Stock Blog Hub » Featured

Freddie Mac Tramples on Taxpayers Again

InvestmentU — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:21:06 +0000

Right now, a lot of investors and business news junkies are incensed by Freddie Mac’s move to profit by intentionally giving their customers bad service. And they should be. They just shouldn’t be surprised… Because this is merely the latest of many examples of the government sponsored enterprise (GSE) behaving badly. Freddie Mac, first formed [...]

Freddie Mac Tramples on Taxpayers Again

The Commodities Supercycle

InvestmentU — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:12:42 +0000

The rise of commodities may not be a fad. Instead, it may be a product of social behavior and theory. I present to you the premise of the “commodity supercycle.” The concept is more than vague investor intuition; its theory is based on the work of twentieth-century economists who studied the result of demographic shifts [...]

The Commodities Supercycle

Stock Market News for January 17, 2012 – Market News

vitalstocks — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:22:56 +0000

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 the American markets closed on Monday, in [...]

Stock Market News for January 17, 2012 – Market News

AAII Sentiment Survey: Bearish Sentiment above Average for 4th Week

Shawn — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:33:46 +0000

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 to 38.6%. Even with the improvement, optimism remained below its historical average of 39% for [...]

AAII Sentiment Survey: Bearish Sentiment above Average for 4th Week

North Dakota Oil Production Rivals OPEC

InvestmentU — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:01:31 +0000

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 the technology didn’t exist to tap into the oil [...]

North Dakota Oil Production Rivals OPEC

“Gasland” Brings Natural Gas Fracking Concerns to Light

InvestmentU — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:00:55 +0000

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 didn’t exist to tap into the oil wealth within the rock [...]

“Gasland” Brings Natural Gas Fracking Concerns to Light

Is China Being Overvalued?

InvestmentU — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:00:28 +0000

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 days, only China seems to make the news. [...]

Is China Being Overvalued?

North Dakota Edges U.S. Closer to Energy Independence

InvestmentU — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:59:09 +0000

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 there in droves. Even strippers from Vegas are making [...]

North Dakota Edges U.S. Closer to Energy Independence

Proposed European Bailout Plan Comes Up Short

InvestmentU — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:48:04 +0000

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 be able to raise in additional funds about half of what Eurozone officials [...]

Proposed European Bailout Plan Comes Up Short

Thanksgiving Holiday – Turmoil in Europe Continued

vitalstocks — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:39:42 +0000

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 to Germany, where a bond auction failed disastrously. Since November 9th, the yield on [...]

Thanksgiving Holiday – Turmoil in Europe Continued

U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fall Again

vitalstocks — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:47:56 +0000

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 of 400,000. We are [...]

U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fall Again

U.S. Initial Labor Claims Fall Below Key 400,000 Level

vitalstocks — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:01:51 +0000

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 than the expected level [...]

U.S. Initial Labor Claims Fall Below Key 400,000 Level

U.S. September 2011 New Home Sales Top Expectations

vitalstocks — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:46:19 +0000

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 1,000 [...]

U.S. September 2011 New Home Sales Top Expectations

Continuing Jobless Claims Fall to 3.7 Million

vitalstocks — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:47:10 +0000

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 the state governments, and run out after just 26 [...]

Continuing Jobless Claims Fall to 3.7 Million

Initial Jobless Claims Fall – Extended Claims Plunge

vitalstocks — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:36:03 +0000

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 a trading range above the 400,000 level, after [...]

Initial Jobless Claims Fall – Extended Claims Plunge

Reassuring Jobs Report

vitalstocks — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:55:13 +0000

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 other hand, it is further confirmation that the U.S. economy [...]

Reassuring Jobs Report

UCB Posts Improved Earnings Per Share

vitalstocks — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:49:00 +0000

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 by strong sales of Cimzia, Vimpat, Neupro and Keppra. While Cimzia (Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis) [...]

UCB Posts Improved Earnings Per Share

U.S. Publishes Awful Jobs Report In Depth – Part 1

vitalstocks — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:39:52 +0000

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 stronger ADP report on Thursday. [...]

U.S. Publishes Awful Jobs Report In Depth – Part 1

Stocks to Remain Tentative

vitalstocks — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:15:55 +0000

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 reports on the docket as well. [...]

Stocks to Remain Tentative

Why Money Managers Fail to Beat the Market

InvestmentU — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:15:09 +0000

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 professionals fail to beat an unmanaged index each year. Over the [...]

Why Money Managers Fail to Beat the Market

Optimism Jumps, But Pessimism Stays High – AAII Sentiment Survey

Shawn — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:25:07 +0000

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 historical average of 39%. Neutral sentiment, expectations that stock [...]

Optimism Jumps, But Pessimism Stays High – AAII Sentiment Survey

U.S. Federal Reserve Announces it Will Sit on Sidelines

vitalstocks — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 19:25:09 +0000

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 in the 0 to 0.25% Fed Funds rate. QE2 is coming to an end, [...]

U.S. Federal Reserve Announces it Will Sit on Sidelines

What to Expect from The Federal Reserve Meeting

vitalstocks — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:18:14 +0000

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 a 0 to 0.25% range since [...]

