U.S. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border during remarks about border security and announced that he will indeed build his border wall by Executive Order. Senior administration officials...
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According to a CBS Evening News instant poll, President Donald Trump’s recent State of the Union address was viewed favorably by almost three quarters of viewers. President Trump touted many of his accomplishments in his first 2...
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We’ve all heard and seen the advice given to young (and not so young) job-seekers: “Learn to code – that’s where the jobs are!” Coding (or, to use the more traditional term, “programming”) jobs...
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Anyone who has driven on a cross-country road trip through Middle America has seen at one of these in each of the towns you pass. What are we talking about? Why Walmart Supercenters, of course! That means that Walmart employs a whole...
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Companies with small market capitalization’s, so-called “small caps”, have traditionally acted as a “canary in the coal mine” for the larger market since they tend to be more domestically focused and more...
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There’s no shortage of recent news stories covering the shrinking of the “middle class”. But what exactly is the “middle class”, and who is in it? According to a study by the Pew Research Center, it turns...
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Back in 1965, Martha and the Vandellas sang “Nowhere to run, baby, nowhere to hide”. That was true as well in 2018, at least in the world of investing. The graphic below, from visualcapitalist.com, shows just how tough the...
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It is generally known that the United States economy is the world’s largest, with China a distant (but growing) second. But other than that, most people are unaware of how just how big the U.S. economy is relative to the rest of...
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Especially after suffering their worst week since 2008, pretty much everyone knows that stocks are struggling of late. But with each of the major indexes falling into bear market territory, many are probably unaware of just how swiftly...
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The French “gilets jaunes” (yellow vest) protestors who burned Paris last week evidently are unhappy about more than just gas prices. Office furniture maker Steelcase published a survey noting that France has the lowest...
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As the major market indexes have fallen of late, one after another has experienced what’s known as a “Death Cross”, a technical market pattern that occurs when an index’s 50-day moving average crosses below its...
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As November came to a close, many investors who were diversified across numerous asset classes have seen a rather noticeable decline in the value of their investment accounts. While the first inclination may be to blame themselves or...
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As an example of how quickly assets in the financial markets can go from “hero to zero”, the website visualcapitalist.com created a graphic to show the true carnage that has occurred among recent tech market leaders. The...
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As essentially all things related to home buying seem to be increasing in cost, it’s no surprise that the number of potential home buyers is falling. What is a surprise, however, is the rate of the plunge. The National...
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It is well-known that the United States economy is the largest in the world, but by how much? Mark Perry at the American Enterprise Institute created a very interesting infographic that shows each of the individual states in the U.S.,...
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As Americans prepare to go to the polls in what is likely to be one of the heaviest turnouts ever for a midterm election, mutual fund company Oppenheimer released a research note regarding midterm elections and their effects on the...
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Needless to say, investor anxiety is running high. CNN’s Fear & Greed Index has swung from a reading of 70 indicating “Greed” down to just 7 indicating “Extreme Fear” in the span of just one month. Market...
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As the stock market appears to be taking a break from setting new highs, an analyst who correctly predicted the 2008 financial crash warned of a bubble brewing in overall household wealth. Jesse Colombo, an analyst at Clarity Financial...
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After the market volatility last week many are beginning to wonder if the bull market is over, or just taking a break. Nick Maggiulli, analytics manager at Ritzholtz Wealth Management, offered his prediction for the market based on the...
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average notched its 15th record close of the year this week, but not all analysts were enthused. Jason Goepfert, president of Sundial Capital Research, noted that the overall market isn’t nearly as...
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Remember all those predictions that Emerging Markets (both stocks and bonds) would be the breakout winners of 2018? Ooops. U.S. investors are to be forgiven for thinking that 2018 so far is yet another good year in the current...
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The number of new jobless claims just reached its lowest level since November of 1969. That alone is impressive, but to truly get an understanding of the tightness of today’s labor market it has to be compared to the size of the...
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With midterm elections less than two months away, a divisive political atmosphere and the aging bull market have investors particularly on edge. The vote to be held on November 6th comes at a time of unusually high political...
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Nine years into the current bull market more and more are beginning to wonder “how much longer can it go on?” Tony Dwyer, equity strategist at Canaccord Genuity, reiterated his S&P 500 target of 3,200 for the end of this...
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As summer unofficially comes to an end this Labor Day weekend (summer doesn’t officially come to an end until September 22), most families have already wrapped up their summer beach vacations. But what exactly defines a good...
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As the bull market continues through its ninth year, a little-known stock market indicator with a “5 for 5” record since 1895 has just generated a sell signal. The indicator is the creation of Gray Cardiff, editor of the...
