The Fed edges closer to losing control over the inflation narrative ahead of tomorrow’s Open Market Committee meeting
The Federal Reserve is facing a “can’t win” situation as chair Jerome Powell prepares his post-meeting statement for tomorrow. If Powell indicates that the Fed is even a bit more worried about inflation, that the central bank is thinking that the...
With Fed meeting on tap for tomorrow, stocks slip on disappointing retail sales growth
Retail sales fell by 1.3% in May from April, the Commerce Department reported this morning. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had projected a 0.8% month over month drop. The month to month drop in retail sales was the first drop in month to month sales since February....
Ahead of Wednesday’s Fed meeting, stocks tread water
As of the close on Monday, June 4, the major stock indexes were treading water waiting to here what, if anything, the Federal Reserve might say after the Wednesday meeting of its interest-rate-setting body, the Open Market Committee. (No one really expects the Fed to...
Buying Cyber Security stock CrowdStrike in my Jubak Picks and Millennial portfolios
I posted Friday, June 11, that investors looking for a theme to buy in an expensive market had turned to Cyber Security stocks. Makes sense, I noted, with ransomware attacks running at a fast pace and forecast pointing to even more attacks on corporate and government...
CEO Dimon says JPMChase is building cash in expectation of higher interest rates
Today, Monday June 14, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon said that the bank is holding around $500 billion in cash in order to benefit from higher interest rates. Dimon told a Morgan Stanley virtual conference that he expects rising inflation will result in higher...
Investors see a theme to buy in CyberSecurity stocks today
Investors looking for a theme to buy in an expensive market where the Standard & Poor’s 500 hit a new all-time high yesterday today, June 11, looked to Cyber Security stocks. And why not with the newest round of ransomware attacks clearly not the last...
Faith in the Fed, yes, but today no one wanted to get too far ahead of the June 16 meeting
Yesterday the Standard & Poor’s 500 hit its first new all-time high since early May as investors and traders bought into the reassurance from the Federal Reserve that the 5% year over year increase in the Consumer Price Index was merely a temporary jump in...
Workers quitting their jobs at record pace
As long as we’re on the subject of the labor market and how hard it is to figure out whether or not we’re about to see an outbreak of wage-driven inflation in this economy, let’s take a quick look at the June 8 release of the JOLTS (Job Openings and...
Prices rise by a 5% year over year rate in May, market continues to buy Fed argument that inflation is temporary
Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose by 5 percent in May from May 2020. That’s the fastest rate of increase since the Great Recession that followed on the Global Financial Crisis. Both the Federal Reserve and the Biden White House...
Watch my first YouTube Q&A video from yesterday, June 9
I’ve starting up my videos again–this time using YouTube as a platform. And yesterday I tried something new–a live Q&A. If you missed watching me answer questions from viewers–submitted in advance or live–you can watch it at the link...
Adding Ford to my Jubak Picks Portfolio
Today I made Ford (F) my fifth pick for a falling market in my Special Report: Five Picks and Five Hedges for a Falling Market on my JubakAM.com subscription site. Some of the logic of that pick is laid in n more detail in the Special Report. With momentum stocks...
Join me tomorrow, Wednesday, at 6 p.m. for a live Q&A on YouTube and Instagram
Tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET instead of my usual YouTube video, I’ll be hosting a live Q&A on my YOuTube channel and on Instagram. I’ll be talking about inflation, supply chain shortages, market volatility, and whether the Nets can beat the Bucks without...
On the market’s risk complacency, I’m adding another VIX call to my Volatility Portfolio–this one for October
The CBOE S&P Volatility Index (VIX) dropped 8.9% on Friday, June 4, to 16.44. It’ up just slightly today to 16.73 (up 1.89%) as of 2 p.m. New York time. That’s, in my opinion, an extremely low reading on the fear index considering how many potentially...
Join me for a live Q&A this week on YouTube and Instagram
This week instead of my usual YouTube video, I’ll be hosting a live Q&A on my YOuTube channel and on Instagram. I’ll be talking about inflation, supply chain shortages, market volatility, and whether the Nets can beat the Bucks without James Harden....
