Global PMI Roundup; August 2017
The first few days of any calendar month are now flooded with PMI data. Mostly due to Markit’s ongoing and increasing partnerships, we now have access to economic or business sentiment from and for almost anywhere in the world. It isn’t clear, however, if that is a good or useful development. For example, we can […]
Despite Hurricane Harvey, Gas Prices Are Still The Lowest In A Decade
Hurricane Harvey devastated the heart of U.S. oil production and refining. The refineries around Houston produce most of the gasoline we use in the U.S. And gasoline is the lifeblood of car-loving Americans. The storm in Texas shut down refineries. That reduced the supply of gasoline, which pushed up prices. On the West Coast, the […]
Staying Afloat Up To – And Through – Retirement
The boomers’ rules for investing in retirement are a world apart from their parents’… and it’s all thanks to the “longevity bonus.” The no-brainer preservation of capital through CDs and savings that our parents used worked only because they didn’t live long enough to worry about the effects of inflation over 25 or 30 years. […]
Is The Stock Market Cheap? – Tuesday, September 5
Here is the latest update of a popular market valuation method using the most recent Standard & Poor’s “as reported” earnings and earnings estimates and the index monthly average of daily closes for the past month. For the earnings, see the table below created from Standard & Poor’s latest earnings spreadsheet. TTM P/E ratio = […]
E Do Not Rely On Full Employment To Set Inflation Targets
Every once in a while, a member of the FOMC cuts right to the chase in discussing how to set monetary policy. In a recent speech[1], Governor Lael Brainard did not mince words when describing the real difficulties facing the Federal Reserve as they struggle with setting rate policy in the face of weak inflation. […]
ETF Watchlist: Week Of September 4, 2017
I saw an article this week titled “This Stock Market is Immune to the News”. I always cringe a little when I read stories such as this because they strike a euphoric “nothing can go wrong now” tone that almost always ends badly. The article does make a few fair points. The Brexit vote initially […]
Market Talk – Tuesday, September 5
Am eager to get into the US’s reaction to weekend events, so will just briefly say that China markets performed on the back of strong PMI data – the highest in three months (52.7 against a previous 51.5). RBA left rates unchanged. The remainder of the trading day focused on US markets reaction to the […]
Bond Bulls Best Day Since Brexit Amid Bomb Tests, Brainard Bombshells, & Barometric Behemoths
Well that escalated quickly… Video length: 00:00:32 Since North Korea ‘escalated’ by flying missiles over Japan, there’s only one clear winner – but today saw bonds starting to catch up… From Friday’s close, futures show Sunday’s opening drop and then the pressure come back on as US opened after Labor Day… All the major indices […]
4 High-Dividend Tobacco Picks To Add Value To Your Portfolio
Tobacco is known to cause cancer and heart diseases. Per media sources, it causes more than 480,000 deaths annually in the United States. Governments around the world have been imposing stringent restrictions on tobacco companies to lower cigarette consumption. In July 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed to lower nicotine levels in […]
