Image Source: Pixabay Headquartered in Vally Forge, PN, Vanguard is one of the world’s largest investment management firms and was founded by John C. Bogle in 1975. It had $8.2 trillion in assets under management globally till Jul 31, 2023. The company had more than 20,000 employees globally on Dec 31, 2023, and offers 206 funds in the United States and 216 in foreign markets.Vanguard is owned entirely by its funds — a unique feature among mutual fund firms. According to the company, this structure allows management to focus more on shareholder interests. Among the most significant advantages, Vanguard claims to offer low-cost, no-...
Image source: Wikipedia After years of speculation, the Federal Reserve has released its so-called “Doomsday Book”—an internal document that outlines the vast power the central bank can claim during times of financial emergency.The Doomsday Book was recently released by the Fed in response to a Freedom of Information Act filed by finance professor Emre Kuvvet. Bizarrely, the Federal Reserve initially denied Kuvvet’s FOIA request, but its New York branch later provided the document with only names redacted.The Doomsday Book reportedly shows that the Federal Reserve claims powers that far exceed what’s explicitly authorized by Congre...
Image Source: Pixabay Wall Street is set to wrap up the first quarter with strong gains. The S&P 500 is on track for its best first quarter since 2019 and the 12th strongest first quarter since 1945, having gained more than 9% so far. In a historic move that signals optimism for the financial markets, the S&P 500 Index surpassed 5,200 last week, following the Fed’s latest signal to cut interest rates.Meanwhile, the Dow Jones is up 4.4%, which could represent the best first quarter since 2021, and the Nasdaq Composite Index is set to be the outperformer with 9.3% gains. Fed rate cut bets, stronger earnings and the continued AI boom ...
Image Source: Pixabay The 2011-2024 link in gold price STILL continues and what we saw yesterday was perfect confirmation.In Monday’s analysis, I wrote the following about gold’s pre-market gains: Gold is up in today’s pre-market trading, but not significantly so. This is in perfect tune with the post-double-top 2011 price action – the local moves back up were normal, and they didn’t prevent gold from declining. The interesting thing is that the current sentiment appears to be very similar to what we had in 2011. I’m not sure if you remember this, but back then it was impossible to convince people that gold was about to move low...
Image Source: Pixabay After two solid, record-sized coupon auctions, moments ago the Treasury concluded the week’s scheduled issuance when it sold $43 billion in 7Y notes (which unlike the 2s and 5s previously, was not a record-large auction and has a ways to go to catch up to the $61BN 7Y auctions during the depths of the post-covid crisis).The auction priced at a high yield of 4.185%, which was notably below last month’s4.327% and also stopped through the 4.193% When Issued by 0.8bps, the second consecutive stopping auction following three “tails.”The bid to cover of 2.614 was above last month’s 2.577 and was ...
Money Supply is a very important indicator. It helps show how tight or loose current monetary conditions are regardless of what the Fed is doing with interest rates. Even if the Fed is tight, if Money Supply is increasing, it has an inflationary effect.One key metric shown below is the “Wenzel” 13-week annualized money supply figure. It was made popular by the late Robert Wenzel who tracked the metric weekly as an indicator of where the economy might be headed. In 2020, the Fed started reporting the data monthly instead of weekly. It should also be noted that Money Supply data can be heavily revised in future months. Recent Trends Seasona...
Image Source: Pixabay As China shows tepid buying interest, aluminium and other industrial metals witness a downturn. The LMEX Metals Index hit an eight-month peak in March, signalling robust investor optimism. Despite favourable industrial profit data from China, aluminium prices dip amidst broader market uncertainties. The industrial metals market, ever so reflective of the broader economic currents, has recently seen aluminum and its counterparts caught in a whirlwind of price adjustments and demand fluctuations. This narrative primarily unfolds within the context of China, the globe’s leading consumer of these materials, where a s...
Image Source: Pixabay For more than a year now, a group of seven stocks called the Magnificent 7, have been stealing the spotlight in the stock markets. These stocks, namely Apple, Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Amazon, Meta (formerly Facebook), Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla, have been performing exceptionally well.In the year 2023 alone, they collectively returned a whopping 106%, making the 24% gains of the S&P 500 seem small in comparison. Even within this group of seven stocks, there were standout performers, and Meta Platforms Inc (Nasdaq: META) was one of them.Meta’s stock has been on an impressive upward trend this year ...
Another test higher in market rates was ended by a stronger 5y UST sale. EUR rates proved more stable, but we will get first-country inflation data on Wednesday. Meanwhile, eurozone government bond spreads continue to largely shrug off deficit woes.Image Source: Pixabay Test higher in rates ended by stronger 5Y UST auction Tuesday saw US rates testing the upside again, this time on the back of a better durable goods report. The 10Y Treasury yield came as high as 4.27% before turning the corner to rally back below Monday’s 4.25% close. This was supported by a strong 5Y auction this time around after the prior 2Y sale had tailed slightly. Bu...
Image courtesy of 123rf.com Trump Media & Technology Group (Nasdaq: DJT), the company behind former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, has garnered significant attention from investors since its merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC).The merged entity began trading on the Nasdaq, experiencing substantial volatility, with its stock price surging over 230% within the year. Despite DJT being essentially a loss-making venture in a highly competitive industry, this remarkable performance suggests strong investor interest or speculative trading driven by the company’s high-profile founder. DJT/DWAC the Most Hea...