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Two Things: Buybacks And ETFs

Two Things: Buybacks And ETFs

Goldman is out with their weekly piece documenting the conversations they’re supposedly having with clients and this week’s installment is pretty interesting as it touches on a particularly important debate about what the best use of corporate cash is. As you’re undoubtedly aware, the corporate bid (i.e. buybacks) has been a key pillar underpinning U.S. […]
Week In Review: China Resources Pharma Files For $369 Million China Life Science Investment Fund

Week In Review: China Resources Pharma Files For $369 Million China Life Science Investment Fund

China Resources Pharmaceutical (HK: 3320) filed with the Hong Kong exchange to raise $368.5 million in an investment fund (see story). The fund will be run by its subsidiary, CR Pharm (Shantou). It will make equity investments in China pharma companies, though it was not disclosed whether the fund’s character will be venture or private equity. CR Pharm, China’s second-largest […]
Trick Or Treat Markets

Trick Or Treat Markets

In last week’s missive, I discussed the “seemingly impervious advance” being driven by the advancement towards “tax reform and tax cuts.” “The last leg higher has been directly responsive to the ramp up in the political “marketing surge” surrounding “tax cuts and tax reform.” With the House having already passed their respective budget resolutions, late Thursday, the Senate passed a budget […]
Vegas Presentation – The State Of The Markets

Vegas Presentation – The State Of The Markets

Here’s my talk in Vegas from earlier this month. It’s only 30 minutes but I covered a good bit of ground including: The passive investing craze. The importance of diversification in global asset allocation. Navigating high equity valuations. Why the aggregate bond index is imperfect. Why you should extend your duration in a bond portfolio. […]
USD/CAD Forecast Oct. 30 – Nov. 3 2017

USD/CAD Forecast Oct. 30 – Nov. 3 2017

Dollar/CAD was moving on up in a busy week, hitting the highest levels since the summer. The upcoming week features two big events: the GDP release and the jobs report. Will the loonie continue suffering? Here are the highlights and an updated technical analysis for USD/CAD. The Bank of Canada did not raise rates and also went […]
Spain’s Ibex 35 Index Mired In Long-term Congestion Zone

Spain’s Ibex 35 Index Mired In Long-term Congestion Zone

In the midst of political and social uncertainty surrounding the recent referendum in Catalonia to separate from the rest of Spain and Prime Minister Rajoy’s aim to stop it, Spain’s Ibex 35 Index has been faltering, as shown on both the longer-term Monthly chart and the short-term Daily chart below. Longer term, price ran into major resistance in the form of […]
Economic Data And Forecasts For The Weeks Of October 30 And November 6

Economic Data And Forecasts For The Weeks Of October 30 And November 6

Here are my forecasts for upcoming economic data.       ` Forecast Prior Observation Consensus   Week of October 30         October 30         Personal Income – September 0.4% 0.2 0.4   Personal Spending 0.9 0.1 0.9             Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index 21.3 […]
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                        VIX Slumps Below Support; SPX Challenges Cycle Top

E VIX Slumps Below Support; SPX Challenges Cycle Top

VIX broke out against the prior week’s high, but ended the week below all critical support/resistance areas. A buy signal awaits it above Intermediate-term resistance at 10.70, with further confirmation above weekly mid-Cycle resistance at 14.64. It has an inverted Head & Shoulders formation that, when triggered, offers us a potential target for the next […]
Sizable Declines In A Few Individual Stocks; Time To Review Allocations

Sizable Declines In A Few Individual Stocks; Time To Review Allocations

Much is going right as it relates to the equity markets around the globe; however, this past week saw the market punish companies that reported earnings that did not match market expectations. The below 2-week chart only lists a few of those companies, but companies like Celgene (CELG) down 28.1% and Expedia (EXPE) down 17.5% […]
Inventories And Robots: Missing Story In Third Quarter GDP

Inventories And Robots: Missing Story In Third Quarter GDP

It seems the folks reporting on the third quarter GDP forgot to do their homework. The articles touted the 3.0 percent growth figure, which was somewhat stronger than generally expected. However much of the basis for this stronger than expected growth was a pick-up in inventory accumulations that added 0.73 percentage points to the growth […]