The official unemployment rate has been moving downward almost exclusively as the labor force shrinks so dramatically in proportion to the population. That wasn’t the intent for the design of the statistic, but the state of economic commentary being what it is has left most observers to draw their own conclusions (I think most unbiased people understand what is going [...]
Well, 2013 is in the books and it was a stellar year for anyone who had the moxy to ignore all the rules we've been taught about investing. Diversification? Didn't need it last year. All you had to do was buy US stocks, the more speculative the better, and let it ride. Bonds to reduce risk? Nope, that didn't work [...]
There is something very much broken in the media, particularly with regard to economic reporting. I have already commented more times than I care about the overemphasis on logical fallacies, but the proportionality of the disconnect only grows with share price inflation. Under the headline, Bull Market Shows No Sign of Death With Yellen Support, this Bloomberg article begins, “The [...]
I've been laid up the last week after a minor surgical procedure and while I haven't been that productive at getting any actual work done, it has given me a lot of time to watch CNBC and Bloomberg. The portfolio managers, strategists and assorted market soothsayers stream across my screen, talking about markets the way they always have, as if [...]
Following up on yesterday’s inflection narrative, Caterpillar seems to have fallen prey to the same blindspot as economists. Everything with regard to economics and the economy is always assumed to move in a straight-line, forever. Linearity is a feature of the predictive economic model, and it is such an obvious weakness. In the earning’s release for the first quarter of [...]
Second quarter preliminary GDP estimates were revised upward over the advance estimate, from 1.7% to 2.5%. Based on trade data released in the past month, this is not much of a surprise, though the size of the revision is somewhat larger than expected. Of course, because the purchase of imported goods (and a few services) is negative in the GDP [...]
Last week it was Target’s turn to turn in a disappointing quarterly report. While being quite unique in blaming Canada, even the results in the US segment were lackluster, at best. Earnings expectations for the fiscal year were dimmed back in May, from a range of $4.85 to $5.05 down to $4.70 to $4.90. The latest estimates, concurrent with Q2’s [...]
Like most investors, investment advisers are a consensus seeking lot. Most of them are not willing or psychologically able to do anything that is outside the accepted current trend. That doesn't make them evil or dishonest or anything else bad; it just makes them human. It is always hard to stick out from the crowd when the consequences of doing [...]
Earnings season is in full bloom and markets care little about the details as long headlines continue to provide optimism. That’s a pretty low bar since “beating” estimates is a rigged game. However, revenues are much more difficult to tailor by accounting conventions, so they offer a more reliable (not perfect) window into the fundamental circumstances of each company. We [...]
At the end of January 2013, UPS management patted themselves for company’s results in an admittedly tough environment. In between regular allusions to “strong” numbers and operational tendencies, Chairman and CEO D. Scott Davis wrapped it all up in the positive: “Although we fell short of our goals for the year, we did achieve record earnings per share.” The dichotomy [...]
Stay In Touch