On Monday, share markets in India opened in green and ended on a positive note. The BSE Sensex closed higher by 251 points to end at 34,843, at all -time high levels. While the broader NSE Nifty ended the day higher by 60 points to close at 10,742. Among BSE sectoral indices, bank index rose the most by 1.3%, followed by consumer durables stocks at 1.1%. HDFC Ltd and ICICI Bank were among the top gainers. Top Stocks in Action Today HDFC Ltd share price is likely to be in focus today after the company announced plans to raise up to Rs. 130 billion via QIP and preference shares. HDFC’s fund-raising is mainly aimed at investing in a prefer...
We are in a relatively unique period right now. For the first time in several years, we are seeing economic growth everywhere in the global economy. No one is talking about recession. It’s just the opposite; people are raising economic forecasts and worried about overheating. And wage growth seems to be headed in the right direction — the Walmart announcement last week representing a marker for optimism. Yet, after the Great Financial Crisis, it almost seems too good to be true. There is a lot of lingering anxiety because of the depth of the last crisis. And I think there are good reasons to have these anxieties. So I want to put this up...
After the Consumer Electronics Show focused on autonomous driving, Barclays analyst Brian Johnson expects the North American International Auto Show in Detroit “will get back to the here and now earnings drivers.” The focus will be on trucks, tariffs, and taxes, Johnson tells investors in a research note on the U.S. Autos & Auto Parts sector. This includes a focus on key pickup truck launches, the potential for a North American Free Trade Agreement withdrawal to re-impose tariffs on autos and auto parts, and the impact of tax reform on earnings. In this “back-to-basics world,” Johnson likes shares of American Axle...
Schlumberger (SLB) reports Q4 earnings January 19th. Analysts expect revenue of $8.13 billion and eps of $0.45. The revenue estimate implies about 3% growth sequentially. Investors should focus on the following key items: North America Land Drilling May Still Have Legs North America land drilling has been white hot. In Q3 2017 Schlumberger received 33% of its revenue from the segment, which pales in comparison to Halliburton (HAL) who has over 55% exposure to North America. Schlumberger’s North America revenue grew 18% Y/Y in Q3, while total revenue was up 8%. OPEC supply cuts helped drive oil prices up, and North American shale plays h...
A delayed flight and a misplaced ticket from the airport parking lot postponed the reunion with my bed. I had woken up at 5 a.m. to catch my flight home from an exhausting and informative week at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. It’s an exclusive event that is considered to be the Super Bowl of healthcare conferences. I attended for the first time 10 years ago and have returned every year since for one-on-one meetings and company presentations. I met with numerous CEOs, networked at parties where bottles of $250 whiskey were poured and talked with hedge fund managers about their investments. Here are a few of my takeaways… Big Pharm...
Bitcoin cash prices ended much unchanged for the past week as the cancellation of trading of BCH on GDAX, though temporary, and the fact that the user experience continues to face difficulties, has added to the pressure on the prices so far. The BCH prices have not been able to see the buoyancy that has been seen in the prices of other altcoins which have largely benefited from the lack of volatility and the end of the bullish run in Bitcoin prices.. This consolidation phase in the Bitcoin market has pushed speculators and short term traders into the altcoin markets such as IOTA, Cardano and Stellar Lumens but BCH prices have generally largel...
The strong momentum seen in 2017 continues this year with stock markets across the globe witnessing an upside. MSCI World Index has risen in eight of the nine trading sessions so far this year. This is primarily thanks to an uptick in global economic growth, low inflation, tightening monetary stance by major central banks, and increasing oil price. On the Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq registered eight record closings in the first nine trading days of 2018, while the Dow boasted its sixth closing high of the year. Per CNBC, the S&P 500 is enjoying its best 10-day start to a year since 2003, climbing 4.2% buoyed by stronger-th...
In today’s precious metals analysis, I focus on platinum-palladium prices and ratios over the past 48 years. A monthly average price chart for both metals from January 1970 to December 2017 is shown below. Note that while platinum was free-trading, palladium was fixed at $35-36/oz until mid-1972. We use London pm closing prices from Kitco.com. The price charts show similar patterns and a general correlation of platinum and palladium prices. That said, there have been times when one is more volatile than the other, both metals are subject to parabolic spikes, and on occasion, their prices are strongly divergent. As a result, platinum to pall...
Economic Reports Employment We received several employment related reports in the first two weeks of the year. The rate of growth in employment has been slowing for some time – slowly – and these reports continue that trend. The JOLTS report showed a drop in job openings, hires and quits. The Fed has been talking about a tight labor market but this report peaked last July so that may not be as much a concern as they think. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time the Fed got behind the curve on something. The employment report was, like the JOLTS report, less than expected but not all that bad. The economy added 148k jobs in December, we...
For all the mixed economic data points we saw regarding the health of the economy, there is one segment that is alive and well and that’s luxury goods. Need any more proof than 3,815 Lamborghini’s? At $200,000 for a “base model” — if there is a such a thing — the emerging wealthy across the world are snatching up these supercars in record numbers. When folks ask us why Volkswagen is part of our Luxury Goods thematic index, we just point to stats like this. (For those that don’t know, VW owns Lamborghini, as well as Audi, Bentley, Bugatti and Porsche.) The power in luxury goods comes from the fact that even tough economic time...