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Updating Unconventional Ideas

May 11, 2015

Updating Unconventional Ideas A transcript of the May 7, 2015 conference call. Handout (also shown below) Audio [audio:https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/050715.mp3|titles=Conference Call ] [hana-flv-player video=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/050715.flv” width=”600″ height=”495″ description=”” player=”3″ autoload=”false” autoplay=”false” loop=”false” autorewind=”true” splashimage=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/wp-content/themes/twentyten/images/splash.jpg” /] If the webcast does not work above, please download here. <Click above to view webcast> [pageview class=”PDFViewer” url=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/wp-content/plugins/PDFViewer/plugin.php?id=253″]

Newsclips

China Cuts Rates Again

May 11, 2015

<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – China’s Central Bank Cuts Benchmark Interest Rate People’s Bank of China cuts the benchmark lending and deposit rates by 0.25 percentage point China’s central bank on Sunday cut interest rates for the third time since November in a bid to boost a sluggish economy. … Continue reading China Cuts Rates Again

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Hilsenrath Offers Payroll Analysis

May 11, 2015

The Wall Street Journal – Hilsenrath: Job Numbers Restore Confidence, But Don’t Give Fed Reason to Hurry The April jobs numbers are an important step toward restoring the Federal Reserve’s confidence that the economic expansion is on track after a first quarter slump. This keeps the Fed on a path toward raising short-term interest rates… Continue reading Hilsenrath Offers Payroll Analysis

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An Earnings Update

May 11, 2015

<Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> Comment In the story below Factset does a good job of noting why Q1 earnings rebounded to a slightly positive year-over-year gain (first chart above). We would note, as Factset also noted, that the average bounce in earnings at the end of every… Continue reading An Earnings Update

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Newsclips

Passive vs. Active Management

May 11, 2015

The New York Times – Jeff Sommer: Fees on Mutual Funds Fall. Thank Yourself. A new Morningstar study offers an excellent explanation of what is happening. The report, “2015 Fee Study: Investors Are Driving Expense Ratios Down,” found that, by one measure, mutual fund and E.T.F. fees paid by individual investors had dropped significantly —… Continue reading Passive vs. Active Management

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Weak Wage Growth

May 11, 2015

<Click on graphic for larger image> Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – The High Share of Part-Time Workers Helps Explain Weak Wage Growth The economy created 223,000 new jobs last month, and the unemployment rate, at 5.4%, is heading toward a level normally viewed as signaling a tight labor market. Yet yearly growth in average… Continue reading Weak Wage Growth

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Newsclips

Oil’s Catch-22

May 11, 2015

The Financial Times – Rebound in US shale will limit oil price recovery It has been one of the less widely noticed oil price surges. Since January, benchmark Brent crude has risen from less than $47 per barrel to more than $65 per barrel, an increase of about 40 per cent. The rise has reversed… Continue reading Oil’s Catch-22

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Grexit

May 11, 2015

The Financial Times – Greece hits crunch time over €750m repayment to IMF Monday’s meeting of Eurogroup ministers in Brussels may or may not turn out to be a make or break moment for Greece and the eurozone. There is no doubt that moment is creeping closer, however, or that the International Monetary Fund and… Continue reading Grexit

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Markets Can Remain Irrational Longer Than You Can Remain Solvent

May 11, 2015

The Upshot (NYT Blog) – Richard H. Thaler: Unless You Are Spock, Irrelevant Things Matter in Economic Behavior Early in my teaching career I managed to get most of the students in my class mad at me. A midterm exam caused the problem. I wanted the exam to sort out the stars, the average Joes… Continue reading Markets Can Remain Irrational Longer Than You Can Remain Solvent

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Money Managers Missing The Boat In China

May 11, 2015

The Wall Street Journal – Investors Pay a Price for Caution on China For years, Western portfolio managers have been reluctant to steer much cash into Chinese investments. This year, that caution has taken a toll. “The ‘underweight’ is costing me a lot of performance,” said Sammy Simnegar, speaking of his bias against Chinese stocks… Continue reading Money Managers Missing The Boat In China

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Newsclips

Treasury Liquidity

May 11, 2015

Bloomberg.com – The $900 Billion Influx That’s Wreaking Havoc in U.S. Bills For all the anxiety over the global selloff in bonds, the big worry in money markets is the havoc being created by a dearth of U.S. Treasury bills. The magnitude of the problem was on display last week, when not even the Treasury… Continue reading Treasury Liquidity

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Cartoons

May 11, 2015

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