RBA: Another Snoozefest

RBA: Another Snoozefest

This is a big week for economic data and events in Australia. The two most important releases to watch include the RBA’s interest rate decision tomorrow and GDP growth on Wednesday. Despite rate hike hopes throughout the year, the RBA has militantly pursued a neutral monetary policy. As such, consensus continues to expect no change […]
Tax Reform With Spending And Taxes At Historical Averages

Tax Reform With Spending And Taxes At Historical Averages

It’s conceptual possible, if not always practically convenient, to separate tax policy into two mainpieces. One issue is the tax cut vs. tax hike debate–that is, whether the total amount being collected should be higher or lower. The other issue is whether the tax code should be adjusted in some way to alter its incentives […]
Blockchains – What Are They? What Can We Expect?

Blockchains – What Are They? What Can We Expect?

Introduction I know very little about blockchains (BC), distributed ledger systems, and crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin. But I am a bit dumbfounded by the claims of what “the BC era” will bring. In what follows, I comment on some of these claims appearing in a paper written by Don and Alex Tapscott in the MIT Sloan Management […]
USDJPY – Will The Gap Hold?

USDJPY – Will The Gap Hold?

  The dollar was better bid today with USDJPY gapping higher on the week’s open in Asia as currency markets breathed a sigh of relief that the Flynn indictment may not have been as politically damaging to Donald Trump as initially reported. The passage of the tax cut bill by Senate was also viewed as […]
The Q Ratio And Market Valuation: November Update

The Q Ratio And Market Valuation: November Update

The Q Ratio is a popular method of estimating the fair value of the stock market developed by Nobel Laureate James Tobin. It’s a fairly simple concept, but laborious to calculate. The Q Ratio is the total price of the market divided by the replacement cost of all its companies. Fortunately, the government does the […]
Swing Trading Strategy Report – Monday, Dec. 4

Swing Trading Strategy Report – Monday, Dec. 4

My Swing Trading Approach Let’s see if this opening gap holds in the early going, and from there, I will add 1-2 new long setups to the portfolio.  Indicators VIX – Massive spike on erroneous ABC/Trump report. Gave up nearly all the gains on the day. Typical behavior for this indicator, in this market.  T2108 (% of […]
Net Investment Flows Turn Positive As Growth Picks Up

Net Investment Flows Turn Positive As Growth Picks Up

Nearly ten years on from the start of the financial crisis and it looks as if the recovery is well and truly here. According to Bloomberg, the second quarter was the best earnings season for US companies in 13 years, with more than three-quarters of the Standard & Poor’s 500 member companies beating analyst expectations. Even though the […]
The Most Active Equity Options And Strikes For Midday – Monday, Dec. 4

The Most Active Equity Options And Strikes For Midday – Monday, Dec. 4

 Top Tickers For Midday December 4th  
EUR/USD: 3 Reasons Why EUR/USD Still Resilient; What’s The Trade?

EUR/USD: 3 Reasons Why EUR/USD Still Resilient; What’s The Trade?

EUR/USD is trading around 1.1850, in the middle of the range. Does it have room to the upside? The team at Nordea sees room for rises. Here is their view, courtesy of eFXnews: Nordea FX Strategy Research discusses EUR/USD outlook into year-end, and outlines 3 key reasons why the pair is still resilient and hasn’t been traded […]
Semiconductor Slump

Semiconductor Slump

The big pop that took place because of the massive tax fraud being rammed up the middle class’ backside has, shall we say, lost its potency over in NASDAQ-land. In particular, semiconductors are getting whacked. This has been an area of massive strength until recently.