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As everyone knows, we are in a trade war of sorts with China over imports, exports and tariffs. Simply put, we want to sell more stuff to China with fewer restrictions and tariffs. There is one area, usually overlooked in these...
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Touting the success of the Trump administration and Republican leadership, Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa) said in a recent campaign stop that “there are now more job openings than there are unemployed people in the United States...
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Legendary investor Warren Buffett’s favorite metric of stock valuations is currently suggesting that a stock market setback could be coming. While anything from Buffett brings up memories of the television commercials from the...
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The home ownership rate among millennial's ages 25-34 is around 8% lower than when both Generation X and the baby boomers were when in the same age range. A new report by the policy research group Urban Institute, looked to explain why...
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Analysts are beginning to take note of a concerning development in the market— extremes in market turnover. Trading is through the roof in many major market indexes and across asset classes. In the S&P 500 index alone, investors...
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One measure of the health of the U.S. economy just logged its worst losing streak ever. The most popular banking sector exchange-traded fund, the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (symbol XLF) , marked its 13th consecutive...
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As the bull market in equities enters its ninth year, investment strategist Jim Paulsen at the Leuthold Group recently released a research note in which he pointed out that the % of market cap represented by the “defensive”...
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In a rather interesting exchange of tweets before the G7 summit in Canada, U.S. President Donald Trump clashed with both French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over trade policies. President Trump...
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Interest in buying gold is often viewed as a barometer of fear and financial stress in the markets and world economies. Historically, analysts have used surveys, buying vs selling patterns, and interviews to gauge such interest. In...
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The latest government Non-Farms Payroll jobs report showed that the unemployment rate among African-Americans has dropped to a record low of just 5.9% in May. As the following graphic shows, the jobless rate for African-Americans has...
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The U.S. Census Bureau reports that from 1978 through 2015 the median size of a single-family home in America increased every year until it peaked at 2,467 square feet in 2016. But does the average family really need such a big house?...
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Observant stock market investors are taking note of a development in the bond market, and its implications could be cause for concern. In a warning sign for the stock market, the spread between 2-year and 10-year bond yields is down to...
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Stock market bulls got something to cheer about last week. Heritage Capital President Paul Schatz noted that New York Stock Exchange’s advance/decline line set a new all-time high this week. The indicator counts the number of...
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In the dustbowl days of the depression, signs taped to westbound Model T’s frequently said “California Or Bust”. But now, eastbound cars might as well have signs taped to them saying “Busted by...
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Following the financial crisis in 2008, central banks around the world responded by cutting interest rates to 0% or even lower. That resulted in the cry of “TINA, TINA, TINA!” by stock brokers everywhere –...
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Is the U.S. stock market undervalued or overvalued based on its historical Price/Earnings (P/E) ratio? It turns out, the answer could be both! Market analyst Mark Hulbert wrote in a recent column for marketwatch.com that it all depends...
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A “Dow Theory” sell signal has been triggered after the Dow Jones Transportation Average closed below its February lows, following the Dow Jones Industrial Average in doing so. In short, the theory states that poor...
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How much income do you need to afford the average home in your state? The answer, which may surprise you, comes from finance website howmuch.net. Most of the nation’s housing markets have now almost completely recovered back to...
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President Trump’s most oft-repeated pledge is his promise to “Build that wall!” He has also promised that Mexico would pay for it, despite Mexican government officials scoffing at the notion. Some observers have...
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Financial analyst and journalist Mark Hulbert at MarketWatch.com penned a column this week stating that “it would take only a small stock market drop next week to trigger something big”. The market, it seems, is just barely...
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Do you have at least $10,000 saved for retirement? If so, congratulations, you’ve managed to put away more than 40% of all working-age Americans. A recent survey from Bankrate.com found that despite the brisk jobs market and...
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As the number of jobs created by the U.S. economy blew away Wall Street expectations, one of the most notable aspects of the report was the strong rebound in the construction industry. Last month over 60,000 jobs were created and the...
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Following the tragic high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, some prominent companies have severed their relationships with the National Rifle Association (NRA). Many viewed these actions as attempts to curry favor with the press,...
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Analyst and long-time market commentator Mark Hulbert noted this week that despite this past month’s price action, bonds are still a hedge against stock market losses. Hulbert pointed out that this month’s steep market...
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As of late, analysts have repeatedly sounded the alarm over the extreme valuation in the U.S. equity markets by looking at just about every traditional market valuation metric. Interestingly enough, a recent survey of institutional...