Selling VanEck Vectors Low Carbon Energy ETF out of my Jubak Picks Portfolio on June 3
Back when I bought the VanEck Vectors Low Carbon Energy ETF (SMOG) for my Jubak Picks Portfolio on January 7, 2021, it looked like this ETF’s overweighting in shares of Tesla (TSLA) would be an advantage. After all, the shares of the maker of the world’s...
Will we get a “Goldilocks” job report for May tomorrow morning?
Employment numbers today suggest that we could get a Goldilocks May job report tomorrow. The ADP Research employment survey said U.S. private employers added 742,000 jobs in May. That’s the most in seven months. But it is slightly below the 850,000 projected by...
Watch my New YouTube video: “4 Picks to Shoot the Moon”
I’m starting up my videos on JubakAM.com again–this time using YouTube as a platform. The twenty-sixth YouTube video “4 Picks to Shoot the Moon” went up today. Please watch and subscribe to my YouTube channel. And like my video. You can see it...
Another slow day for the indexes–and another roaring day for “meme” stocks
The market as a whole continued to tread water today, June 2, as it waits for Friday’s report on May job gains. The Standard & Poor’s 500 closed up 0.14% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished ahead 0.07%. The NASDAQ Composite ended higher by...
Stocks on pause as market waits for Friday’s May jobs numbers
The last time the government reported monthly jobs numbers, investors and traders faced a big surprise. In April the U.S. economy added only 266,000 jobs. That was well below expectations for the addition of 1 million jobs in the month. Waiting for the May jobs report...
PCE inflation up at 3.6% rate in April; financial markets agree that inflation surge is temporary
Inflation as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, rose at a year over year rate of 3.6% in April. Prices rose 0.6% in April from March, the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced this morning....
Biggest oil and climate change news yesterday wasn’t at ExxonMobil or Chevron
Yesterday, May 26, a Dutch court ordered Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) to cut its carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 compared with 2019 levels in a case brought by climate activist groups. The Hague District Court ruled that the Anglo-Dutch energy company has a duty to care...
Shareholders vote their unhappiness with ExxonMobil’s strategy on climate change
Remember that shareholders almost never exercise their power as owners when you think about yesterday’s news from ExxonMobil (XOM). On Wednesday, May 26, ExxonMobil shareholders voted to install at least two new independent directors to the company’s board. (The...
I’m selling Kinder Morgan out of my Dividend Portfolio
Like many (most? all?) oil-related stocks Kinder Morgan (KMI), the operator of 70,000 miles of natural gas pipelines, has moved up strongly during the recent rally in the price of oil. The stock, a member of my Dividend Portfolio since February 24, 2016, has gained...
Watch my new YouTube video: 5 big FinTech disruptors
I’m starting up my videos again–this time using YouTube as a platform. The twenty-fifth YouTube video “5 big FinTech disruptors” went up today. Please watch and subscribe to my YouTube channel. And like my video. You can see it...
Gold draws near even for the year, approaches resistance
Gold closed up yesterday, May 24, by 0.27% to $1884.00 an ounce for August delivery on the COMEX. That took the metal to its highest price since its January 5 high for 2021 at $1954. The rally in gold from a March 8 low at $1678 an ounce, has not only brought gold...
Sell Equinor after oil recovery and dividend date
Oil prices have bounced back big time and with them the prices on oil stocks. I still think the long-term trend is against oil producers as efforts to combat global warming lead to lower consumption of fossil fuels. Equinor (EQNR), Norway’s state oil company,...
Splits still work? Nvidia gains 4.1% on news of 4 for 1 split
Nvidia’s (NVDA) board has declared a 4 for 1 stock split effective after the close on July 19. Assuming that share holders approve at the company’s June 3 annual meeting. (Gee, you think shareholders would vote against a split?) The stock is up 4.1% today,...
May 26 is a big day for Exxon, the global oil industry, and global climate change
ExxonMobil’s (XOM) May 26 annual meeting has turned into a referendum on the global oil industry and climate change. At issue is a key question for the industry and the global climate: How much of the oil that’s been discovered to date but not pumped so...
No, the sky isn’t falling on stocks, but it will take more than a one-day bounce to reverse patterns of weakness
At the close today the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 1.06%; the NASDAQ Composite had gained 1.77%; and the small cap Russell 2000 finished ahead 0.64%. Those gains put a stop to a string of three straight days of declines. But today’s upside move...Jim’s Daily Email Alerts:
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