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  • Finance 0

    Google > Apple: A Lesson In Value

    It happened officially on February 1st, but being late to the part does not diminish its significance for the long-term. Google (GOOG) just recently surpassed Apple (AAPL) as the most valuable company in the world – not larger, but on the whole worth more money. Google is now has a market cap of a whopping $466 billion (more than the annual GDP of most countries). The value of the company has less to do with how much the company’s current assets are worth but has more to do with how the company will be able to grow and keep expanding into the future. This is important to understand when you join the stock market. Before you put ...
    On February 11, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Jim Cramer & CNBC Now Love Gold

    All of a sudden, everybody has gone bullish on gold, even Wall Street. Within the last couple of days Jim Cramer, the CNBC Nightly Business Report, and Van Eck Global all sang gold’s praises. Cramer said, “There is a bull market in Gold,” and CNBC Nightly Business Report opened the show Monday proclaiming, “Hard assets – stocks slump, gold shines.” Video Length: 00:04:34 CNBC even devoted a blog post to technical analysis on the gold bull market, saying “the rally in gold has the potential to develop into a breakout from the consolidation base and become a new uptrend.” Wall Street has apparently caught on to what Peter Schif...
    On February 11, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Dollar Index Outlook

    This week will see the world’s most influential woman, Janet Yellen, speak to the US congress; this will likely be a high volatility event for the US Dollar. The Dollar Index is a gauge of the strength of the US dollar against their trading partners; it is used to determine whether to long or short USD pairs. For example, if the outlook for the Dollar Index is bullish then we should look to buy USD-CHF or sell GBP-USD. A lot of traders and analysts will be watching Yellen’s comments closely with a lot of price action expected this week in the Dollar Index. The Fed’s Chairwoman will speak at 15:00 GMT on Wednesday as part of a two-day se...
    On February 11, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    US Jobless Claims Beat With 269K – Will The Mood Improve?

    After long weeks at high levels, this weekly barometer of the labor market dipped to more favorable levels: 269K instead of 281K expected. Continuing claims also beat with 2.239 instead of 2.25 million forecast. The 4 week moving average is down to 281.25K, still elevated given the previous elevated 3 weeks. The US dollar is slightly stronger on the news, at least against the safe haven euro and yen. Will this improve the markets’ mood or will the doom and gloom prevail? Weekly jobless claims were expected to tick down form 285K to 281K this time. The number of claims is above the lows of around 260K in recent weeks. Markets are in total tu...
    On February 11, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Treasury Bears Briefly Rescued After Massive Short Squeeze Collapses Yields

    2Y yields crashed 10bps overnight – the biggest plunge in yields since September’s FOMC fold on rate-hikes. The rest of the Treasury bond complex also saw yields crash with 10Y flash-crashing 20bps – amid collapsing liquidity – at its deepest.   Then – as if by magic – a sudden crazed Yen seller appeared and lifted all risk boats (and bond yields) “off the lows.”   One wonders how long this ‘intervention’ will last…...
    On February 11, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Jobless Claims Offer A Bullish Counterpoint To Market Gloom

    New filings for unemployment benefits fell 16,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 269,000, according to this morning’s weekly report from the US Labor Department. The slide represents a timely challenge to the dark outlook that’s currently reflected in a markets-based forecast for the US economy. In other words, there’s enough ambiguity to keep the crowd guessing, which means that the days ahead could be decisive for deciding which side of the debate about the business cycle is accurate. But for today, at least, there’s a new number in town for the macro profile and it offers an upbeat data point to consider. A bit of good news...
    On February 11, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    E The Daily Shot And Data – February 11, 2016

    We start with the United States where Janet Yellen’s testimony suggests that the Fed is becoming more concerned about tight financial conditions, the RMB devaluation, and global economic uncertainty. Source: FRB Strangely, Yellen left the door open for a March rate hike, disappointing those who expected her to take near-term hikes off the table. In that sense the testimony was not as dovish as some had hoped – in spite of the concerns expressed above. The January 2018 Fed Funds futures now imply a rate of 62.5bp by the end of next year. That’s only 25bp above the current level. Source: barchart Here are a number of other e...
    On February 11, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Can Activision Continue Its String Of Strong Earnings?

    Photo Credit: Pop Culture Geek Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI) Information Technology – Software| Reports February 11, After Market Closes Key Takeaways The Estimize consensus is calling for EPS of $0.89 and revenue of $2.22 billion, slightly higher than corporate guidance and Wall Street In November 2015, Activision announced its acquisition of King Digital This quarter the Activision is leaning on its already established franchises and the debut of the newest Call of Duty game to boost bottom line growth. What are you expecting for ATVI? Get your estimate in here! Popular video game publisher, Activision Blizzard, is scheduled to...
    On February 11, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    5 Undervalued Companies For The Defensive Investor Near 52 Week Lows – February 2016

    There are a number of great companies in the market today. By using the ModernGraham Valuation Model, I’ve selected the five undervalued companies reviewed by ModernGraham trading closest to their 52 week low. Each of these companies has been determined to be suitable for the 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 ...
    On February 11, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    DAX 30: Trend Is Bearish With 2.5 Long Positions For Every Short

    The DAX 30 (FXCM: GER30 is lower by 1.24% at the time of writing. The index remains firmly bearish below yesterday’s high of 9129 and traders will most likely use a correction to the 8859 to 8958 range to add to their bearish exposure as the risk/reward ratio favors bearish positions here. Also, private traders who are long as they trade against the falling trend are expected to reduce their risk within this range. The FXCM SSI Snapshot sentiment indicator shows that there are 2.48 long positions for every short one. This suggests a lower DAX 30 in the days ahead. The next support level and target for bearish DAX 30 traders is the...
    On February 11, 2016 / By