November 30, 2016 @ 7:51 pm | Breaking News |
Yesterday I wrote that the financial markets’ reaction to whatever came out of OPEC’s meeting today would depend on how weak or strong the agreement to cut production was. Well, the actual agreement announced today to cut oil production was far stronger...
November 29, 2016 @ 7:44 pm | Breaking News |
The second revision to U.S. GDP growth in the third quarter was the charm. The U.S. economy grew at a 3.2% annualized rate in the the three months that ended in September, according to the Commerce Department. That was ahead of the 2.9% growth reported in the initial...
November 28, 2016 @ 5:14 pm | Breaking News |
Back in 2015 the Federal Communications Commission set out strong rules for what’s called “net neutrality.” The rules prevented Internet service providers like cable company Comcast (CMCSA) and phone company Verizon (VZ) from charging companies that...
November 22, 2016 @ 7:30 pm | Breaking News, Volatility |
Another day. Another batch of OPEC rumors. Oil prices were flying high again until about noon New York time when they retreated on headlines that emphasized a lack of agreement from Iran, Iraq, and Indonesia on the proposed deal. For a while this morning and yesterday...
November 22, 2016 @ 10:53 am | AGN, Jubak Picks Portfolio, Sell |
I still like Allergan’s (AGN) portfolio of anti-aging drugs, especially it’s Botox franchise. But I’m not especially fond of the company’s current strategy of acquisitions in the very hot market for NASH drugs. Yes, someone will win a key...
November 21, 2016 @ 7:51 pm | Breaking News, Volatility |
U.S. oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate surged 3.61% to $47.34 a barrel and international crude benchmark Brent 3.71% to $48.60 a barrel as of 11:45 a.m. New York time today as the market posited a new, optimistic theory about OPEC November 30 meeting. That meeting...
November 18, 2016 @ 7:39 pm | Breaking News, Volatility |
Yesterday, November 17, Mexico’s central bank raised interest rates for the fourth time in 2016. The new rate of 5.25% is the highest since 2009. The Mexican peso traded today, November 18, at 20.5626 to the dollar as of 2 p.m. New York time. And that’s just one...
November 18, 2016 @ 7:32 pm | IONS, Jubak Picks Portfolio, Update |
Sometimes the importance of a clinical trial extends way beyond the specific drug under study. That’s the case with the Phase II data recently released by Ionis for FIXRx. The trial did show efficacy in the treatment of kidney disease. But the most important...
November 17, 2016 @ 7:33 pm | INCY, Jubak Picks Portfolio, Update |
Incyte (INCY) has been one of the big movers in the biotech rally after Donald Trump’s victory in the November 8 presidential election. The stock is up 26.7% from the close on November 3 to the close today, November 17. (Incyte is a member of my Jubak Picks...
November 16, 2016 @ 11:32 pm | Breaking News, Leading Indicators, Volatility |
Oil prices were all over the chart on Wednesday, November 17, as negative data battled optimistic words. Look out for more days of this war as we get closer to the November 30 meeting of OPEC that is supposed to result (but might not) in an agreement to significantly...
November 16, 2016 @ 7:55 pm | Jubak Picks Portfolio, Sell, SH, Volatility |
It looks like the third quarter saw the end of the long earning recession for Standard & Poor’s 500 companies. That recession had seen earnings for the S&P 500 companies drop for five straight quarters. With more than 90% of the S&P 500 companies...
November 15, 2016 @ 7:52 pm | ACAD, Buy, Jubak Picks Portfolio |
The big test for Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) this quarter certainly wasn’t earnings. As an early stage biotech losses are expected and that’s exactly what the company delivered when it reported third quarter results on November 7. The loss came to 61...
November 15, 2016 @ 5:10 pm | BMY, Breaking News, Jubak Picks Portfolio, Update |
Back on August 8 Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) announced that its key immuno-oncology drug Opdivo had failed to demonstrate its efficacy in a trial for treating lung cancer. At the time I characterized this particular trial as a part of a go-for-broke strategy that would...
