Cisco Systems (CSCO) has done very well in the last few years, and its stock has outperformed the market by a significant margin. In fact, since the beginning of 2014, CSCO’s stock has gained 52.5% while the S&P index has increased only 28.1% in the same period. What’s more, the company has a compelling valuation and is paying a generous dividend yielding 3.39% after increasing its quarterly dividend by 12% to $0.29 in February 2017. I see high long-term growth prospects for the company. Cisco is continuing to focus on earnings growth which is driven by its plan to shift toward software and subscription-based product & ser...
Yes, according to Tuesday’s revised GDP estimates from the Atlanta Fed and CNBC’s Rapid Update survey data. The Capital Spectator’s new economic projection is also anticipating a weaker pace of growth Vs. last year’s fourth quarter. It’s too early to say for sure if the weaker forecasts are accurate (quite a lot of Q1 data is still a mystery at this point). But it’s fair to say that the prospects for a robust firming in the macro trend in the kick-off to 2017 is looking a bit wobbly compared with the previous review of GDP estimates from two weeks ago. The Feb.22 summary of GDP estimates offered a relatively upbeat assessment of...
Wednesday begins in China, where we got highly anticipated trade data that probably shouldn’t have been so highly anticipated given that seasonality makes the compare largely meaningless. But you know, whatever. Here’s the breakdown: CHINA FEB. TRADE BALANCE -60.4B YUAN; EST. 172.5B YUAN CHINA FEB. IMPORTS RISE 44.7% Y/Y IN YUAN TERMS; EST. 23.1% CHINA FEB. EXPORTS RISE 4.2% Y/Y IN YUAN TERMS; EST. 14.6% And here’s the version that’s not all in caps (via Bloomberg): China customs administration announces data in yuan terms in statement; median est. 14.6% rise y/y (range +2.2% to +31.0%, 12 economists). Feb. imports climbed 44.7% y/y; ...
Previous: Trading on the EUR/USD pair closed down on Tuesday. The single currency depreciated against the dollar on the back of a rise in US 10-year bond yields and a drop in their German equivalent. By the end of the day, US 10-year bond yields had risen by 0.72% to 2.494%. German 10-year bond yields fell by 3.17% to 0.319%. The price found some support at around the 1.0560 mark, where the pair has been caught in a sideways trend for the last 17 hours or so. Market expectations: Expectations of an interest rate hike in the US are facilitating a downwards correction of the euro. After speeches from Janet Yellen and other Fed members last week...
After weeks of listless trade, USD/JPY is showing some signs of life as it continues to hold on to the 114.00 figure. Although recent trading was decidedly muted the recent price action has all the marks of a dollar breakout. The benchmark 10-year rate inched above the key 2.50% level helping to fuel pro-dollar flows after several days of very lackluster action. The currency market may be finally responding to a more hawkish Fed that has consistently signaled that it is on a path to hike rates 3 rather than 2 times this year. Expectations for a Fed hike in March have ratcheted up considerably with Fed funds futures now assigning a higher that...
A textbook bearish formation has been spotted in Deutsche Bank (DB) (traded in Xetra Germany) according to Elliott waves. A 5 wave decline has been seen and together with a price break below my automated indicator, I expect a bounce towards 18.30-18.50€ to go short and use the highs as stop. The minimum expectation is for another 5 wave decline towards 16€ if not a larger scale bearish reversal. I will be looking to sell DBK with a stop at the recent highs....
Asian markets dropped following disappointing China trade and Japan GDP data, while European stocks rebounded for the first time in five sessions led by miners and banks. US futures were little changed as the dollar strenghtened, pressuring oil further below $53; sterling slid for the eighth day out of nine, dropping under 1.215 before the chancellor of the exchequer delivers his spring budget. Treasuries are headed for their longest losing streak since 2012 ahead of a 10Y U.S. debt auction, and today’s ADP private payrolls report. Following four sessions of losses, European shares edged up on Wednesday, with the Stoxx 600 index fractio...
A while back I wrote about investing in the ‘boring’ HVAC industry. Investing in boring industries rarely gives your portfolio a “shot in the arm” in terms of dramatic capital appreciation but what it can do is provide stability and predictability in terms of tempered growth and a potential reliable source of growing dividends for decades on end. Another industry that I like lacking general sex appeal, but I think belongs in every long term dividend growth portfolio, is the property and casualty insurance space. Of course, there’s not much that’s exciting or innovative in this sector, rather what you get is solid, long term, stea...
OPEC’s coordinated effort to curtail global supply has so far managed to put a floor under oil prices, which have been sitting modestly above US$50 since the deal was announced at the end of November last year. But resurging U.S. shale has been capping the upside, and Brent has not breached US$58 per barrel. Analysts and experts are now mostly predicting that oil prices will remain below US$60 this year. The supply-cut deal has so far resulted in a surprisingly high OPEC compliance of more than 90 percent, thanks to the cartel’s leader and biggest producer, Saudi Arabia, which has been cutting deeper than pledged. But the market...
Gold prices closed at their lowest level since February 2 on anticipation of tighter U.S. monetary policy and as the dollar strengthened against other currencies. The XAU/USD pair slumped to $1214.10 an ounce before recovering slightly to the $1216.53 level. Technical selling was also behind gold’s 0.81% drop on Tuesday. Not surprisingly, dropping below the $1222.88 level dragged prices towards the $1213/1 area. The greenback is being given a lift by the perception that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates at its FOMC meeting next week but we may enter a sideways phase ahead of the most important economic report of the week on F...