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  • Finance 0

    10 Most Undervalued Companies For The Defensive Investor – May 2016

    There are a number of great companies in the market today. By using the ModernGraham Valuation Model, I’ve selected the ten most undervalued companies reviewed by ModernGraham. Each company has been determined to be suitable for Defensive Investor according to the ModernGraham approach. Defensive Investors are defined as investors who are not able or willing to do substantial research into individual investments, and therefore need to select only the companies that present the least amount of risk. Enterprising Investors, on the other hand, are able to do substantial research and can select companies that present a moderate (though still...
    On May 13, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Don’t Give Up On Apple Yet!

    There is a lot of pessimism surrounding Apple’s future as the stock hit a new 52 week low yesterday. However I caution investors on making an emotional reaction to this short term momentum. Yesterday the stock price hit technical support at $89.50 which matches the $42 point decline experienced between 2012 and 2013. It’s always interesting to see when sentiment shifts coincide with price hitting technical support or resistance. As oftentimes these events mark important swing lows or swing highs in price. I have no idea whether Apple will bottom at $90, I suspect that if it can’t hold $90 than it’s likely to fall to $75 or so. But I a...
    On May 13, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Atlanta Fed GDPNow +2.8% Vs. New York Fed Nowcast +1.2%

    Following today’s retail sales alleged blowout, to which treasury yields actually declined, comes a big GDP upgrade by the Atlanta Fed GDPNow Model vs. a smaller jump by the New York Fed Nowcast Model. The difference between the forecasts is now a whopping 1.6 percentage points. Atlanta Fed GDPNow Latest forecast: 2.8 percent — May 13, 2016   “The GDPNow model forecast for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the second quarter of 2016 is 2.8 percent on May 13, up from 2.2 percent on May 10. After this morning’s retail sales report from the U.S. Census Bureau, the forecast for second-quarter real consumer spending ...
    On May 13, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    March 2016 Business Sales And Inventories Data Is Mixed

    Econintersect‘s analysis of final business sales data (retail plus wholesale plus manufacturing) shows unadjusted sales degraded compared to the previous month which was very strong. There was am improvement in the rolling averages. Inventory growth was surprising large. The inventory-to-sales ratios remain at recessionary levels. Econintersect Analysis: unadjusted sales rate of growth decelerated 1.8 % month-over-month, and up 0.3 % year-over-year unadjusted sales (but inflation adjusted) up 2.0 % year-over-year unadjusted sales three month rolling average compared to the rolling average 1 year ago accelerated 1.0 % month-over...
    On May 13, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Gold Miners’ Q1’16 Fundamentals

    The gold miners’ stocks have skyrocketed this year as investors started returning to this long-abandoned sector. Many have doubled since January, with plenty tripling or even quadrupling. Naturally such fast gains raise concerns about whether they are actually fundamentally justified or merely the product of fleeting sentiment that could reverse. Gold miners’ latest quarterly results offer great fundamental insights. Companies trading on the US stock markets are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission to file quarterly earnings reports four times a year. For normal quarters that don’t end fiscal years, these 10-Q reports are ...
    On May 13, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    American Consumer Wipeout In Play

    The latest in a string of lousy retail reports came from Nordstrom. The company reported Q1 EPS of $0.26, missing consensus estimates of $0.46 by nearly half. Revenues were flat at $3.25 billion missing expectations of $3.29 billion. Comparable sales dropped -1.7% on estimates of an unchanged print. Company slashed its guidance, and instead of seeing a 0-2% increase in comp sales, JWN now expects -1 to +1% for 2016. Macy’s Q1 results, indicated a 6% decline in same store sales. Management pointed out that US sales charged to foreign credit cards plunged by 20%. Taiwan Semiconductor’s shipments of Apple iPhone 6s, iPhone 7 chips for June...
    On May 13, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Chevron Stock Remains A Speculative Investment

    Flickr Chevron (NYSE:CVX) remains a speculative investment upon the recovery in oil prices, and while I’m somewhat bullish on oil fundamentals, there’s still enough incremental capacity regarding wells with spuds so that if the prices were to recover, the amount of supply would likely match the demand in North America. Furthermore, there have been issues on the geopolitical front as Saudi Arabia fired its oil minister, and it’s not yet clear if it was in response to the minister being unable to ink a deal at the Doha Convention, or if it was because the minister was unable to secure a deal with Iran. Moreover, if Iran doesn’t agree t...
    On May 13, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Gartman Bullish Call Signals A Sell On Crude

    For those wondering when they should be taking profits on their oil trades, never fear, Dennis Gartman just went bullish on crude.  For those who are not aware, this is the individual who has a track record of being the most perfect contrarian indicator that our generation has ever seen.  Yes, Jim Cramer was fabulous too, in his day, but nothing, and I do mean “NOTHING” compares to Dennis “Oil will never see $44/barrell again in my lifetime” Gartman (of course that was his prediction just a few weeks ago).  If you need to see his comments first hand, no worries there either – I’ve provided the actual vid...
    On May 13, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    4 Top-Ranked Mutual Funds With A Good Sharpe Ratio

    Mutual funds that are likely to offer healthy returns along with a lower level of risk are popular choices. But to identify funds that can offer such features, one should find out a way of measuring a fund’s risk-adjusted return. This is where the Sharpe ratio comes into play. Created by Nobel laureate William F. Sharpe, the Sharpe ratio is one of the popular ways of measuring funds’ performances on the basis of risk-adjusted return. A fund with a higher Sharpe ratio is believed to be more attractive than one with a lower ratio. In this context, we have highlighted some favorably ranked mutual funds with a good Sharpe ratio, investing in ...
    On May 13, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Toward A New Mouse Trap

    The Great Financial Crisis has exposed a deep chasm in economics and economic policy. No single institution is this crystallized more than at the Bank of Japan. The former Governor, Shirakawa brought policy rates to nearly zero to combat deflation. His successor, Kuroda, took the central bank in the completely other direction. He has introduced three elements of unconventional policy in an institution that was wedded to orthodoxy. These include an aggressive expansion of the central bank’s balance sheet through asset purchases. The assets being purchased are of greater risk than what other central banks have purchased, (including equ...
    On May 13, 2016 / By