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Stock Market News for January 17, 2012 – Market News
The New Year had begun on a bright note for investors with the markets witnessing positive momentum on its first trading day of the year. However, the markets have suffered from uncertainty in the weeks that followed after the lingering European debt crisis came back into focus. With...
17Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedAAII Sentiment Survey: Bearish Sentiment above Average for 4th Week
December 8, 2011 Bullish sentiment rebounded in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey, but bearish sentiment stayed above average for the fourth consecutive week. Bullish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will rise over the next six months, rebounded 5.5 percentage points...
9Dec2011 | Shawn | 0 comments | ContinuedNorth Dakota Oil Production Rivals OPEC
by Ryan Fitzwater, Investment U Research Wednesday, November 30, 2011 By now you’re probably familiar with the Bakken shale formation – but just in case… Located under North Dakota and Montana, oil was first discovered in the Bakken in 1951. Only problem was that back then...
30Nov2011 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued“Gasland” Brings Natural Gas Fracking Concerns to Light
by Ryan Fitzwater, Investment U Research Tuesday, November 29, 2011 By now you’re probably familiar with the various shale gas and oil plays across the United States. We’ve known about these shale formations for decades. The only problem was that back then, the technology...
30Nov2011 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | ContinuedIs China Being Overvalued?
by Jeannette Di Louie, Investment U Research Tuesday, November 29, 2011 Once upon a time, the term BRIC meant something. Brazil, Russia, India and China were all seen as rising stars in the global economy, and investors couldn’t get enough of them. Not so much anymore. These...
30Nov2011 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | ContinuedNorth Dakota Edges U.S. Closer to Energy Independence
by David Fessler, Investment U Senior Analyst Tuesday, November 29, 2011: Issue #1653 Williston, North Dakota is a dusty, prairie town. It’s just a stone’s throw from the Canadian border. Up until a few years ago, few Americans had ever heard of it. Now they’re flocking...
30Nov2011 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | ContinuedProposed European Bailout Plan Comes Up Short
by Jason Jenkins, Investment U Research Wednesday, November 30, 2011 The plan to increase the capacity of the Eurozone’s European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) is in dire straits. Several Eurozone officials have stated that the now €440 billion rescue fund may only...
30Nov2011 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | ContinuedThanksgiving Holiday – Turmoil in Europe Continued
While the U.S. was focused on feasting, football and shopping, the turmoil in Europe continued. The situation there continues to deteriorate. No longer are the problems confined to the small, relatively insignificant economies around the Mediterranean. This week, they even spread...
28Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedU.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fall Again
Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance fell again this week. This week they fell by 10,000 but only after the previous week was revised up by 3,000. So regardless if you count it as a drop of 10,000 or 7,000, we are still at 390,000. That was better than the expected level...
10Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedU.S. Initial Labor Claims Fall Below Key 400,000 Level
Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance finally broke below the key 400,000 level. This week they fell by 9,000, but only after the previous week was revised up by 4,000. So regardless if you count it as a drop of 9,000 or 5,000, we are still at 397,000. This was slightly better...
3Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedU.S. September 2011 New Home Sales Top Expectations
New Home Sales rose by 5.7% in September from August, to a rate of 313,000. Relative to a year ago, sales are down 0.9%. While the monthly increase is more than welcome, it is still a very dismal rate of new home sales. There was a slight upward revision to the July numbers of...
28Oct2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedContinuing Jobless Claims Fall to 3.7 Million
The data on regular continuing claims was encouraging this week. Regular continuing claims for unemployment insurance fell by 52,000 to 3.700 million. The overall trend is in the right direction. They are down by 752,000 or 17.0% from a year ago. Regular claims are paid by...
6Oct2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedInitial Jobless Claims Fall – Extended Claims Plunge
Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance fell by 9,000 last week to 423,000. This was worse than the expected level of 418,000. Last week’s numbers were revised upwards by 4,000, so one could see it as a decrease of 5,000. Recently, jobless claims seem stuck once again in...
6Oct2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedReassuring Jobs Report
Today’s better-than-expected jobs report is reassuring enough to help reverse the extreme negative sentiment that was behind the sharp market sell off on Thursday. What does it reassure us of? It shows that we are not heading in the direction of another recession. On the...
5Aug2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedUCB Posts Improved Earnings Per Share
UCB (UCBJF) posted first-half fiscal 2011 adjusted earnings of $2.02 per share, reflecting an increase of 29.8% from the year-ago earnings. Higher revenues and increased gross profit helped boost earnings. Revenues Half-yearly revenues increased 7.7% to $2,355.3 million, driven...
