Category Archive: Finance
Tech Wreck Continues, FANG Hits 3-Week Lows, EM Stocks Enter Bear Market
Contagion continues… The tech stock rout, which accelerated during yesterday’s Congressional hearing on social network bias, accelerated on Thursday, this time led by a selloff in chipmakers dragging the Nasdaq Composite to a two-week low. The biggest loser was KLA-Tencor, which sank 7.8%, pulling the semiconductor space lower by 1.7%, while semi cap equipment peers Lam […]
2Q2018 (Final): Headline Productivity Improves
A simple summary of the headlines for this release is that productivity improved while the labor costs declined. However, year-over-year analysis shows labor costs rising faster than productivity. Analyst Opinion of Productivity and Costs I only look at year-over-year data – the headline compounding distorts the view. I have issues with the way productivity is […]
This Foreign Market “Contagion” Is About To Go Viral
Europe has always played a huge role in the US markets. The US Treasury reported that European investors and central banks held $1.6 trillion of US Treasury securities in June. More importantly, they had purchased $114 billion of that over the past year, including $32 billion from April to June. And although there’s no breakdown […]
Apocalypse, Or Not?
Members of the American libertarian movement, particularly extremist preppers, are often associated with a belief that a complete breakdown in society is the only outcome from government economic policies and will lead to complete social disintegration. At the center of their concerns is monetary destruction, with other issues, such as the erosion of personal freedom […]
Do Stocks Perform Better When Manufacturing Is Booming?
US manufacturing is booming. In a report released this week, the ISM Manufacturing Index moved up to 61.3, the second-highest level in the last 30 years. Data Source for all charts/tables herein: FRED, Bloomberg Many are saying that’s great news for the stock market because increased manufacturing activity is evidence of a stronger economy. This […]
Bullish Sentiment Remains Elevated
Individual investors continue to be in an optimistic mood, although bullish sentiment did see a slight decline in the latest week. According to the weekly survey from AAII, bullish sentiment dropped from 43.5% down to 42.22%, which is still on the high side of the recent range. It’s also the first back to back weeks where […]
Micron Slides As Baird Sees Gross Margin Nearing Peak
Shares of Micron (MU) are sliding this morning after Baird analyst Tristan Gerra said the stock is no longer a top semi large-cap idea as gross margin is near a peak. Furthermore, the analyst believes DRAM pricing is also likely peaking in the third quarter as NAND oversupply worsens. Meanwhile, his peer at Deutsche Bank […]
The Dark Years Are Here II
Hindsight is the most exact of all sciences. Most people who live their life backwards have a miserable life. Having been around for a while, I tend not to look back, especially not at negative events. Much better to embrace uncertainty since everything going forward from here is uncertain. We can’t do anything about the […]
EUR/USD Initiates Bullish Series Despite Disappointing Euro-Area Data
EURO TALKING POINTS EUR/USD climbs to a fresh weekly-high (1.1659) even as data prints coming out of the euro-area instill a weakened outlook for the monetary union, and recent price action warns of a larger advance as the exchange rate initiates a fresh series of higher highs & lows. EUR/USD INITIATES BULLISH SERIES DESPITE DISAPPOINTING EURO-AREA […]
Peak Prices, Capital Waves Receding: Tsunami Alert
The Canadian dollar has fallen nearly 5% against the US dollar year-to-date and compared to emerging market (EM) currencies that decline is small. Of the 24 most traded EM currencies, only the Mexican Peso has managed to eke out a small gain against the greenback year to date, while several others are down 10% and […]
