EC Financials Continue To Lead US Equity Sectors For 1-Year Return
The trend remains your friend if financials have been overweighted in your portfolio. Measured by one-year performance, this sector is red hot in absolute and relative terms, based on a set of proxy ETFs. Tech is a close second for one-year sector returns. Goldman Sachs forecasts that the pair will hold on to their leadership […]
AstraZeneca Says Phase III MYSTIC Trial Did Not Meet Primary Endpoint
AstraZeneca (AZN) announced progression-free survival results for the Phase III MYSTIC trial, a randomized, open-label, multi-center, global trial of Imfinzi monotherapy or Imfinzi in combination with tremelimumab versus platinum-based standard-of-care chemotherapy in previously-untreated patients with metastatic1st-line non-small cell lung cancer. The combination of Imfinzi and tremelimumab did not meet the primary endpoint of improving PFS […]
Is This The Bubble?
As a portfolio manager, I start each morning by consuming copious amounts of a heavily caffeinated beverage and a data feed from a litany of web and blog sites. Over the last few days, as asset prices have set new records, there have been numerous articles on whether the market is currently in a bubble. Here […]
Global Stocks Hit New All Time High As Dollar Rebounds; Europe Volatile On Earnings Deluge
The levitation continues with S&P futures pointing to – what else – another higher open while European stocks swung between gains and losses on the busiest earnings days of the year (85 of the Stoxx 600 report) which has seen European pharma giant AstraZeneca plunge 15%, the most on record, after its flagship lung cancer trial Mystic […]
Copper Price Rising Sharply: Is This Bullish Or Bearish?
The price of copper has gone up strongly in recent days and weeks. The fact that many have noticed this, and that financial media are becoming ultra-bullish, is a sign of caution. Let’s take a look at the copper’s chart and do a sentiment analysis to conclude whether copper is bullish or bearish going forward. […]
Stock Markets Roar Higher On Fed, Earnings
Asian markets were broadly higher on Thursday morning, following Wall Street and responding notably to the Federal Reserve’s announcement on Wednesday after their two-day policy meeting. As expected, the Fed kept interest rates stable and gave hints to its upcoming policy regarding inflation, saying it expects to start winding down its holdings of bonds “relatively […]
Volatility Bets Hanging On
As equity market implied volatility grinds lower it’s worth throwing a couple more charts into the mix. In this post we look at ETF bets on the VIX and cross-asset volatility. ETF market bets on the VIX are hanging on despite the headwinds that such products face, it goes to show there are still holdouts despite the […]
Gold Prices May Stall After Surging On FOMC Outcome
Gold prices surged in the wake of an FOMC announcement that the markets interpreted as dovish. The US Dollar fell alongside Treasury bond yields after the policy statement crossed the wires, boosting the relative appeal of non-interest-bearing and anti-fiat assets. Looking ahead, a lull in top-tier news flow may see momentum slow until second-quarter US GDP figures […]
Hess Corporation (HES) Q2 Loss Wider Than Expected
Hess Corporation (HES – Free Report) is an integrated energy company engaged in oil and gas Exploration & Production (“E&P”) and refining as well as marketing. The company’s E&P activities are concentrated in Algeria, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Denmark, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Indonesia, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, Russia, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Currently, Hess […]
When ‘Trillions Of Dollars’ Goes ‘Blind’: Howard Marks Is Worried About ETFs & Passive Investing
As a product of the last several years, ETFs’ promise of liquidity has yet to be tested in a major bear market, particularly in less-liquid fields like high yield bonds. That’s from Howard Marks and it echoes something he’s been saying for years. Namely that an ETF promises intraday liquidity even as in many cases […]