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With Valentine’s Day coming up this week, more than a few diamonds will be given to sweethearts, lovers and spouses. The diamond trade is global, but the major diamond importers may surprise those not “in the...
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Last week Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) released a research note that its “Bull & Bear” indicator was sending a sell signal “which has been accurate 11 straight times” since the firm started tracking it...
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It’s no secret that pharmaceuticals and healthcare are big business in the global economy. Last year alone, drugs and medicine made up over $318 billion of world exports—but where do all those pills, serums, and creams come...
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As the market continues to hit new highs, investment giant Merrill Lynch (ML) released a note to clients that investors are piling into equities in a big way. Per ML’s chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett,...
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As has been noted by one and all, 2017 was a year of amazingly low volatility and completely absent of pullbacks of any significance. But why? Standard & Poors (S&P) has documented what could be the hidden answer: extremely low...
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Bloomberg columnist and market analyst Barry Ritholtz noted that last year’s technical state of the market was “just plain weird”. Although 2017 was very volatile news-wise, what with daily Trump tweets, North Korean...
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The year 2017 was a banner year in the financial markets. Major indexes in the U.S. hit a number of record highs, and there was not a single down month the entire year for the S&P 500 Total Return Index. The gains, however, have caused...
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In a year of uncertainty that included a recalcitrant North Korea, Britain’s continued exit from the European Union, multiple terrorist attacks, and global populist uprisings, to say 2017 was a turbulent year is a bit of an...
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In what may be a surprising twist at the end of a strong year in the market, Boston Consulting Group found that fully 46% of investors were pessimistic about equity markets for the next year. The reading is up from 32% a year ago, and...
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The Lords of Silicon Valley are supposed to be the drivers of our economy, and they certainly are this era’s economic rock stars. But at least for now, according to this week’s Non-Farm Payrolls report, the lowly...
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As the cryptocurrency Bitcoin hit a high of over $11,000 at one point this past week, more and more market watchers are predicting a crash of some severity. Unlike most of those “gut calls”, one study in particular was...
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Shortly after the stock market rebounded from the depths of the financial crisis, Time magazine named Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as its 2009 Person of the Year for the aggressive interventions he took to presumably prevent a...
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One of the criticisms of proposed tax breaks for businesses is that businesses probably won’t use the windfall for wage increases or hiring, but rather for continued stock buybacks – which only benefit shareholders...
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The last of the world’s major regional indices has finally gotten back to its 2007 highs. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index includes stock markets in 15 Pacific region countries, including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia,...
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As the stock market continues to hit new highs it might be a shock to hear how few Americans actually own stock. According to a detailed study of stock ownership by New York University economist Edward Wolff, 84% of stocks available in...
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What is the number one financial regret of Americans? According to personal finance website Nerd Wallet, it turns out that roughly 71% of Americans express regret about their ability to manage their money. First on the list was not...
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According to Swiss global financial services company UBS, their proprietary UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index in select world cities has “increased significantly over the last five years”. Their research found that real...
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An obscure but important record has been set in October: the velocity of money has set an all-time low. The velocity of money is defined as the number of times each dollar is spent to buy goods and services per unit of time. This is,...
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Warren Buffett famously said “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” Given that, the latest reading from CNN’s Fear & Greed Index may be cause for concern. The latest reading of the...
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An unusual event occurred in the market during September. For the first time in more than three years, each of the three major Dow stock market averages all hit all-time highs during the month. The central tenet of the venerable...
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As the stock market continues its seemingly relentless march higher, it’s reasonable to expect that the mood of investors would be positive. However, analysts are getting concerned that optimism is reaching levels seen before at...
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The cryptocurrency Bitcoin generated considerable interest in mainstream financial media as it neared $5000 per “coin” at the end of August. With a 500% increase over the past year, many naïve buyers have rushed in...
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After consolidating for much of the year, Gold has recently broken out of a trading range to the upside, back to levels not seen since the summer of 2016. Analyst Chris Kimble at Kimble Charting took it a step further and looked at the...
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Using data from a comprehensive employment report from the University of Oxford, Henrik Lindberg, chief technology officer at Swedish financial technology company Zimpler developed a chart depicting which jobs were most likely to be...
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The price-to-earnings (“P/E”) ratio remains one of the most widely-accepted valuation metrics in the financial markets today. However, it is not without its flaws. For a price-to-earnings ratio to exist, a company must have...
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Legendary stock market technician Tom McClellan released a note this week on the subject of the historical relationship between the stock price of General Electric and the U.S. equity markets as a whole, and the news wasn’t good....
