different order types, and stop loss and target levels that are based on the stock’s specific movements. Sprint (S) Strong uptrend over the last year. The price has consolidated in a triangle pattern above the 40% retra...
Forget the “great rotation” from bonds into stocks – and certainly when the 10Y dropped as low as 2.175% – a far greater rotation taking place currently is out of the US and into European equities, according to the latest monthly Fund Manager Survey released today by Bank of America. In it chief strategist Michael Hartnett finds that investor love for Eurozone stocks surges despite imminent French election, making the Eurozone the most favoured FMS global region. As a result, the April rotation to Eurozone stocks from US is the 5th largest since 1999. According to Hartnett, while a Le Pen win means Eurostoxx down 5-1...
Battery Metals Index, composed of 10 lithium and 10 cobalt companies, has rallied 56% over the past year, with some company valuations surging more than 100%. With an implied shortage of lithium and cobalt in the market, we examine which producing companies are best positioned to rise from this battery frenzy. Written by Alex Cutulenco and Jassie Bhathal While automakers worldwide are racing to produce electric vehicles (EVs), battery metals continue to climb as both lithium and cobalt see ever-increasing demand. The forecasted under-supply of battery metals is further complicated by conflict-ridden Congo, which supplies nearly half of the w...
EUR/USD intra-day analysis EUR/USD (1.0719): EUR/USD is currently moving counter trend after prices fell to 1.0600 last week. After consolidating near this level, EUR/USD posted two days of strong gains as price action was seen clearing the 1.0700 resistance level yesterday. Any pullbacks will likely see 1.0700 being tested in the near term, ahead of what could be a strong rally towards 1.0800 where resistance is most likely to be tested in the near term. Following the rally to 1.0800, we expect EUR/USD to remain range bound within 1.0800 and 1.0600 into this weekend’s French elections. GBP/USD intra-day analysis GBP/USD (1.2825): The...
United Airlines had a rough week, but not as rough as one of its passengers. Dr. David Dao received a concussion, a broken nose, and two broken teeth after airport police forcibly dragged him off the plane he had boarded only a short while earlier. As you have probably heard by now, the airline needed to get four crew members from Chicago, IL to Louisville, KY for a flight the next day and decided to boot four passengers off the plane after nobody volunteered to give up their seat. In light of the ensuing publicity disaster, it would have been cheaper and better for United to buy four Porsches and let the crew members drive to their destinati...
While I’m sure your parents have given you money lectures many times, there are still many holes in a young person’s financial education. When you’re in your 20s and 30s, you’re excited to build the life you envisioned for yourself but may not realize that there are specific financial hurdles that need to be completed in order to get you where you want to go in life. Brad Sherman from Investopedia recently wrote a piece in Business Insider about planning your financial life in your 20s and 30s, and how using basic financial planning practices can get you to the moon in no time. But by learning what not to do, you wil...
Over the past few sessions, rising geopolitical concerns left a negative impact on investor sentiment. All the key U.S. indexes slumped in recent times after the U.S. dropped “the mother of all bombs” on a suspected terror hideout in Afghanistan. Moreover, the recent standoff between the U.S. and North Korea and uncertainty over the French election added to investor woes. In this context, mutual funds that are capable of offering favorable returns and bear a lower level of risk might be prudent investment options. And to identify low-risk mutual funds, we have used Sharpe ratio which is used to measure a fund’s risk-adjusted ret...
After opening the day on a flat note, share markets in India witnessed choppy trades and are presently trading marginally higher. Sectoral indices are trading on a positive note with stocks in the power sector and metal sector witnessing maximum buying interest. The BSE Sensex is trading up 31 points (up 0.1%) and the NSE Nifty is trading up 7 points (up 0.1%). The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.4%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.5%. The rupee is trading at 64.53 to the US$. Part of the volatility in the Indian share markets is seen on the back of recent geopolitical risks. While the Sensex is perched ne...