What to Expect from The Federal Reserve Meeting

Soft Data – Falling Revisions Ratios

vitalstocks — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:17:01 +0000

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 of the Financial [...]

Soft Data – Falling Revisions Ratios

Greece and The Federal Reserve

vitalstocks — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:15:59 +0000

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 pushed a decision on another bailout to next month. The Greek [...]

Greece and The Federal Reserve

Stocks to Remain Tentative$$

vitalstocks — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 17:34:38 +0000

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, the debt-ceiling debate in the U.S. and the noisy Greek problem, [...]

Stocks to Remain Tentative$$

Bullish Sentiment Rebounds; Bearish Sentiment Stays Unusually High – AAII Sentiment Survey

Shawn — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:18:27 +0000

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 average of 39%. Neutral Sentiment, expectations that stock prices will [...]

Bullish Sentiment Rebounds; Bearish Sentiment Stays Unusually High – AAII Sentiment Survey

Key Fundamental Market Questions

vitalstocks — Wed, 04 May 2011 16:53:34 +0000

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 your more aggressive positions [...]

Key Fundamental Market Questions

Federal Reserve Statement Decoded

vitalstocks — Tue, 03 May 2011 19:34:40 +0000

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, I present the current [...]

Federal Reserve Statement Decoded

Overvaluation Figures Reaching Critical Levels – ValuEngine.com Universe

valuengine — Mon, 02 May 2011 15:00:43 +0000

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 Universe Overvaluation Figures Reaching Critical Levels The ValuEngine Valuation Model [...]

Overvaluation Figures Reaching Critical Levels – ValuEngine.com Universe

Latest Poor Case-Shiller Housing Data Bolsters Predictions of Double Dip

valuengine — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:49:12 +0000

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. While sales were bolstered by the Federal tax credit [...]

Latest Poor Case-Shiller Housing Data Bolsters Predictions of Double Dip

AAII Sentiment Survey: Optimism Is Rangebound – April 14, 2011

Shawn — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 22:23:22 +0000

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, expectations that stock prices will stay essentially flat over the next six [...]

AAII Sentiment Survey: Optimism Is Rangebound – April 14, 2011

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey: Job Openings Jump

vitalstocks — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 03:04:23 +0000

In February, the country gained a net of 194,000 jobs, and in March we gained 216,000. However that is a very small fraction of the total number of jobs that were actually created. It subtracts out the number of jobs that were also destroyed in the month. In any economic environment, there will always be [...]

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey: Job Openings Jump

Does Nintendo Have Another Hit on Its Hands?

InvestmentU — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 02:59:23 +0000

by Ryan Cole, Investment U Research Wednesday, April 13, 2011 With its new 3DS portable gaming system, Nintendo is again changing the face of portable entertainment. But is it enough to keep the company ahead of its many challengers? Let’s take a look. First, let’s examine the system. There’s no doubt that Nintendo has come [...]

Does Nintendo Have Another Hit on Its Hands?

Federal Reserve Beige Book Summary

vitalstocks — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 02:33:09 +0000

The Beige Book is a compilation of mostly anecdotal evidence from the 12 Federal Reserve Districts about the state of the economy. This month’s edition was just released. Generally I would describe the report as being upbeat, but not exuberant. Slow and steady progress is widespread, both geographically and across sectors of the economy. The [...]

Federal Reserve Beige Book Summary

April 7, 2011 – Bullish Sentiment at a 7-Week High – AAII Sentiment Survey

vitalstocks — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:45:01 +0000

Bullish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will rise over the next six months, improved 1.8 percentage points to 43.6% in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey. This was the third consecutive weekly increase and it puts optimism at a seven-week high. The historical average is 39%. Neutral sentiment, expectations that stock prices will be essentially unchanged [...]

April 7, 2011 – Bullish Sentiment at a 7-Week High – AAII Sentiment Survey

Investment & Unemployment – Pre & Post 1990

vitalstocks — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:13:30 +0000

Recently John Taylor, the Economics Professor at Stanford and the author of the Taylor Rule which is often used in monetary policy, caused a bit of a dust up in the Economics blogging community with the following graph showing a very tight correlation between the percentage of the economy that is going towards investment (Y [...]

Investment & Unemployment – Pre & Post 1990

March 31, 2011 – Bullish Sentiment Improved – AAII Sentiment Survey

vitalstocks — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:31:37 +0000

Bullish sentiment improved 4.1 percentage points to 41.8% in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey. This is the first time optimism that stock prices will rise over the next six months has been above its historical average of 39% since February 17, 2011. Neutral sentiment, expectations that stock prices will stay essentially flat over the next [...]

March 31, 2011 – Bullish Sentiment Improved – AAII Sentiment Survey

Mar 29: Consumer Confidence Fall – Economic Highlights

vitalstocks — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 15:51:37 +0000

The Consumer Confidence Index decreased to 63.4 (1985=100) in March after increasing to 72.0 in February from 64.8 in January. The index was expected to decrease with the consensus at 63.9. The Present Situation Index increased to 36.9 from 33.8. The Expectations Index decreased to 81.1 from 97.5 in February. Consumer opinion about current market [...]

