While the cap-weighted S&P 500 gained 19.42% on the year, the average stock in the index was up less than that at just over 18%. There were exactly 50 stocks in the S&P that gained more than 50% on the year, and there were only 3 that gained more than 100%. We were a bit surprised that only three stocks posted triple-digit returns given the year that markets had. We were even more surprised to see a Utilities stock at the top of the best performers list! That’s right — NRG Energy (NRG) was the top performing stock in the S&P 500 in 2017 with a gain of 132.3%.The other two triple-digit gainers were Align Tech (ALGN), and Ve...
Let me tell you something you should maybe watch for in 2018. You should maybe watch for days when everything falls apart simultaneously. That’s pretty intuitive right? When everything goes to hell in a handbasket – as opposed to just one or two things going to hell in a handbasket – well then you’ve got a problem. Think about it this way. If you get T-boned by a speeding pickup truck going through an intersection on your way to work but your boss gives you a 50% raise when you finally limp into the office on your one remaining good leg, you can look back at the end of the day and say it wasn’t all bad. But if you get T-boned by ...
An ugly end to the year but on the year, the dollar tanked (worst since 2003), stocks and bonds (the long-end) soared higher, commodities rebounded dramatically, cryptocurrencies exploded, and gold had its best year since 2010 as VIX saw its lowest average in history. And all that was driven by the biggest increase in central bank balance sheets since 2011… anyone else feel like this… (our estimate is we are at around the 30 second mark currently). 2017…Now that was a year for stocks… The Dow is up 25% over 2017, putting it on track for its second straight annual increase, as well as its best year since 2013. The S&...
Wall Street had a ball in 2017 with a strong and steady run for most of the year. Several milestones were achieved by the benchmarks and investors luxuriated in the surge. In fact, the S&P 500 gained not only more than 20% but also saw its best year since 2013. The year also marked a bounce back for the U.S. IPO market courtesy of improving economic fundamentals and consumer sentiment. Successful IPOs poured in primarily from the biotech and technology sectors while the comeback of the Chinese issuers added to the bliss. Going by numbers from Renaissance Capital, 160 IPOs were priced this year, marking a whopping 52.4% increase from...
The USD/CHF pair sold off the past week leaving risk lower in the new week. On the downside, support lies at the 0.9700 level. A turn below here will open the door for more weakness towards the 0.9650 level and then the 0.9600 level. On the upside, resistance resides at the 0.9800 level where a break will clear the way for more strength to occur towards the 0.9850 level. Further out, resistance comes in at the 0.9900 level. Above here, if seen, it will turn attention to 0.9950. All in all, USD/CHF faces further corrective pullback pressure....
There was a little more action in the markets today than I might have otherwise expected, especially in the afternoon session. Stocks were weak, being led lower by the big cap techs. And the SP 500 got into the act, selling off rather handily in the closing hour. We will have to keep a close eye on the performance of stocks in the first week of January, and then January as a whole. I am of the school that tends to try and make some conclusions about the rest of the year from the first month, where appropriate. And gold and silver delivered a nice little rally, with gold sticking a close firmly above 1300 and silver grabbing the 17 handle by a...
The price of Ripple, the cryptocurrency that Japanese banks are warming to, is not stopping after the big break above $1.50. At the time of writing, XRP/USD is trading at around $1.93 according to the Bitsmap exchange. The high so far has been $1.95. Ripple at $2 is getting close less than a week after the price hugged the $1 level. We noted three reasons for the Ripple rally and the biggest driver is the potential adoption by Japanese and perhaps other Asian banks. Credit card companies in Japan are being encouraged to adopt it to facilitate faster transactions. With a lengthy and costly process to complete a bitcoin transaction becoming ...
The S&P 500 closed out 2017 with a gain of 19.42% and 62 record highs. Week-over-week saw a loss of 0.36%, showing a lack of a “Santa Rally”, but we still have the first few trading days of the year to find out. We will see if the passage of the tax bill causes any gains in the first few days of 2018. The U.S. Treasury puts the closing yield on the 10-year note at 2.43%. Here is a daily chart of the S&P 500. Today’s selling puts the volume 36% below its 50-day moving average. Here’s a monthly snapshot of the index going back to December 2008. A Perspective on Drawdowns Here’s a snapshot of record highs ...