Author Archive: Jeremy Parkinson
The Nasdaq Has Its Best August Since 2000
Nasdaq – Mixed Friday Market Nasdaq – The stock market was mixed on Friday as the Dow was down 9 basis points, the S&P 500 was up one basis point. The Nasdaq was up 0.26%, and the Russell 2000 was up 0.48%. VIX was down 4.95%. As you would expect with that type of action, the […]
E Canada’s Job Market Appears Stronger Than Labor Force Survey Data Suggest
Canada, like the U.S., has two major sources of survey information with respect to labor market developments. One data source is the familiar monthly survey of households (LFS), the other source is the employer survey of payrolls (or SEPH). As in the U.S, both surveys will show monthly changes in employment, but only the LFS […]
GM Sales Plunge 13% As August Passenger Car Sales Collapse
When GM surprised the market several months ago with its announcement that, unlike most other US automakers, it would stop disclosing monthly sales, some immediately saw through this as a thinly veiled confirmation that pain is coming. Nowhere was that more obvious than in the company’s August sales, which while undisclosed, predictably leaked with Bloomberg […]
Fundamentals Change Before They Become Headlines
“Davidson” submits: Fundamental trends change several years before they become headlines. Oil exports began with refined products in 2006 (US Oil Situation chart) and have continued to rise at ~13% annual pace since. We actually became a net exporter of Refined Products Sept 2011. Markets are not geographically uniform. Some parts of the country are […]
4 Sector ETFs That Beat The Market In August
The month of August was solid for Wall Street driven by the dual tailwinds of solid corporate earnings and a booming economy. The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 notched their best performances for the month since 2014, climbing 2.1% and 3%, respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite logged its best August since 2000, with gains […]
China, U.S. Tension Is An Opportunity To Boost Your Portfolio For The Long Term
Summary Trade tensions are boosting the USD. Trade tensions and debt crackdown are depressing the Chinese market. Fundamentally, China remains a long-term bet and the time for asset rotation might be approaching. Let’s face it. China is on the rise; it is already one of the centers of a multi-polar world. However, trade tensions are creating doubt […]
Consumer Confidence: Decidedly Lagging Indicator
Consumers have not been this confident since October 2000. Hooray? The Conference Board says Consumer Confidence is at 18-Year High. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® increased in August, following a modest increase in July. The Index now stands at 133.4 (1985=100), up from 127.9 in July. The Present Situation Index improved from 166.1 to 172.2, […]
Investors Flood Fidelity Zero-Fee Funds With $1 Billion In First Month
Confirming the old adage that people love ‘free stuff’, in the month since Fidelity unveiled the first no-fee index fund, the massive asset manager has seen its new funds flooded with $1 billion in AUM. On August 1st, the closely-held Fidelity announced it would offer two new index funds to individual investors with a zero expense ratio. The funds, which will track […]
The Global Financial System Is Unraveling, And No, The U.S. Is Not Immune
Currencies don’t melt down randomly. This is only the first stage of a complete re-ordering of the global financial system. Take a look at the Shanghai Stock Market (China) and tell me what you see: A complete meltdown, right? More specifically, a four-month battle to cling to the key technical support of the 200-week moving […]
Unhappy Labor (Day)
In November 1929, faced with the growing prospects for serious economic reverse, President Herbert Hoover gathered the heads of major American industrial businesses to confer at the White House. Primary on his agenda was wages. For workers, depression was simple. Work was hard to find but more than that what labor might be exchanged would […]
