Category Archive: Finance
Vol Sellers Branch Out
By now most of us are fed up with hearing apocalyptic warnings of the coming VIX disaster when all the naïve short sellers will be squeezed in an epic 2008 style equity crash. Either you buy this argument, or you don’t. No sense wasting too much more time on it. I am of the opinion […]
Conference Board Leading Economic Index: Continued Growth In June, All-Time High
The Latest Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for June increased to 127.8 from 127.0 in May and is currently at an all-time high. The 0.6 percent month-over-month gain was better than the 0.4% increase forecast by Briefing.com. The Conference Board LEI for the U.S. increased again in June, driven by positive contributions from the majority of its […]
Credit Suisse Cuts Pfizer To Hold, Prefers Merck, J&J
Credit Suisse downgraded Pfizer (PFE) to Neutral from Outperform, saying that the company’s positive catalysts will become “more limited” over the next six to twelve months. DRIVERS TO SLOW: In recent years, Pfizer has benefited from strong use of its Ibrance drug for breast cancer and its Prevnar drug for bacterial infections, wrote Credit Suisse […]
Trucking Data Again Continues Mixed In June 2017 But Growth Suggested
Headline data for truck shipments were again mixed in June – but our analysis believes trucking growth rate is modestly improving. Analyst Opinion of Truck Transport I tend to put heavier weight on the CASS index which again showed a moderate improvement year-over-year. The ATA data continues to wander all over the map – and […]
GBPUSD Below 1.30 As Talks End With Little Progress
GBPUSD tumbled back below the 1.30 level in late European trading Thursday as it became clear that the second round of divorce talks between the UK and the EU has ended with the two sides little or no closer on any of the key issues. Moreover, the next round of discussions will not now begin […]
Largest Short Value Per Sector
Written by IB Securities Lending Desk The following table shows the securities with the largest short value per sector on 7/18/2017.
Aflac: A Cheap Dividend Aristocrat Or Value Trap?
Over the past decades boring old insurance specialist Aflac (AFL) has done a remarkable job of enriching long-term income growth investors thanks to its impressive 34-year dividend growth streak. That’s courtesy of its strong, cash-rich business model, which has allowed it to grow its dividend by 14.6% annually over the past quarter century, resulting in annual total […]
Genuine Parts Company Announces Record Q2 Sales & Earnings And Maintains Positive Guidance
Genuine Parts Company (NYSE: GPC), a distributor of automotive replacement parts in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Australasia, as well as industrial replacement parts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico through its Motion Industries subsidiary, business products in the U.S. and Canada through its S. P. Richards Company subsidiary and electrical and electronic components throughout the […]
Treasury Volatility Crashes To Record Lows
Another day, another record low for volatility gauges, with Bank of America’s MOVE Index (considered Treasury Market ‘VIX’) falling to an unprecedented 48.26. As Bloomberg notes, the slide back down in volatility comes as the Treasury term premium looks to be failing in its latest attempt to climb back above zero. So investors in the world’s biggest bond market don’t want […]
Has Bitcoin Come Of Age?
Bitcoin (BTC) came into existence in January 2009. It was not the first ‘cryptocurrecny’ and there are now an estimated 950 competitors, with new ICO’s ‘Initial Coin Offerings’ appearing almost daily. BTC’s closest rival in terms of coins in circulation is Ethereum (ETH). The chart below shows how these currencies % of total market capitalisations […]