Mar 29: Consumer Confidence Fall – Economic Highlights

Overvaluation Data from our Latest ValuEngine Valuation Watch

valuengine — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:18:05 +0000

The ValuEngine Valuation Model tracks more than 5000 US equities, ADRs, and foreign stock which trade on US exchanges. The model calculates a level of mispricing or valuation percentage for each equity based on what the stock should be worth if the market were totally rational and efficient–an academic exercise to be sure, but one [...]

Overvaluation Data from our Latest ValuEngine Valuation Watch

Volatility – Investors Split About Short-Term Outlook for Stocks – AAII Sentiment Survey

vitalstocks — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:34:32 +0000

Bullish sentiment slipped 0.8 percentage points to 36.0% in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey. Optimism that stock prices will rise over the next six months is at its lowest level since September 2, 2010. The historical average is 39%. Neutral sentiment, expectations that stock prices will remain essentially flat over the next six months, rose [...]

Volatility – Investors Split About Short-Term Outlook for Stocks – AAII Sentiment Survey

Bullish Sentiment Below 50% for Third Time in 4 Weeks – AAII Sentiment Survey

vitalstocks — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:41:02 +0000

Bullish sentiment declined 2.8 percentage points to 46.6% in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey. This is the third time in four weeks that optimism has been below 50%. Nonetheless, bullish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will rise over the next six months, was above its historical average of 39% for the 24th consecutive week. This [...]

Bullish Sentiment Below 50% for Third Time in 4 Weeks – AAII Sentiment Survey

Feb 10: U.S. Wholesale Inventories Rise

vitalstocks — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 18:05:26 +0000

Wholesale Inventories increased by 1.0% in December to $430.5 billion, against the expected 0.7% increase, following a decrease of 0.2% in November, and are up by 10.5% from a year ago. Wholesale Sales had increased by 0.4% in December to $371.5 billion and were up 11.6% over the year. Sales of durable goods were up [...]

Feb 10: U.S. Wholesale Inventories Rise

AAII Investor Sentiment Survey

vitalstocks — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:50:38 +0000

Bullish sentiment declined 2.1 percentage points to 49.4% in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey. Optimism that stock prices will rise over the next six months was above its historical average of 39% for the 23rd consecutive week. This is the second longest such streak since 2004. (Bullish sentiment stayed above its historical average for the 42 consecutive [...]

AAII Investor Sentiment Survey

U.S. Employment Report in Analysis in Depth – Part 1

vitalstocks — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:59:26 +0000

The economy added a total of 36,000 jobs in January. That is far below consensus expectations for a gain of 148,000. The small increase is particularly disappointing relative to the numbers put out on Wednesday by ADP that showed a gain of 187,000 private sector jobs. Government payrolls declined by 14,000 and the private sector [...]

U.S. Employment Report in Analysis in Depth – Part 1

Feb 2: Crude Inventories – Economic Highlights

vitalstocks — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 05:46:44 +0000

Crude inventories are expected today at 10:30 AM EST. For the week ending January 21, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories had increased by 4.8 million barrels from the previous week to 340.6 million barrels and were above the upper limit of the average range for that time of year. U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged [...]

Feb 2: Crude Inventories – Economic Highlights

Dec 30: Pending Home Sales – Economic Highlights

vitalstocks — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 20:33:00 +0000

Pending Home Sales increased 3.5% to 92.2, against expectationsof a 1.5% increase. The Pending Home Sales Index had increased 10.4% in October to an index value of 89.1, following a 1.8% decrease in September. The index was 5.0% lower than November 2009, when it was at 97.0. Crude inventories decreased by 1.3 million barrels, for [...]

Dec 30: Pending Home Sales – Economic Highlights

Bullish Sentiment Dips, But Still at High Levels – 30 December 2010 – AAII Sentiment Survey

vitalstocks — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:32:17 +0000

Bullish sentiment fell in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey, but still remains at high levels. The percentage of individual investors expecting stocks to rise over the next six months fell 11.7 percentage points to 51.6%. This is the 17th consecutive week that bullish sentiment has been above its historical average of 39%. Neutral sentiment, expectations [...]

Bullish Sentiment Dips, But Still at High Levels – 30 December 2010 – AAII Sentiment Survey

Dec 23: Initial Claims Fall – Economic Highlights

vitalstocks — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 18:17:29 +0000

Initial Claims decreased to 420,000, for the week ending 12/18, against the expected decrease to 415,000, after remaining unchanged at 423,000, the revised level for the previous week. The 4-week moving average increased to 426,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 423,500. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment from the prior week, ending on 12/11, was [...]

Dec 23: Initial Claims Fall – Economic Highlights

Dec 22: GDP Rises 2.6% – Economic Highlights

vitalstocks — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 21:14:02 +0000

GDP Final Q3 Estimates show GDP increased by 2.6%, lower than the expected 3.0% increase, following a 2.5% estimated increase in the preliminary Q3 estimate (today’s release is based on a more complete set of data), after increasing by 3.7% in the first quarter and 1.7% in the second quarter of 2010. The increase in real [...]

Dec 22: GDP Rises 2.6% – Economic Highlights