There still may technically be three weeks left in summer, but with Labor Day weekend fast approaching, the summer season is starting to wind down. As they look forward to the last four months of 2017, individual investors are in an extremely unoptimistic mood. According to the weekly survey from AAII, bullish sentiment declined from 28.1% down to 25.0%. That’s the lowest reading since mid-May and before that late October. Sure, the market has been a bit more volatile lately, but the fact that sentiment has shifted so far south, from what was already a pretty depressed range seems a bit overdone. Along with low levels of bullish se...
The retail industry is going through a time of convulsions as large retailers react retail oversupply and the growth of online shopping. Likewise, the retail real estate market is reinventing itself and flexing through the changes. This confluence of instability and great change is a nexus of opportunity. If you position yourself right, you have a chance to reap great rewards in retail real estate investing. Pros and Cons of Investing in Retail Real Estate Investing in retail real estate is not for everyone. There are some significant pros and cons that are associated with the retail industry in general and investing in commercial real estat...
Ticker Last High Low Daily Change (pip) Daily Range (pip) USD/CAD 1.2537 1.2663 1.2525 84 138 The Canadian dollar outperforms its major counterparts as the region’s 2Q Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report showed the economy expanding at the fastest pace since 2011. The ongoing series of better-than-expected data prints may encourage the Bank of Canada (BoC) to adopt a more hawkish tone a the September 6 interest rate decision, and the shift in USD/CAD behavior may continue to unfold throughout the remainder of the year should Governor Stephen Poloz and Co. increase their efforts in preparing households and businesses for higher borrowing-c...
This morning the National Association of Realtors released the July data for their Pending Home Sales Index. Here is an excerpt from the latest press release: Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the staggering inventory woes throughout the country continue to stall contract activity. “With the exception of a minimal gain in the West, pending sales were weaker in most areas in July as house hunters saw limited options for sale and highly competitive market conditions,” he said. “The housing market remains stuck in a holding pattern with little signs of breaking through. The pace of new listings is not catching up with what’s being ...
In Thursday’s European session, the US dollar continued to recover the losses it suffered earlier in the week. The euro/dollar pair fell to 1.1827 after a bounce to 1.1906. The pound/dollar pair resumed its slide, dropping to 1.2853. Downwards pressure on the pound increased after MPC member Saunders’ speech as well as from the euro/pound cross after consumer inflation data from the Eurozone. There’s a strong support for the euro/dollar at 1.1818 – 1.1825. Everyone’s attention is turned towards the dynamics of the euro/pound cross. If the pair breaks through the trend line on the 4-hour timeframe, it’ll continue falling to 1.18 an...
USD/CAD made another attempt at the lows but recovered quite swiftly. What’s next? Here is the view from TD: Here is their view, courtesy of eFXnews: D FX Strategy Research argues that the broad trend in the USD will set the tone in USD/CAD as the pair is undergoing a good recovery this week. “Based on a 1y rolling regression, the returns in the BDXY have explained between 35% and 50% of the variance in the daily return of USDCAD over the past few months… Recall, CAD has been one of the beneficiaries of the transition to convergence but we still think it has overshot this theme. Positioning and valuation proxies also show that it look...
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) seasonally adjusted pending home sales index significantly declined. Our analysis is more positive. The quote of the day from this NAR release: … The reality, therefore, is that sales in coming months will not break out unless supply miraculously improves. This seems unlikely given the inadequate pace of housing starts in recent months and the lack of interest from real estate investors looking to sell … Analyst Opinion of Pending Home Sales The rolling averages are in positive territory. The data is very noisy and must be averaged to make sense of the situation. There is no signs of a su...
Photo Credit: RL GNZLZ/Flickr.com According to a report by DealerSocket, there are nearly 63,000 used car dealerships in North America, which include 45,000 independent used car dealerships and 18,000 franchise dealerships. The biggest among these dealers holds a 1.6% market share of the US market. Recently listed Carvana (NYSE: CVNA) is trying to become a leading player in the market. Carvana’s Offerings Phoenix-based Carvana was founded by Ryan Keeton and Ernie Garcia in January 2013 as an online option for used car sales. Carvana offers a unique and convenient way of buying used cars. Its platform allows users to research and identify ...
The U.S. Energy Department announced on Thursday that it would release 500,000 barrels of crude oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a result of the disruption to the US petroleum industry following Hurricane Harvey amid fears of a surge in motor fuel prices, which have been compounded by the previously reported shuttering of the Colonial pipeline. According to the DOE statement, the oil will be delivered to the Phillips 66 refinery in Lake Charles, Louisiana, a plant which has not been affected by the storm. According to Reuters, the release – the first emergency release from the reserve since 2012 – will include 200,...