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Researchers at Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research analyzed the current status of State and Local government defined-benefit (i.e., “traditional”) pension plans across the nation. What they found was a bit...
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An old Wall Street saying goes something like “When the soldiers leave the field of battle, the generals are soon to follow.” The meaning is that when the few stock market leaders are all alone, and most other stocks have...
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“Hooray for the 1%” isn’t a cheer leaving most American’s lips, let alone anything they want to hear. But according to a recently released study by the Tax Foundation, most Americans would be surprised to learn...
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July 11th, Tuesday of this past week, was the third annual “Amazon Prime Day”. This year’s Prime Day smashed last year’s Prime Day sales record by more than 60% and now stands as the biggest sales day in...
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While past week marked the end of the first half of the year, what can we expect as we enter the second half? Chris Verrone, technical analyst at Strategas Research Partners, released a note pointing out that stocks are "approaching...
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As the price of Bitcoin soars higher and higher ($2,647.57 as of this writing), more and more people are beginning to take note. The surge in interest and demand for more information are driving the research departments at some of the...
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What do you waste your money on? It turns out your answer may depend in large part on your generation. Professional resources site Hloom surveyed 2000 Americans for its report The United States of Financial Waste. Across the board, all...
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This week online retailer Amazon closed above $1000 a share for the first time in its history as Americans more and more become accustomed to the convenience of shopping at home and having a package show up at their door two days later...
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Have you ever heard of the “TSX Venture Exchange”? Most US investors have not, but it turns out to be the hottest investing venue in all of North America over the last 18 months. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta with...
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In the midst of Wednesday’s market plunge numerous financial websites weighed in on whether it was time to “buy the dip” or “throw in the towel”. One writer, Wolf Richter (editor-in-chief of the Wolf...
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Late in the cycle of the housing boom in 2007, analysts and hedge fund managers at prescient firms such as Scion Capital and FrontPoint Partners became aware of a strange new phenomenon in home mortgages that were being...
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RBC Global Asset Management released a research note with an interesting insight. They found that when the Conference Board’s Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) index was rising month-to-month and was already above zero...
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Everyone has heard the term “Put your money where your mouth is”, often times in bar room banter when coaxing someone to back up their statements or opinions by putting some cash on the line. Schwab Chief Investment...
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By now, anyone remotely connected to the news or social media has almost assuredly seen the forcible removal of a doctor from a United Airlines flight. Despite seeming cold-blooded and horribly tone-deaf (“we had to...
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Although an old market adage advises investors to “Sell in May and Go Away”, it turns out that – in contrast – April (the month before we’re supposed to go away) is historically quite a good month. As...
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While the U.S. Civil War officially ended in 1865, a trio of researchers from the Washington D.C.-based think tank Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) released a paper asserting that the United States still remains a nation...
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As the market experienced its worst week of the year, participants have begun to wonder if the so-called “Trump Trade” could be over. A number of analysts are particularly concerned because they’ve noted that small...
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This week the Federal Reserve hiked its key short-term interest rate a quarter of a percent – a move that was widely expected. In her statement, Chairwoman Janet Yellen referred directly to one of the lesser-known labor market...
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As the market takes a pause from its recent string of new highs, the question investors are pondering is whether it will it resume its march higher, or perhaps turn negative. According to the American Association of Individual...
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Here’s a cautionary tale that should remind us that “nothing is forever”. Everyone knows that one of the original smartphone pioneers was Blackberry. In fact, for some time, it was the dominant smartphone. Back in...
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Market bulls will be emboldened by a bullish signal that’s about to flash—and has never been wrong. Sam Stovall, Chief Investment Strategist at CFRA, notes that one indicator he follows is about to get triggered. He notes...
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We often hear talk about the U.S. falling behind in this or that area. But one measure of forward progress is innovation, which can be concretely measured by the number of patents filed per country. On that score, the U.S. is the...
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A subtle change in the internals of the stock market bodes well for active portfolio strategies such as momentum, relative strength, trend-following and even individual stock picking. The change is a significant drop in correlations...
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Multi-billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently wrote on his GatesBlog, “This might be the most mind-blowing fact I learned this year”, followed by a graphic of Chinese cement usage over the last 3 years. In short,...
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As disputes over the proposed border wall and lopsided trade between the U.S. and Mexico continued this week, an examination of the actual facts of the US-Mexico trade situation is timely. In President Trump’s apparently...
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As this week marked the inauguration of Donald Trump to President of the United States, researchers at MarketWatch.com thought it useful to take a look at the stock market’s performance during the first 100 days of a new...
