Author Archive: Jeremy Parkinson
Billion Dollar Unicorns: SoFi Delays IPO Plans
According to The 2017 Americas Alternative Finance Industry Report, the alternative finance market across the US, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean has grown 23% to $35.2 billion in 2016. A leading Billion Dollar Unicorn in this sector is Social Finance or SoFi. Social Finance’s Journey San Francisco-based Social Finance Inc. or SoFi was founded in 2011 by Mike Cagney, […]
2018: The Weakest Year In The Presidential Election Cycle Has Begun
You are probably aware of the influence US elections have on the stock market. After Donald Trump was elected president, a particularly strong rally in stock prices ensued. Contrary to what many market participants seem to believe, trends in the stock market depend only to a negligible extent on whether a Republican or a Democrat […]
5 Dividend Growth ETFs For Higher Returns In 2018
A history of dividend growth year over year leads to a healthy portfolio with a greater scope of capital appreciation as opposed to simple dividend paying stocks or those with high yields. Now, with the biggest tax overhaul in decades, the appeal for these stocks have increased on optimism that the new tax structure would […]
Dollar Drops On Reports That China May Slow Or Halt Treasury Purchases
The U.S. Dollar put in another bearish move this morning, with the past couple of hours wiping away most of the post-NFP gains that had come-in to the Greenback. One of the drivers, if not the likely culprit of the sell-off is a circulating report indicating that officials in Beijing have recommended ‘slowing or halting’ treasury purchases. […]
Demographic Trends For The 50-and-Older Work Force – Wednesday, Jan. 10
Note: This commentary has been updated with the latest numbers from last week’s Employment Report. Our earlier update on demographic trends in employment included a chart illustrating the growth (or shrinkage) in six age cohorts since the turn of the century. In this commentary, we’ll zoom in on the age 50 and older Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR). […]
4 Impressive Liquid Stocks For A Winning Portfolio
Liquidity indicates a company’s capability of meeting debt obligations by converting assets into cash and equivalents. Companies with a favorable liquidity position have always been in demand as these are believed to have the potential to boost portfolio returns. However, one should be cautious before investing in liquid stocks. While a high liquidity level may […]
HealthEquity – Continued Double-Digit Revenue Growth
Introduction: I’ve written a handful of articles highlighting HealthEquity (HQY) in 2017 as a great growth play in the rapidly growing Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) space. HealthEquity just reported beats on both the top and bottom line, beating revenue and EPS estimates by $1.39 million and $0.04, respectively. It’s noteworthy to point out that revenue […]
WTI/RBOB Extend Losses After Smaller Crude Draw; Production Plunged
Both WTI/RBOB are fading into this morning’s data after API’s massive crude draw print. DOE disappointed with a mere 4.95mm draw (vs 11.2mm draw from API) as gasoline inventories built for the 9th week in a row. However, production plunged almost 3%. Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Energy Analyst Vince Piazza noted that U.S. oil inventories typically build this time of year, but […]
China And US Treasuries
As the US Treasury market was consolidating yesterday’s 7.5 basis point jump in 10-year yields when Bloomberg’s headline hit. The claim was that Chinese officials are “wary of Treasuries”. Yields rose quickly to test 2.60% and the dollar moved lower. It is difficult to determine the significance of the claim as the Bloomberg story does […]
Utilities In Danger Of Breaking 9-Year Support Line
Utilities ETF XLU has had a rough go of it the past two months! Below compares XLU to the S&P 500 over the past year: Sometimes Utilities are viewed as interest-sensitive assets. XLU was keeping pace with the S&P over the past year (sometimes ahead) until mid-November last year, where they started heading south, backing off nearly […]
