<Click on chart for larger image> CNBC – Home builder sentiment index logs sharpest drop ever Sentiment among the nation’s home builders fell dramatically in February, and while builders blame much of it on the weather, that is not the whole picture. Confidence fell 10 points, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ monthly… Continue reading Home Builder Sentiment Collapses
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Quant Funds Feel Investor Bite After Underperforming Investors are losing patience with hedge-fund managers who rely on computers to follow global market trends after three years of underperformance. Quantitative hedge funds run by companies such as Man Group Plc (EMG) and Michael Platt’s BlueCrest Capital Management LLP… Continue reading Quant Funds
<Click on chart for larger image> CNBC.com – How the big money is betting on gold now Options traders are betting big on gold. Three massive trades in the gold ETF executed over the past three weeks imply a belief that gold will rise by 5 to 7 percent by the end of the year.… Continue reading Betting On Gold
The Wall Street Journal – Fed Sets Rules for Foreign Banks Under the rules, foreign banks with U.S. assets greater than $50 billion would have to maintain more loss-absorbing capital than some other countries require, potentially forcing them to raise additional equity or debt for their U.S. units. For instance, Deutsche Bank, whose U.S. unit… Continue reading The Federal Reserve Regulates Foreign Banks
CNBC – ‘Probably too late’ to buy US stocks: Marc Faber The long-running bull market in U.S. stocks runs the risk of ending badly, and that’s why perennial contrarian Marc Faber warned investors Tuesday to stay away. “In the U.S., it’s probably too late to buy,” the publisher of “The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report”… Continue reading Is It Too Late To Buy Stocks?
The Financial Times – Robin Harding: Asset purchases to drive fractious group’s debate Janet Yellen, the new Fed chair, will travel to Sydney and hear the complaints from emerging markets first hand. Last month Raghuram Rajan, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India, warned that “international monetary co-operation has broken down”. Finance ministers from… Continue reading The Federal Reserve’s Asset Purchases The Major Topic At The G20
The Financial Times – A high price for ignoring the risks of catastrophe Models of climate change all but assume it cannot have a huge effect on the economy, writes Robin Harding The imperfection of the economic models is inevitable. To start with, they are only as good as the climate models that feed into… Continue reading Can’t Ignore The Risks Of A Financial Collapse
Comment As the next series of charts show, forecasts of economic growth are coming down. Is this due to a slowdown or is it simply weather-related? Nobody knows for sure. <Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image>
Factset – Earnings Insight for February 14, 2014 +Earnings Scorecard: Of the 399 companies that have reported earnings to date for Q4 2013, 71% have reported earnings above the mean estimate and 66% have reported sales above the mean estimate. + Earnings Growth: The blended earnings growth rate for Q4 2013 is 8.3%. The Financials… Continue reading An Earnings Season Update
Barron’s – Cover: The Case for 4% Growth Demand for new homes — and the outlook for economic growth — are understated, say these economists. How to play the new boom. Two consecutive years of 4% growth pale beside the record of the 40 years from 1960 through 2000, when sustained periods of 5% and… Continue reading Barron’s Shoots For The Stars
The Wall Street Journal – BOJ Surprises Markets Expands Loan Programs, Keeps Main Policy Unchanged The Bank of Japan surprised the market on Tuesday by doubling incentives designed to spur bank lending, weakening the yen and lifting Tokyo stocks at a time when the nation’s economy is showing signs of trouble. In the hope that… Continue reading Is Japan Starting To Panic?