Every weekend I sit down at my desk and write the title of this post at the top of a legal pad. I make a list of everything I can identify as trading at an extreme in markets. If an investor is to make tactical changes to their portfolio, it is in the extremes where they will find their greatest [...]
Durable order soften after early summer strength. Total manufacturing remains slightly negative YOY% change. This is a July report. On Friday we received the survey data for August. The 2 indices continue to give a bit of a mixed message. The ISM number, while still contractionary looks like it may have bottomed in July. The S&P PMI continues to predict [...]
There were some very smart people a year ago saying that you couldn't kill inflation without a big rise in unemployment. Last October, Larry Summers - former Treasury Secretary and President of Harvard - said we'd need a recession and an unemployment rate of 6% to kill inflation. In the summer of last year, he said we'd need 5 years [...]
The age old argument of the importance of labor versus capital in society. Heather Cox Richardson, professor of history at Boston College, presents the viewpoints of South Carolina Senator James Henry Hammond and "rising politician Abraham Lincoln." Plot spoiler, it seems not much has changed since the late 1850's. It's a nice concise summary of the argument. https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/september-2-2023?r=5wnnr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Unchanged this century. Value or no? Certainly a topic for discussion. Disclaimer: This information is presented for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy any investment products. None of the information herein constitutes an investment recommendation, investment advice or an investment outlook. The opinions and conclusions contained in [...]
Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about To find ourselves dishonorable graves. Men at some time are masters of their fates. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings. Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II The [...]
Getting Vision Insurance If you’re a retiree or approaching retirement you probably remember Johnny Nash singing I can see clearly now the rain is gone I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It's gonna be a bright, bright, sunshiny day. And that’s exactly what today’s retirees want. It’s just [...]
Stocks are now down from their late July peak by about 5%. It has been a very orderly pullback with most of the major averages shaving off about the same amount. The exceptions are the NASDAQ, which peaked a little earlier than the S&P, and REITs, both down about 7.5%. The NASDAQ is more volatile than the S&P so it [...]
In the last two-and-a-half years inflation has become a four-letter word. For the 40 years before that, inflation had been relatively benign and for a huge percentage of the American public, inflation was something they’d heard about but never really experienced. Today, everyone has seen the effects—the price of gas is almost double, eating out requires a small loan, [...]
The 10 year Treasury yield has been in an uptrend since the summer of 2021 which is obvious to anyone who can see. It has stalled a couple of times and moved sideways - consolidated in Wall Street technical speak - but the trend is obvious (see below). It seems only a matter of time before we break above the [...]
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