Daily State of the Markets
Time To Dust Off The Euro-Crisis Playbook?
Good morning and welcome back. One of the great things about taking some time away from the keyboard and your daily routine is it gives you time to reflect on the big picture stuff as well as what you are doing on a daily basis. On the latter, I've decided to try and make my weekly indica…
Indicators Suggest Conflicted Environment Remains Intact
Greetings from Seville, Spain, home of the Alacazar - a royal palace built in the 8th century. This is my first trip to Spain and I have to say that I am very impressed. Although I can barely count to 10 in Spanish, I am finding the people to be very friendly and helpful, breathtaking sig…
Is It Time For Investors To Exhale?
As I have mentioned a time or two lately, I have been trying not to write on Friday's. However, I must admit that I'm feeling a small (emphasis on the word, small) amount of guilt over the idea of heading to Spain/Portugal for the next two weeks. So, I'm going to go ahead and pen one more…
Not a Crystal Ball, But...
In yesterday morning's market missive, I opined that investing based on one's "view" of what might happen next in Ms. Market's game is not exactly a path to success. However, I also suggested that having a "view" can be helpful when it comes time to pull the trigger on a trade or a change…
Remember, It's Okay To Be Wrong. Just Don't Be...
As I have mentioned a time or twenty, I believe in a rules-guided approach to managing the markets. The idea here is fairly straightforward. I have learned over my 30 years of professional investing that staying in tune with the weight of the evidence (as in cold, unemotional, objective m…
Another Tweet Kills The Mood, For Now
Word that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway had purchased a cool 75 million shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) during the rather bumpy ride that was the first quarter of 2018 certainly improved the mood on Wall Street. Most credit "The Oracle of Omaha" with Friday's big rally as well as Mon…
The Question: How Much is Enough?
In pondering the macro picture over the weekend, it occurred to me that the current environment can be summed up with one simple question: How much is enough? As in, how much do stock prices need to correct from their January blow-off highs in order to create a fairly valued market where …
All About Jobs (Until The Next Headline)
It's the first Friday of the month, which means it is time for the Big Kahuna of economic data - the jobs report. So, without further ado, let's get to the report and review the bevy of numbers.
The big headline is the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Nonfarm Payrolls came…
All About The Fed, Until It Wasn't
Wednesday's action in the stock market was all about the Fed. Well, right up until it wasn't, that is.
As expected, the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) left the target range for the Fed Funds Rate at 1.50% to 1.75% yesterday. To be clear, no one expected Jay Powell's gang to …
The Macro Concerns In 3 Charts
To be sure, two big events will likely capture investors' attention in the short-run: Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) earnings and today's Fed Meeting, which concludes this afternoon at 2:00pm eastern. However, from an intermediate-term perspective, it appears that the macro picture still holds th…