Truth is a rare commodity on Wall Street. You have to sift through tons of dirt to find the golden ore. For example, mainstream analysis of the Fed’s current monetary policy claims that it will be able to normalize interest rates with impunity. That assertion could not be further from the truth. The fact is the Fed has been tightening monetary policy since December of 2013, when it began to taper the asset purchase program known as Quantitative Easing. This is because the flow of bond purchases is much more important than the stock of assets held on the Fed’s balance sheet. The Fed Chairman at the time, Ben Bernanke, started to reduce the...
On Apr 15, Zacks Investment Research upgraded U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. (SLCA- Free Report) , a leading producer of commercial silica, to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Going by the Zacks model, companies sporting a Zacks Rank #1 have strong chances of outperforming the broader market. Why the Upgrade? Estimates for U.S. Silica have been moving north over the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the first quarter of 2017 has increased from break even per share to 6 cents per share over this period. Moreover, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2017 has moved up 88% over the same timeframe to $1.28. U.S. Silica also has an impressive...
State and locally run retirement systems are increasingly turning to alternative and complex investments to help boost returns but these decisions may not be the best for all stakeholders involved, according to a new report from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The report, which is the latest in a series of reports from Pew on the topic, uses data from the 73 largest state-sponsored pension funds, which collectively have assets under management of over $2.8 trillion (about 95 percent of all state pension fund investments). The use of alternative investment by pension funds varies widely across the industry. The use of alternative investments for th...
And so it begins. After exploding higher post-election, it appears the ‘soft’ survey data hype has begun to fade. Empire Fed’s manufacturing survey tumbled the most since May 2016 in April, almost erasing the entire post-election surge. New Orders (current and expected) slumped and the average workweek caved as Trump’s ‘plans’ remain stymied. And just like that… hope died. This won’t end well… It seems the bond market may have been right after all....
Bank holidays are usually days when low volatility is expected. Yen pairs tend to move with equities, especially Nikkei, so we have seen some volatility in the Yen during the Asia session. The POC for EUR/JPY comes within 115.75-95 (EQ channel top, ATR high, W H3, EMA89) and should reject the price. Targets are 114.55 and 113.90. If we don’t see any retracement in the pair, a breakout below W L3 114.35 should also aim for 113.90, which is D L5 – the strongest intraday support. D L3 – Daily Camarilla Pivot (Daily Interim Support) D H3 – Daily Camarilla Pivot (Daily Interim Resistance) D H4 – Daily Camarilla Pivot (Strong ...
Written by StockNews.com JB Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) early Monday posted mixed first quarter earnings results, as its profit numbers topped expectations but its revenues fell slightly short of the analyst consensus....
The U.S. dollar fell against its major rivals on last week after a pair of weak datapoints raised new questions about the strength of the economy. Also pressuring the dollar lower were comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that the greenback was too strong and that he would prefer the Federal Reserve keep interest rates low. Gold was up about 2.6% last week for its biggest weekly gain since June, as concerns over tensions in North Korea and the Middle East kept stock markets under pressure. Treasuries advanced last week as geopolitical jitters and comments by President Donald Trump continued to fuel a bid for government bonds. Investors t...
It was another ugly retail sales report for the month of March and with February’s retail sales being revised sharply lower as delivered by the U.S. Commerce Department. Combined, February and March marked the worst two-month stretch in two years, suggesting that first-quarter U.S. growth will be less robust than previously hoped. Sales at retailers nationwide declined 0.2% last month, mostly because of cheaper gas and incentives by car dealers and slower-than usual issuances of tax refunds. To make matters worse, the February retail sales results were revised lower from a .1% to negative .3 percent. That’s quite the revision and largel...
Well, Mark Cudmore is back on the clock after an extended vacation. Monday’s missive finds the former FX trader reminding us that he “turned bearish US equities on March 8.” Actually, Cudmore has “turned bearish” only to “turn” back bullish on any number of occasions this year. Through it all, he’s generally maintained an upbeat outlook on the long-term prospects for the global economy. This morning is really no different. Like everyone else, he’s a bit incredulous at the extent to which equities are a sacred cow. Simply put, the broad market just refuses to roll over despite a laundry list of concerns – most of which ar...