The Wall Street Journal – As the Commodities Rally Slows, Currency Investors Get Creative The Australian dollar was the most sought-after commodity currency last week For most of this year, investors piled into currencies of commodities exporters like Australia or Brazil, as prices rose for everything from copper to wheat. Now, many of those rallies are… Continue reading Commodity Currencies
The Financial Times – Bitcoin price tops gold for the first time ever The price of a bitcoin has climbed above that of a troy ounce of gold for the first time on record after the cryptocurrency enjoyed a dramatic upswing in interest since last year. Bitcoin has jumped by nearly 33 per cent this year… Continue reading Bitcoin Now Higher Than Gold
The Financial Times – Esoteric ETFs boost number of passive US funds Exchange traded funds follow themes from evangelical values to marijuana Inspire Investing this week rolled out two “biblically responsible” ETFs — which, among other things, controversially exclude companies that actively support lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender rights. This took the total of US… Continue reading ETFs Are Taking Over Everything
Bloomberg.com – Harvard Academics Reveal Blueprint for Avoiding Stock Crashes Rising volatility, share issuance tend to be the warning signs Future returns after big runups are OK, but crashes do happen Good news for everyone waiting for a bubble to burst. Predicting sectorwide crashes in the equity market isn’t impossible. That’s the conclusion of Harvard University… Continue reading Harvard Can Predict Crashes
Listened to CNBC pundit saying 50% market downside if Trump wins. pic.twitter.com/OJA01nH1Px — Hedgeye (@Hedgeye) March 2, 2017
Comment Today at 9 AM CT (10 AM ET, 7 AM PT and 15:00 GMT) Bianco Research, in conjunction with Arbor Research & Trading, will be hosting a webcast/teleconference moderated by Jim Bianco. Inflation has been absent in the post-crisis period. We believe that could change in the next 12 to 18 months and dramatically alter… Continue reading Will Inflation Return?
Comment Jim Bianco was on CNBC yesterday discussing the markets, the upcoming FOMC meeting and speculators’ net position (chart below, red line) in the 10-year Treasury note. To view the interview, click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews, click here. Bloomberg.com – Fed’s Brainard Says Interest-Rate Hike Likely Appropriate ‘Soon’… Continue reading Timing The Fed Hike
Bloomberg – Lack of Specifics from Trump Are No Problem for Market Bulls Bent on Reflation Global economic data surprising to upside by most since 2010 To the economy’s cheerleaders, it’s no coincidence that manufacturing and price data Wednesday from China to Germany and the U.S. reinforced arguments that the global foundation of the reflation trade… Continue reading Don’t Fall for the Surprise
Wall Street Journal – Exxon Mobil Turns to U.S. Shale Basins for Growth Company plans to spend about a fourth of its 2017 budget drilling in Texas, New Mexico and North Dakota, tapping a vast inventory of wells The company plans to spend about a fourth of its 2017 budget—about $5.5 billion—drilling in Texas, New… Continue reading U.S. Shale Oil Production Ramping Up
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta – GDPNow The GDPNow model forecast for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the first quarter of 2017 is 1.8 percent on March 1, down from 2.5 percent on February 27. The forecast for first-quarter real personal consumption expenditures growth fell from 2.8 percent to 2.1 percent… Continue reading GDPNow Takes A Hit
Bloomberg.com – Investors Are Ditching U.S. Stocks in Favor of European Peers While U.S. equities are trading near record levels, European benchmarks remain well below their peaks. That’s driven valuations between the S&P 500 Index and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index further apart. Investors have increased their holdings in European equities by more than double that… Continue reading U.S. Equities vs. European Equities
Bloomberg.com – Bond Bears Keep Reliving Groundhog Day Although Donald Trump promised again yesterday to spend “on infrastructure big,” any delays could cause the bears to further unwind short positions against Treasuries. So far, the short covering has been gradual and not enough to trigger a wholesale unwinding of positions. The passage of time favors the bears,… Continue reading Trading Yields