Markets settle at default reading
Some days U.S. stocks move decidedly higher on positive news about the global economy or speculation that the U.S-China trade war may be moving toward a negotiated resolution. Other days U.S. stocks head decidedly lower on bad news about the global (or U.S.) economy...
Barrick Gold at the junction of positive macro and micro trends; raising my target price
It's by no means a guarantee of gains, but owing shares of a company that is riding the wave of positive macro and micro trends does indeed usually result in solid profits. On the macro side, Barrick Gold has global trends pointing toward toward higher gold prices as...
Markets try to have it both ways in the morning and then throw in the towel on risk
This morning you could hear the gears whirring as Wall Street strategists tried to position their portfolios so they were hedged against U.S-China trade war risk but also positioned to catch any bounce on good news on the trade front and ahead of the September 18...
China retaliates; Trump promises his retaliation to their retaliation this afternoon
Xi Jinping and Donald Trump upstaged Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell this morning. Powell's Jackson Hole speech this morning was supposed to be the day's big market event. (More on this speech in a later post.) But this morning China announced that it would...
Market goes to pessimism on trivial Pompeo comments–tells ya something, though
It didn't take much to end the optimism of the past few days and turn the market at least mildly pessimistic today. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CNBC this morning that Huawei Technologies isn't the only Chinese company that poses security risks to the...
Markets bet that Fed will follow ECB this week to announce something “spectacular”
Gotta love that financial market enthusiasm for central banks. Last week the markets rallied on signals from the European Central Bank that it would cut its key interest rate--now at a negative 0.40%--to a negative -0.50%, lower the rates that banks pay to borrow...
Step #1 (of 5) to get your portfolio ready for the Next Big One–Special Report update
Last night I added Step #1 to my Special Report 5 Is Your Portfolio Ready for the Next Big? The post below is a cut and paste of the material I added to the Special Report. I'm posting it separately here to make it a bit more accessible. In my macro picture, I wrote,...
Stocks fall in wave of bad news–but hold up better than expected (all things considered)
As of noon today New York time, the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are both down 2.42%. The NASDAQ Composite is lower by 2.78%. The Russell 2000 small cap index has tumbled 2.66%. And the iShare MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) has...
A fine volatility this is–just kind of strange
This post should be song to the tune of "A Fine Romance." (It helps if you can dance like Fred Astaire. Or sing like Ella.) "A fine romance, with no kisses A fine romance, my friend, this is We should be like a couple of hot tomatoes But you're as cold as yesterday's...
A rally in tech shares disguises return to risk off trading
Shares of Apple (AAPL) climbed 0.21% to lead the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) higher by 0.40% as of 2 p.m. trading in New York. That helped disguise what is otherwise a return to the risk off trading of Monday after Tuesday's rally--although with smaller...
Special Report: Are you ready for the next Big One? A 5-Step Portfolio Strategy–Part 1, the odds of a Recession or Credit Crunch, Step #1 Foundation Buys, Step #2 Sectors to Sell, Step #3 More Hedges, Step #4 Rebelancing
Is a Recession coming? I don't mean "someday." Someday the sun will go nova but I don't need to price that in to my investment strategy. But a Recession in 2020 or 2021? That's something to take into account. And to prepare for to the degree possible. Or a Credit...Jim’s Stock Alerts
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