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Since now is the time the media scours the planet looking for pundits to give forecasts for this new year, it might be useful to inoculate ourselves against then by keeping in mind these wise observations: “We've long felt that...
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Every month on “Jobs Friday”, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases a slew of data on the labor market. While the so-called “U-3” rate is the headline unemployment rate everyone talks about, other important...
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A major part of American belief is that each generation should do a bit better than the preceding one. The Census Bureau released data this past week showing that on several measures, millennials are well behind the preceding...
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For more and more of us, online shopping has become the new normal. The primary beneficiary of this trend has been Amazon. Market research firm Slice Intelligence looked at 1.7 million online shopping receipts from early November to...
Read MoreAs the Dow closes in on the 20,000 milestone, Mark DeCambre at MarketWatch (www.marketwatch.com) penned an article that asks the question, is reaching 20,000 really that significant? After all, the Dow Jones Industrial Average...
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The major U.S. indexes ended mixed for the week as the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched closer to the 20,000 level. Large caps were roughly flat while smaller-cap indexes, which have outperformed large caps this year, fell back. The...
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The post-election rally continued for a fifth straight week, bringing all the major indexes to a series of record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied over +500 points to 19,756, up +3.06%. Similarly, the tech-heavy NASDAQ...
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U.S. stocks broke a string of three consecutive weeks of gains with most indexes turning lower for the week. As has been the case most of the year, the losses were unevenly distributed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average outperformed the...
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This week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ, and Russell 2000 all hit all-time highs together for the first time since 1999. Major indexes were strong both at home and around the world. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained...
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Stocks added to the strong post-election rally, pushing many of the major benchmarks to new all-time highs. The smaller-cap indexes, typically more volatile, performed the best. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose +20 points to 18...
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Markets were down around the world as heightened uncertainty surrounding the upcoming Presidential election appeared to weigh on sentiment. The S&P 500 recorded its ninth consecutive daily decline, a streak not seen since 1980, and...
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Most of the U.S. major indexes were down for the week as third quarter earnings reports continued to stream in. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had a second week of little movement, rising only +0.09% or +15 points to close at 18,161....
Read MoreThe U.S. major indexes finished the week mixed. The large cap indexes were flat to modestly lower, while the NASDAQ and smaller-cap indexes notched a fifth consecutive week of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined ‑138...
Read MoreStocks managed a fourth straight week of gains, allowing the S&P 500 LargeCap and the S&P 400 MidCap indexes to claim new record highs. The technology-heavy NASDAQ rallied over 70 points on strong earnings reports from Microsoft and...
Read MoreLargeCap stock benchmarks reached new highs this week, and got all the headlines, but it was the SmallCap Russell 2000 that saw the biggest gain among major U.S. indices. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose +2.04%, or...
Read MoreU.S. stocks ended the holiday-shortened week on an up note, thanks to a very strong rally on Friday. Indices were negative for the week going into Friday, but ripped higher on the stronger-than-expected jobs report (more on that below)...
Read MoreU.S. stocks traded higher for a fourth consecutive day Friday, with the S&P 500 regaining almost all of the Brexit-related declines. All major U.S. indexes were up, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, rallying +548 points to 17,949,...
Read MoreThe event that was never supposed to happen, happened. In a surprise upset, the people of the United Kingdom voted in favor of leaving the European Union. This triggered an avalanche of selling across global markets, all of which had...
Read MoreThe major U.S. benchmarks all recorded losses for the week, with the smaller cap indexes bearing the brunt of the selling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 190 points to close at 17,675, down -1.06%. The tech heavy NASDAQ...
Read MoreThe major U.S. benchmarks were mixed for the holiday-shortened week. Repeating the pattern that dominated the entire month of May, the SmallCap and MidCap indexes and technology-heavy NASDAQ Composite outperformed the LargeCap S&P 500...
Read MoreU.S. stocks rose for a second consecutive week and had their best week since March on the heels of better economic data and higher oil prices. All major U.S. indexes were up, but SmallCaps and MidCaps outpaced their LargeCap...
Read MoreU.S. stocks were modestly higher for the week. The tech-heavy NASDAQ composite index outperformed its peers for the second week, and the SmallCap and MidCap indices outperformed LargeCaps. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average...
Read MoreMajor U.S. benchmarks fell a third consecutive week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -205 points to close at 17,535, down -1.2%. The NASDAQ declined -0.4% to 4,717, and the LargeCap S&P 500 fell -0.5%. Smaller indexes were also...
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