November 14, 2016 @ 7:28 pm | Breaking News, Volatility |
The rout in global bonds continued today. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury climbed 7 basis points to 2.22% as of 3 p.m. New York time. That’s the highest level since January and comes after a jump of 37 basis points last week. Yields on the 10-year German...
November 14, 2016 @ 7:15 pm | Breaking News, Volatility |
I suspect that today’s “rally” in oil was simple a result of the commodity falling too far, too fast and opening the way for some traders to make a buck or two on the upside. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell to $42.24 a barrel as of 11:45...
November 11, 2016 @ 7:49 pm | Breaking News, Leading Indicators, Volatility |
Global bond markets fell to the tune of a more than $1 trillion loss this week after Donald Trump’s win in the U.S. presidential election. The market value of the Bank of America’s Global Broad Market Index, which tracks 24,000 bonds around the world, fell...
November 10, 2016 @ 7:23 pm | Breaking News, Leading Indicators, Volatility, You May Have Missed |
The problem with trying to put together a comprehensive guide to the likely investment impacts of a Trump administration on the fly in the day after the election is that you inevitably leave stuff out. This being the Internet, however, it’s easy to add on to...
November 9, 2016 @ 7:58 pm | Breaking News, Leading Indicators, Volatility, You May Have Missed |
And to think that just yesterday I was scouting for an investment that would let me go long the Mexican peso and thinking of cutting back my exposure to biotechs. Not today. My thinking on both those potential investments has been turned upside down by Donald’s...
November 8, 2016 @ 5:56 pm | AAPL, Buy, Jubak Top 50 Portfolio, Recent Buys |
Today, I’m going to tell you why Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 7 is way ahead in the race to build the next new device, the one that comes after the smartphone as it now exists. I think that leading position means you should add Apple stock to your long-term...
November 8, 2016 @ 2:00 pm | Breaking News, Jubak Picks Portfolio, MGM, Update |
MGM Resorts International (MGM) hit a new 52-week high during intraday trading on November 7. The stock is now up 119.96% since I added it to my Jubak Picks portfolio back on May 4, 2012. Shouldn’t I just take my profits and run? Well, Yes if all the catalysts...
November 7, 2016 @ 6:44 pm | Breaking News, Volatility |
The hedges have been coming off today as the financial markets react to FBI director James Comey’s second letter on the FBI’s perusal of a trove of email’s on a laptop that was shared by Clinton aide Huma Abedin with her estranged husband (and former...
November 4, 2016 @ 6:43 pm | Breaking News, Leading Indicators |
Crude oil prices moved lower again today, Friday, November 4. And there were plenty of reasons for the continued downward trend. Which suggests that the market is likely to continue to move lower on Monday. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell another 1.07%...
November 4, 2016 @ 6:34 pm | Breaking News, Leading Indicators |
The U.S. economy added 161,000 jobs in October and the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised the September job total upwards to 191,000. The original September report put the month’s job gains at 156,000. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting the economy...
November 3, 2016 @ 7:56 pm | Breaking News, FB, Jubak Top 50 Portfolio, Update, You May Have Missed |
Facebook (FB) crushed Wall Street expectations for the third quarter when it announced earnings after the close yesterday. And yet the shares closed down 5.68% today to $119.95. How come? Some of it is the general market nervous that I spelled out in my Morning...
November 2, 2016 @ 7:06 pm | Breaking News, Leading Indicators |
This isn’t what oil markets needed after OPEC talks last weekend revealed the deep fissures among OPEC members that stand in the way of an agreement to reduce production emerging from the organization’s November 30 meeting. This morning the U.S. Energy...
November 2, 2016 @ 6:54 pm | Breaking News, Leading Indicators |
Odds for a December interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve climbed to 78% today after the U.S. central bank held short-term rates steady at 0.25%-0.50% at its Wednesday meeting, but said that “the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has continued to...
November 1, 2016 @ 7:13 pm | Buy, FB, Jubak Top 50 Portfolio, You May Have Missed |
How high are expectations for Facebook’s (FB) third quarter earnings report after the close on November 2? The report comes with the stock at an all-time high. (Shares closed at $130.99 on October 31.) Wall Street is looking for 96 cents a share, up from 57...