According to Lipper’s latest fund flow report, stock funds investing globally registered strong inflows in 2017. In contrast, domestic equity funds registered outflows during the same period. Investors increasingly shifted their focus from domestic equity funds to global equity funds in 2017 and will keep a close watch on international funds this year. Moreover, recently released economic data indicates that the world’s major economies, including China and the Eurozone, are gathering pace. Given that these are engines for the global economy, this is a positive development. Global mutual funds are excellent options for those looking to wi...
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is in the news twice this morning, once regarding GDP and once for a Bitcoin retraction. Jamie Dimon claims JP Morgan’s chief economist is wrong about the economy: Dimon Predicts 4% Growth. Dimon said he expects the “competitive tax rate” to encourage deal-making on Wall Street, pointing to Europe which he said is on pace to grow at a 3% rate. A reading of gross domestic product is slated for Jan. 26. ‘If we have a couple of years of good growth, that could justify the markets where they are. Four percent economic growth this year is possible’ , said Dimon. J.P. Morgan’s chief U.S. economist Michael F...
2018 looks to be a jolly year; it has the potential for no less than four kinds of financial disaster: a major “fringe market” crash in crypto-currencies with credit implications, a stock market crash of the old-fashioned kind, a massive bond market crash as yields return to reality and a recession, which Trump-haters no doubt hope will be deep and long. Yet history shows that the four types of disaster need not be connected, and not all need occur simultaneously. For us as investors and participants in the economy, that should be a huge relief. The crypto-currency bust is the likeliest to occur in 2018. I have written in the past that th...
The semiconductor corner of the broad technology market continued its winning streak with the start of the New Year. This is especially true as the S&P Semiconductor Select Industry Index climbed 6.8% in the first few days of 2018 trading compared with gains of 4.6% for the S&P 500 Information Technology S&P 500 index and 2.8% for the S&P 500 Index. As semiconductors have been the most important driver of the overall technology growth, it is now used in day-to-day life from cars, electronic gadgets to planes and weapons. Robust demand for memory chips and other semiconductor products owing to the rapid adoption of cloud, I...
Welcome to 2018. So far it looks the same as 2017. The President of the United States ended the old year and began the one with a barrage of tweets, including one threatening nuclear annihilation with the “Little Rocket Man” of North Korea. The world can only hope they keep it to each other and not involve the rest of us. Markets did well in 2017 as they have for the past eight years. Bitcoin did exceptionally well, gaining over 1,300% even as it was down 20% from its high. Most people should have seen their portfolios rise. It is not difficult making money in a rising market. The real test comes in a down market. In our last missive of 2...
When it comes to high-quality dividend growth stocks, investors naturally gravitate to blue chips like dividend aristocrats and dividend kings. After all, no company can increase its dividend for at least 25 or 50 years in a row without a certain combination of highly admirable characteristics. These traits tend to include stable and predictable cash flows, strong competitive advantages, good profitability, modest amounts of debt, and of course a very shareholder-friendly corporate culture. In addition, Warren Buffett, history’s greatest value investor, has made his fortune buying “wonderful companies at a fair price.” So naturally,...
Broad economic growth and continuous job creation in the Euro-area further improved the unemployment rate to the lowest level since early 2009. The region unemployment rate declined from 8.8 percent in October to 8.7 percent in November, the Eurostat report showed on Tuesday. The lowest unemployment rate in 9 years. Despite better than expected economic growth in the region, the inflation rate remained below the 2 percent target while wage growth is yet to pick up as expected. However, economists believe tight labor market would eventually boost wage growth as employers struggle to attract skilled workers. “While falling unemployment shou...
Cable has stalled ahead of the 1.3600 figure since the start of the year failing to make fresh multi-month highs. The pair looks to be carving out a double top near the key 1.3500 figure, but the battle between bulls and bears is not over. A small retrace down to the 1.3300 level will still keep the uptrend intact. In the meantime, however, a small correction appears to be due especially if US yields continue to rise and UK data starts to falter. Tomorrow’s Trade Balance is expected to miss and could be the catalyst for a move below the 1.3500 figure opening the way for a deeper correction to 1.3300. A break above 1.3600 however, will pu...
I love the smell of risk euphoria in the morning. Monday’s theme was “equi-phoria”, a state of acute psychosis that pervades the warped minds of E*Traders, pundits, and punters alike at the tail end of a rally that’s left multiples stretched to historic extremes and now finds stocks, bonds, and credit the most simultaneously overvalued in 100 years. To start the week, we brought you the latest read on BofAML’s “risk-love” indicator, which is sending a bright, red “bearish signal” thanks to low vol. and “humans responding bullishly to surveys” (and yes, that latter bit is hilarious). We also showed you the following ch...