Central Banks Are Waking Up
Central Banks are slowly waking up to the fact that they cannot fix structural economic issues. In fact, evidence from the great monetary experiment of the last decade, indicates that they probably enhance them. The real economic problem is growing income inequality. Real economic growth is dependent on middle class consumption, and absent real wage […]
USD/CAD To 1.25
USD/CAD dropped through 3 big figures as the Canadian dollar rose to its strongest in nearly a year versus the U.S. dollar. As expected the Bank of Canada raised interest rates by 25bp and upgraded their 2017 and 2018 GDP forecasts. They attributed the slowdown In inflation to temporary factors and while Governor Poloz said […]
IBM Facing Tough Fight To Win In AI Despite Watson’s Strengths
In a research note this morning, Jefferies analyst James Kisner cut his price target for IBM (IBM) saying that while the company may offer one of the more mature cognitive computing platforms today, the “hefty services” component of many Artificial Intelligence deployments will be a hindrance to adoption. TOUGH FIGHT IN AI: Jefferies’ Kisner lowered […]
JPM Vs. Citigroup: Which Is Better Ahead Of Earnings?
Key bank earnings are scheduled for release this Friday which are likely to provide a better understanding of the sector’s prospects in the near future. Banking stocks were buoyed by their success in the recently conducted stress tests. Moreover, the Federal Reserve has allowed all sector heavyweights to go ahead with their capital spending plans. […]
South Jersey Industries: Blue Chip Utility In Focus
The utilities sector is well-known for housing conservative, high yield dividend investments. Like many industries, it is most well-known for its largest constituents. Names like Southern Company (SO), Duke Energy (DUK), and Consolidated Edison (ED) are generally familiar names among dividend growth investors. However, the utility industry also harbors many smaller, less familiar companies. Because they are less well-followed, they […]
Is The Bitcoin Party Over? Crypto Threatens Major Reversal
BTC/USD Daily Technical Outlook: Bitcoin responded to a key support confluence this week at 2258 where the 61.8% extension of the decline off the record highs converges on basic median-line support. This threshold may continue to offer a near-term reprieve but the medium-term outlook remains tilted to the downside after Sunday’s breakdown. Interim resistance stands with the monthly open 2465 with […]
Earnings Estimates Are Stagnant (Which Is Great)
It’s important to recognize that there are many people in the financial industry who will never change their minds regardless of the facts. When you realize that, you become more skeptical of every opinion, which is a great skill to hone. For example, mutual fund managers are always optimistic about the long term because they […]
Bank Of Canada Hikes Rates
The Bank of Canada has joined the Fed in embarking on the road to monetary policy normalization, hiking the benchmark monetary policy rate +25bps to 0.75%. This comes at a time as Canada’s property market is being increasingly labelled a bubble. Indeed the second chart shows a stark acceleration in property price gains and an increasingly overvalued property […]
How Much Longer Should Stock Investors Dance Near The Fire Pit?
American consumers are financially strained. One indication? Card defaults rose from 2.81% back in November to 3.53% in May. Meanwhile, the expansion of credit by cards as well as by autos has slowed to the point of contraction. Some would have you believe that low headline unemployment (4.4%) is translating into increased consumption and increased […]
Inferring The Relative State Of The ‘Dollar’ Shortage In Q1
The OCC reports that total gross notional derivatives outstanding jumped by nearly 8% in Q1 2017 over Q4 2016. At $178 trillion, that is even more than the reported total for Q3 last year. The latest estimates largely confirm the idea that bank balance sheets were relatively more accommodative in 2017 than especially later 2016. […]
