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  • Finance 0

    Bayer Confirms Offer To Acquire Monsanto For $122 Per Share

    Bayer (BAYRY) is publicly disclosing the contents of its private proposal to acquire Monsanto (MON). Bayer has made an all-cash offer to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Monsanto Company for $122 per share or an aggregate value of $62B. This offer, based on Bayer’s written proposal to Monsanto dated May 10, 2016, represents a substantial premium of 37% over Monsanto’s closing share price of $89.03 on May 9, 2016 – 36% over the three-month volume weighted average share price – 33% over the six-month volume weighted average share price – Last twelve months EBITDA multiple of 15.8x...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    EUR/USD: Pair Shifting To Trend Line

    Yesterday’s Trading: On Friday the euro/dollar renewed to 1.1237. The pair ditched the session maximum after US secondary market housing sales for April showed a 1.7% rise to 5.45 million homes. On this news the euro returned to 1.12. The trading session closed near the balance line (simple average line). Market Expectations: On Monday the bulls have shifted Friday’s maximum to 1.1242. Asian activity is decent, only the trend line runs through 1.1252. It won’t be passed first time. It needs help from the euro/pound cross. A small correction is needed on it to offload the indicators after Friday’s growth. Since the euro ended up sidewa...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    FTSE 100 Rises On Soft Eurozone PMI

    FTSE 100 trading was lackluster for trend traders at the time of writing, as price remained trapped between the May 6 low of 6053 and the May 12 high of 6195. The range will have kept price confined for four weeks this Wednesday unless a break occurs. For a trend to emerge, a break to the above-mentioned range is needed and until this happens price will continue to remain range bound and lack a strong bias, making it difficult to trade. The only benefit to a ranging market, from a trend trading perspective, is the strong momentum, which tends to follow a break to the range. Resistance levels above the upper end of the current range at 61...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Growing Portfolio Holdings Via Spin Offs

    Here’s a topic that is rarely discussed on our dividend blogs. We always discuss and track dividend increases, dividend growth, yield and yield on cost, long term capital appreciation, but rarely stock spin offs. I love stock spin offs. I think they are really neat. Stock spin offs have a unique way of creating shareholder value that goes beyond capital appreciation and dividend increases. For those who are new to investing, a stock spin off is basically the creation of a brand new independent company from a parent company. This is usually done by the sale or distribution of new shares to shareholders of the parent company. That’s rightâ€...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Deutsche Bank: Dollar Rebound Just The Beginning

    The mighty U.S. dollar is making a comeback. According to analysts at Deutsche Bank AG., the world’s second-largest currency trader, the greenback’s three-week rally is just the beginning and that the currency’s strength should continue for some time. George Saravelos, co-head of global foreign-exchange research for the bank in London strongly suggests that investors purchase the U.S. currency and stay away from emerging markets such as China, Mexico and South Korea because they rely far too little on Fed expectations. Some analysts are saying that these—and other-emerging markets– are likely to slump versus the dollar, while th...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Futures Fade Early Bounce, Slide In Illiquid Tape As Yen Rises, Oil Drops

    Following the latest month abysmal trade and PMI data out of Japan overnight (April exports crashed -10.1 %, worse than the exp. -9.8 and worse than last month’s -6.8% while imports plunged -23.3% also far worse than exp. -18.8 and March -14.9%; PMI 47.6, Exp. 48.3, last 48.2), it was supposed to be a straight up for the USDJPY, and its carry linked E-mini. However, that this did not happen, and instead the Yen jumped, sinking the USDJPY as low as 109.3 was troubling and suggests that the G7 “Sendai discord”, profiled here on Saturday, was worse than even we expected, and Japan indeed no longer has a right to devalue its cur...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Foreign Developed-Market Stocks In The Lead Last Week

    Stock markets in the developed world outside the US led the major asset classes higher last week, based on a set of proxy ETFs. Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets (VEA) posted an 0.8% total return for the five trading days through May 20, delivering a slightly stronger performance vs. the rest of the field. Last week’s biggest loser: US real estate investment trusts (REITs), which gave back some of the strong gains earned over the past three months. Although Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ) is still up 10% for the trailing 3-month period, Fed chatter in recent days about a rate hike convinced the crowd to lighten up on this yield-sensitive asset cl...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    UK Bourses And The Brexit Vote

    Uncertain times ahead for markets as Brexit vote looms In the lead up to the Brexit vote on 23 June 2016, politicians on both sides of the aisle are arguing the merits of a Brexit. On the one hand we have the remain campaigners who include Prime Minister David Cameron, G7 countries, President Barack Obama, IMF chief Christine Lagarde, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and scores of other high-ranking officials. Those who are opposed to Britain leaving the EU include ranking members of the Tory party, various other conservative business leaders, the former mayor of London, Boris Johnson and a large contingent of the UK population. Th...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    GoPro – A Retrospective, And Valuation Thoughts

    In September 2014, I wrote the following. The most overlooked fundamental of valuation is that rapid growth in earnings over the long term requires a moat that provides a quasi-permanent barrier to entry.  Very few companies are surrounded by such moats.  Having a cool product today is not such a barrier unless it is the case that competitors cannot match the cool product tomorrow.Rarely is that the case. With a P/E ratio approaching 250, Go Pro is priced as if it has a large, stable moat around its products. This is almost certainly not the case.Gadgets like cameras are inherently reproducible and there are many Chinese, Japanese and even ...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    CAD: Breaking The Chain With Oil; Where To Target? – CIBC

    The Canadian dollar has shown a lot of weakness lately. Will this continue? Here is the view from CIBC: Here is their view, courtesy of eFXnews: Oil prices have seen a pretty significant rebound from February’s lows. However, the upward move has had its fits and starts, and examining trends in the loonie during these different periods highlights a change in the Canadian dollar’s relationship with WTI. Over the first two periods of WTI’s uptrend, the C$ outperformed other currencies and appreciated against the greenback. Given the close correlation between the loonie and oil, that’s not a great surprise. But recently, the C$ has not on...
    On May 23, 2016 / By