How Can This Be The Best Performing Industry Group In The S&P 500?
In an earlier post looking at breadth among the different industry groups in the S&P 500, we noted that Retailing was the top performing group in the S&P 500 YTD with a gain of over 15%. Looking at the table below, however, you would have hardly guessed by looking at the performance of brick and mortar retailers […]
US Factory Orders Decline 1.4% As Expected: Signs Of Life?
The consensus got this right but the advance estimates helped. As one might expect, Econoday sees signs of life. Today’s factory orders report, down 1.4 percent at the headline level but showing life underneath, closes the book on what was a mixed to soft month of January for manufacturing. Aircraft has been a bright spot for the factory […]
MOPE; The Government Will Never Let It Happen…
How often have you heard the phrase “the government will never let it happen”? It almost doesn’t matter what the topic is you are talking about, nothing “bad” can ever really happen …or so it is thought. The reason, of course, is because we are so many years into “MOPE” (management of perspective economics). No […]
Questions Not Of Success, But Of The Effectiveness Of Illusion
Last week, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda unleashed a mini-controversy with remarks he now claims were taken somewhat out of context. On March 2, speaking before Japan’s parliament, the central banker sure sounded quite confident: Right now, the members of the policy board and I think that prices will move to reach 2 percent […]
The Full Employment Mirage
Judging by the official 4.1% unemployment rate, US workers appear to be doing pretty well. Unlike a few years ago, almost everyone who wants a job has one. That’s an improvement. Having “a job” isn’t the same as having a good job, of course, one that pays enough to cover your needs and lets you feel worthy […]
5 Best ETF Charts Of Q4 Earnings
The Q4 earnings season has reached its tail end with 97.1% of the S&P 500 index market capitalization that has reported so far up 14% on 8.5% revenue growth, with 77.2% beating EPS estimates and 76% coming ahead of top-line expectations. Earnings and revenue growth rates are much higher for the same group of companies than in […]
Rise And Fall Of The ‘Zombies’
One of the great ironies of QE is that while the post-crisis monetary policy regime was designed and implemented to reflate the global economy, there are certain places where these policies are actually deflationary. And when you think about it, it’s common sense. If you artificially suppress borrowing costs and distort the supply/demand dynamics in the […]
Biotechs Buffeted By Macro News But Should Continue To Outperform
Biotechs Buffeted By Trade Talk,Rising Rates and Political Drama Technicals Look Favorable for H1 2018 Remain Bullish Despite Uncertainties of the News Cycle Biotechs outperform in 2018 having recovered most of their losses from last week’s volatility caused by dire tariff talk and higher interest rates, raising concerns about the impact on global growth. Tariffs […]
Foreign Investment Into Canada Has Collapsed By 26% In 2017
Foreign direct investment into Canada has absolutely plunged during 2017 to the lowest since 2010. There has been an effort to stop the sale of any property to foreign investors mainly from China. On top of that, there has been also a collapse in capital investment into the oil industry. There are fears also rising […]
Dismal Australia 4Q GDP Report To Rattle AUD/USD Rate Rebound
AUD/USD breaks out of the narrow range from earlier this month even as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) endorses a wait-and-see approach for monetary policy, but fresh updates to Australia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report may rattle the near-term rebound in the aussie-dollar exchange rate as the growth rate is expected to slow […]
