Hot Biotech Sector: Mid-Caps Have Both M&A And Pipeline Premiums
Valuations Step-Up With More Deals Prior to the acquisition of Pharmacyclics (PCYC) by Abbvie (ABBV) for $20B, the top price paid for an emerging biotech company was in the $10B range. Two additional companies among the mid-caps were acquired in prior years: Cubist (CBST) by Merck (MRK) in December 2014 and Onyx (ONXX) by Amgen (AMGN) in […]
EC Beware The Allure Of Leveraged ETFs
Leveraged ETFs promise the benefits of fast profits with little concern towards common-sense investing risks. In fact, a good friend and colleague of mine recently wrote an article titled When Do Leveraged ETFs Make Sense? The argument is that for a small portion of your portfolio, these funds can make you a quick buck as long as […]
The U.S. Is In Recession According To These 7 Charts
The evidence continues to mount… “Most since Lehman” has become the new meme for macro-economic data in the US as day after day brings another lackluster superlative to be dismissed with some excuse by the cognoscenti of sell-side economists… Of course, that is aside from anything related to aggregate jobs that is spewed […]
5 Real Estate Mutual Funds To Strengthen Your Portfolio
Even though real estate has been through tough times recently, securities from this sector should continue to be an integral part of portfolios with a long term horizon. Over the years, mutual funds from this category have continued to perform favorably. They offer a convenient method to invest in real estate because of low initial […]
International Stock ETFs: One Way Or Another
As much as investors might like to believe that the U.S. stock market is still “grinding higher” in 2015, the reality is that it may be grinding to a halt. S&P 500 stocks have been stuck in a 4% trading ranged for the last 10 weeks; they’ve been stuck in a 2% trading range for […]
Welcome To The Everything Bubble
Everything is overvalued. Stocks are extremely overvalued. An incredible amount of bonds have negative yields; how much more overvalued can they get? Investment-grade and high-yield credit spreads are near all-time lows on top of some of the lowest rates we’ve ever seen! Prices for high-end real estate, art and other collectibles are off the chart. […]
How Saudi Arabia Sets The Global (Currency) Markets
Most investors believe that the U.S. dollar is the primary influence upon commodity prices. While there certainly is a strong correlation between the dollar and commodities, we would argue that the real dynamics in the market work slightly differently. Example: Oil has the potential to set the dollar price, which in turn puts […]
Why Big Beer Is Struggling In The Age Of The Hipster Craft Beer
Note to Big Beer: Beware the affronted beard! MillerCoors, the joint venture between SABMiller plc (SBMRY) and Molson Coors Brewing Company (TAP), is facing a class-action lawsuit from craft beer enthusiasts for having the audacity to imply that Blue Moon—one of the fastest-growing beer brands in America—was a craft beer. Given the affection that hipsters have for all things vintage, […]
Surprise! Strong Swiss Franc Fails To Sink Economy
They All Said a Strong Currency is Bad … We feel absolutely certain that the people running the SNB won’t be convinced by any evidence, whether theoretical or empirical, that puts their misguided assessment of the alleged dangers of “deflation” and a strong currency into doubt. In spite of Switzerland’s reputation as a nation of that holds […]
March 2015 Business Inventories And Sales Improve
Econintersect‘s analysis of final business sales data (retail plus wholesale plus manufacturing) shows unadjusted sales improved compared to the previous month. However the current dollar values are in contraction year-over-year while the inflation adjusted values are in expansion. The inventory-to-sales ratios improved but are still at recessionary levels. Econintersect Analysis: unadjusted sales rate of growth accelerated 1.1% […]
