Talking Points: Crude oil prices retreat to range support as OPEC deal hopes cool Gold prices correct higher as US yields pull back after Friday surge Comments from Fed’s Fischer, API inventory report in focus ahead Crude oil prices edged lower amid emerging doubts about a possible output freeze accord at next month’s informal OPEC meeting in Algiers. Iran Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said the country aims to regain market-share lost to sanctions since 2012 before participating in any supply-limiting agreements, according to a report from state-run media. A separate Reuters report cited Adnoc’s Salem Al Matroushi saying the UAEpl...
One of the articles referenced in Janet Yellen’s Jackson Hole speech last week was a piece written for the Peterson Institute for International Economics by Senior Fellow Olivier Blanchard. Dr. Blanchard has, as noted earlier today, all the “right” credentials, which is why his conjecture gets included into the speeches of Federal Reserve Chairmen. Having taught at both Harvard and MIT, becoming chair of the economics department at MIT for five years, landed Blanchard the role of research director at the IMF. Private experience is obviously missing from his resume. Dr. Blanchard’s article was an attempt to “explain” the yield cur...
FB Likes This Indicator Too. If I were to continue with Mish’s party analogy from her last Daily, I’d have to say the market’s that got rattled by Friday’s party were a little sluggish today. None the less they were in a good mode and edged higher. Additionally, Mish left you with a ‘tidbit’ to keep an eye on which was JNK. It moved up nicely to new highs for the year today. The last week of August is typically one of the lightest volume weeks of the year, so it can often be a week of choppy intra-day action. However, some areas can attract attention and with light volume, trend nicely. Facebook, (FB), may just be in this kind of ...
FB Likes This Indicator Too. If I were to continue with Mish’s party analogy from her last Daily, I’d have to say the market’s that got rattled by Friday’s party were a little sluggish today. None the less they were in a good mode and edged higher. Additionally, Mish left you with a ‘tidbit’ to keep an eye on which was JNK. It moved up nicely to new highs for the year today. The last week of August is typically one of the lightest volume weeks of the year, so it can often be a week of choppy intra-day action. However, some areas can attract attention and with light volume, trend nicely. Facebook, (FB), may just be in this kind of ...
The dollar rallied on Yellen’s Jackson Hole speech and the consequent comments by Fischer and the upcoming Friday became much more important. Will the NFP justify a rate hike on September 22bnd? Here are two opposing opinions: Here is their view, courtesy of eFXnews: This Week’s NFP Data To Reinforce Our Fed Call For A September Hike – BNPP Fed Chair Yellen delivered the hawkish message we were looking for on Friday, telling her Jackson Hole audience that the case for raising rates has strengthened recently. It took follow-up comments from Vice Chair Fischer later in the morning to generate a meaningful adjustment higher in rates and...
It’s time again for our weekly gasoline update based on data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The price of Regular and Premium are up another four cents a piece from last week. According to GasBuddy.com, Hawaii has the highest average price for Regular at $2.71 and San Francisco is the most expensive city, averaging $2.86. South Carolina has the cheapest at $1.94. The WTIC end of day spot price closed at 46.98, down 0.43 from this time last week. How far are we from the interim high prices of 2011 and the all-time highs of 2008? Here’s a visual answer. The next chart is a monthly chart overlay of West Texas Light...
The outcome of the UK’s misjudged (non-binding) referendum on its continued membership of the EU took virtually everybody by surprise. There was no mainstream economic opinion from any quarter that suggested that the UK would be better off outside the EU and many respected economic experts and organisations that predicted that the UK would suffer if it were to leave the planet’s biggest single market of approximately 500 million people. The economically illiterate amongst the Brexit supporters point to the fact that economic Armageddon has yet to engulf the UK. They fail to note that Sterling is near a 31 year low against the Dollar (roug...
DOW + 107 = 18,502SPX + 11 = 2180 NAS + 13 = 5232 10 Y – .07 = 1.57%OIL – .69 = 46.95 GOLD + 2.70 = 1324.20 Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, in a speech Friday, said the case for a rate hike had strengthened, but left open the timing. Fed Vice-chair Stanley Fischer followed up by saying a September hike was a possibility. The Fed will have plenty of economic data in the next few days culminating in Friday’s Jobs Report for August. The market is pricing in a 42% chance of a September interest-rate hike and a 64.7% probability of a rate hike by the end of the year. Over the weekend and today, I read several articles that seemed to rela...
Eli Lilly (LLY) is a blue chip stock that has paid a consistent dividend since the early 1970s. The company’s total dividends paid have increased from 4.55 cents per share in 1972 to a projected $2.04 per share in fiscal year 2016. However, the company’s dividend growth rate has materially slowed, and the dividend payout ratio is now over 80%. Should investors be concerned that Eli Lilly could be poised for years of flat dividends or possibly even a cut to the dividend? Let’s take a look at the business. Business Analysis Eli Lilly is a global pharmaceutical company with an operating history that dates back to the late 1800s. In 2...
On Friday, the market immediately tumbled from its earlier highs when Fed Chair Janet Yellen said: “In light of the continued solid performance of the labor market and our outlook for economic activity and inflation, I believe the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened in recent months.” Many higher yielding REITs were hit particularly hard by the prospect of higher rates because it may soon be more expensive for them to borrow the money required to operate their businesses, and because rising rates may shift investor demand to other income generating opportunities. We ran a screen to identify stocks yielding ove...