Bloomberg.com – Contrarian-Investor Payoff Seen Lasting in U.S. Stock Turnaround Going against the crowd is becoming a rewarding strategy for U.S. stock investors after a period of poor performance, according to Thomas J. Lee, managing partner and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors LLC. As the attached chart illustrates, the Dow Jones U.S. Contrarian… Continue reading Contrarian Investing
Bloomberg.com – The U.S. Job Market Is Losing Its Dynamism Part of America’s advantage over other economies historically has been the pace at which it both creates and destroys jobs. As they face slowing prospects or failure, companies, even whole industries, cut workers . The good news is that new businesses keep popping up to… Continue reading A Change In U.S. Job Market Dynamic
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<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – How Iranian Nuclear Deal Would Affect Oil Markets Ramp up in Iranian oil exports still depends on final agreement, lifting of sanctions and more Any ramp up in Iranian oil exports depends on a final nuclear deal in June, a subsequent lifting of sanctions… Continue reading Iran’s Effect On The Oil Market
The Wall Street Journal – Dollar Sputters After Surge The dollar’s record rally, which rattled everything from the oil market to U.S. corporate earnings, is running out of gas. Many investors remain bullish for the longer term, but some say the greenback’s biggest gains are in the rearview mirror. The dollar’s downshift reflects heightened concerns… Continue reading Everyone Loves The Dollar, Should You Short It?
MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Broken Bond Market Complicates Fed’s Plan to Raise Rates The bond market is broken. Whether it is banks’ reluctance to commit to buying and selling bonds, shortages in the securities used as collateral in short-term money markets, or the disproportionate role of heavyweight issuers in the supply of U.S. corporate bonds,… Continue reading Illiquid Bond Market Poses Problems For The Fed
Bloomberg.com – In Greenspan Conundrum Redux, Odds Are on Bond Traders’ Side The Federal Reserve faces another bond-market conundrum as it prepares to raise interest rates. Policy makers including New York Fed President William C. Dudley are suggesting there’s something wrong with debt yields that aren’t climbing as the economy recovers. Yet traders are signaling… Continue reading The Growing Divide Between Market & Fed Rate Opinion
Bloomberg.com – Still Missing: At Least 3 Million Jobs The U.S. Federal Reserve must answer a tough question in deciding when and how quickly to remove stimulus from the U.S. economy: How much more can employment grow before it becomes an inflationary force? Judging from today’s labor market data for March, we’re still a few… Continue reading The Employment Gap
Bloomberg.com – S&P 500 Rallying 206% Beats Wage Growth by Most in Five Decades Being an American worker with no stake in the equity market has, by one measure at least, seldom been costlier. Even though wages are improving, the rate of growth in what companies pay employees pales in comparison to what stocks have… Continue reading Comparing Wage Growth To Stock Gains
Bloomberg.com – Mohamed El-Erian: Greece’s Worst Option: IMF Default Countries that default on their IMF obligations often experience widespread disruption to their cross-border financial relations. In the case of Greece, such a default would hinder the flow of funds from the European Central Bank, currently a lifeline for the country’s banks. And it would accelerate… Continue reading Will Greece Be Able To Pay Back The IMF?
MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Investing in Stocks Against the Indexing Goliath In the past five years, estimates the investment-research firm Morningstar, investors have pulled $73.6 billion out of “active” U.S. stock funds that seek to beat the market and added $208.8 billion to index funds that seek only to match it. If investors keep turning… Continue reading Passive vs. Active Investing
<Click on chart for larger image> Fortune – Why is the Bitcoin Bowl no more? Neither side is talking about the abruptly ended sponsorship, but it likely has to do with the value of the game, and the value of bitcoin. Last June, the bitcoin payment startup BitPay cut a three-year deal with ESPN to… Continue reading Bitcoin