Comment On February 19, 2015 we highlighted the charts and tables below displaying returns of various markets during QE/non-QE periods. As the update below shows, the difference between returns during QE periods and non-QE-periods is still quite pronounced for most markets. <Click on chart for larger image> SPX QE Return Periods: 176.23% SPX Non-QE Return… Continue reading How US QE Affects Market Returns – Updated
Economics21.org – Government Can’t Spend Money to Save Money Everyone is familiar with the oxymoronic advertising slogan urging customers to spend more in order to save more. That kind of sales hoax is cropping up in the unlikeliest of places these days—in the halls of academia, where some well-known economists are advocating increased borrowing by… Continue reading Should Governments Borrow More Simply Because Rates Are Low?
CNBC – Yellen says equity valuations generally high Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday warned that equity market valuations were “quite high,” though she said the Fed was not seeing the hallmarks of a bubble. She also noted that the Fed was watching the issue closely. “I would highlight that equity market valuations at… Continue reading Yellen On Equity Valuations
<Click on graphic for larger image> FT Alphaville (FT Blog) – No, stocks aren’t a good inflation hedge. Try bonds (really). Stocks are basically bonds where the coupons tend to grow faster than the level of consumer prices. That makes equities sound like a great thing to own if you’re worried about inflation, and, in… Continue reading Stock vs. Bond Returns
Bloomberg.com – This Is What Happens When Bill Gross Ignores Bill Gross Bill Gross should have listened to Bill Gross. Just before the selloff in German government bonds, the manager of the Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund said the debt was the “short of a lifetime.” Yet instead of betting all-out against German bunds, Gross… Continue reading The Short Of A Lifetime
<Click on chart for larger image> Reuters – Wary of bond ‘cliff,’ Fed plans cautious cuts to portfolio The Federal Reserve is sketching out plans to prevent an abrupt contraction in its massive balance sheet next year, when some $500 billion in bonds expire and risk disrupting markets and the U.S. economic recovery. Though it… Continue reading Winding Down The Fed’s Balance Sheet
Bloomberg.com – Bernanke Inc.: Lucrative Life of a Former Fed Chairman Beyond the dancing fountains of the Bellagio, in the gilded splendor of the Grand Ballroom, Bernanke will play to a full house at the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference on Wednesday: 1,800 hedge fund types who used to hang on his every word. Bernanke is, in… Continue reading Bernanke’s Post-FOMC Life
Reuters – Hedge fund manager Loeb takes aim at ‘Oracle of Omaha’ Buffett Hedge fund mogul Daniel Loeb on Wednesday took aim at the “Oracle of Omaha,” calling beloved billionaire Warren Buffett a hypocrite. “I love how he criticizes hedge funds yet he really had the first hedge fund. He criticizes activists but he was… Continue reading Loeb vs. Buffett
The Huffington Post – The Coming Workforce Crisis Skilled employees who have the education and training that’s needed both today, and more importantly, the future, are about to become an extremely hot commodity. This might sound like a bonus for job applicants, but it’s going to be a growing crisis for businesses and for the… Continue reading Surviving Technological Disruption
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Conference Call Presentation/Charts of the Week Audio [audio:https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/050715.mp3|titles=Conference Call ] Topics Covered This Week Include: Unconventional Ideas Q1 2015 Earnings Forecasts And Beat Rates 2015 Earnings Forecasts S&P 500 Earnings Estimates – 1979 to 2015 Q1 2015 Revenues And Beat Rates 2015 Revenues Forecasts Guidance Index Current Forward P/E Ratio Market Cap To GDP –… Continue reading Conference Call Presentation/Charts of the Week
Comment On May 7, 2015 at 9 AM CT (10:00 AM ET, 7:00 AM PT, and 15:00 BST), Bianco Research, in conjunction with Arbor Research & Trading, will be hosting a webcast/teleconference moderated by Jim Bianco. Join us Thursday as we update four unconventional ideas: 1. Earnings, revenue and guidance continue to paint a bleak… Continue reading Updating Four Unconventional Ideas