4Aug2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedU.S. Publishes Awful Jobs Report In Depth – Part 1
This is the first part of our jobs report analysis. To read part two, please click here. The economy added a total of just 18,000 jobs in June. That is much worse than consensus expectations for a gain of 80,000. This report is particularly disappointing in light of the much...
11Jul2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedStocks to Remain Tentative
Stocks will continue to fret about economic growth and the Greek drama as June comes to an end this week. On the economic front, the most important report this week will be the June ISM Manufacturing report on Friday, though there are a number of housing and confidence related...
27Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedWhy Money Managers Fail to Beat the Market
by Alexander Green, Investment U’s Chief Investment Strategist Monday, June 27, 2011: Issue #1543 Here are three easy ways to beat the market: Deception, irrelevance and bad math. Perhaps some explanation is in order… It’s a well-known fact that three out of four investment...
27Jun2011 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | ContinuedOptimism Jumps, But Pessimism Stays High – AAII Sentiment Survey
Bullish sentiment jumped 8.5 percentage points to 37.5% in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey. This is an eight-week high for optimism that stock prices will rise over the next six months. It is also, however, the 10th consecutive week that bullish sentiment has been below its...
24Jun2011 | Shawn | 0 comments | ContinuedU.S. Federal Reserve Announces it Will Sit on Sidelines
The Fed just finished its meeting and here is its current policy statement, along with its previous statement (4/27). I present the two statements on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis, and then intersperse my translation/commentary. As was universally expected, there was no change...
22Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedWhat to Expect from The Federal Reserve Meeting
The Fed is meeting tomorrow and Wednesday, and on Wednesday afternoon, it will announce the decision on the Fed Funds rate and release the policy statement, followed by a Ben Bernanke news conference. What do I expect? No change in the Fed Funds rate, which has been stuck in...
22Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedSoft Data – Falling Revisions Ratios
The first quarter earnings season is done. Net income growth was 17.12%. While that is down from the extremely strong 30.9% the same 495 of the S&P 500 firms posted in the fourth quarter, it is still a very strong growth rate. Almost all of the growth slowdown is from a failure...
22Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedGreece and The Federal Reserve
With the U.S. economic calendar on the thin side on Monday, the market’s focus will remain on the still unresolved Greece question. European finance ministers meeting over the weekend failed to release the next tranche of the original loan to the beleaguered nation and...
20Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedStocks to Remain Tentative$$
The favorable labor market and housing reports on Thursday notwithstanding, it is becoming clear that we will have to wait at least a few more weeks before expecting a trend shift in the nation’s economic fortunes. Add to this questions about China’s growth outlook,...
19Jun2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedBullish Sentiment Rebounds; Bearish Sentiment Stays Unusually High – AAII Sentiment Survey
June 16, 2011 Bullish sentiment rebounded in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey. Optimism that stock prices will rise over the next six months rose 4.6 percentage points to 29.0%. Despite the improvement, this is the ninth consecutive week that bullish sentiment is below its historical...
16Jun2011 | Shawn | 0 comments | ContinuedKey Fundamental Market Questions
Early May is beset by a “Flight to Safety” trade. That may be hard to see from the modest losses of the S&P 500 the past couple days. However, as I write this article the riskier/smaller cap stocks of the Russell 2000 are down 3% since Monday morning. So quite likely...
4May2011 | vitalstocks | 1 comment | ContinuedFederal Reserve Statement Decoded
The Federal Reserve just finished its meeting, and as was universally expected, it kept the Fed Funds rate at the 0 to 0.25% range where it has been since December 2008. The real action since then has been in the policy statement and the changes in the language of it. Below,...
3May2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedOvervaluation Figures Reaching Critical Levels – ValuEngine.com Universe
VALUATION WATCH: Our models find that overvaluation is approaching critical levels. Overvalued stocks now make up almost 62% of our universe and 30% of the universe is calculated to be overvalued by 20% or more. All Sectors are calculated to be overvalued Valuation Watch ValuEngine.com...
2May2011 | valuengine | 0 comments | ContinuedLatest Poor Case-Shiller Housing Data Bolsters Predictions of Double Dip
New housing data from Case-Shiller released today shows that prices have declined yet again and are now at levels barely above their April 2009 bottom. Housing has now declined to a point that is roughly equal to its 2003 level according to the Case-Shiller composite indices....
27Apr2011 | valuengine | 0 comments | ContinuedAAII Sentiment Survey: Optimism Is Rangebound – April 14, 2011
Bullish sentiment slipped 1.4 percentage points to 42.2% in the latest AAII sentiment survey. Optimism that stock prices will rise over the next months stayed within a two percentage point range for the third consecutive week. The historical average is 39%. Neutral sentiment,...
14Apr2011 | Shawn | 0 comments | Continued