Correction: I’m adding DuPont to my 50 Stocks (not Dividend) Portfolio
I’d be willing to be dollars to donuts that U.S. stocks won’t repeat their first half performance–up 17.4% on the Standard & Poor’s 500–in the second half of the year. It’s hard for me to find a catalyst that isn’t...
The U.S. could hit debt ceiling default earlier than expected
Today, the Bipartisan Policy Center said there is a “significant risk” that the U.S. will breach its debt limit in September unless Congress acts. The last time the independent think tank projected possible U.S. default the group pointed to October or November. The...
Wishing you a fun and safe Fourth of July
U.S. financial markets are closed tomorrow for the Fourth of July. And so am I. All concerned will be back in business on Friday when we’re due to see the jobs numbers for June. Have a happy Fourth! Don’t scare the dog with too many fireworks. And stay...
Now it’s the service sector showing weakness
In a report on Monday the Purchasing Managers’ Index for the U.S. manufacturing sector slipped. For June the index moved down to 51.7 from 52.1 in May. That still signals expansion–anything over 50 denotes expansion, anything under 50 signals...
Head of Cleveland Fed argues against July interest rate cut–markets shrugs off her comments
In a speech today, July 2, in London Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank, argued against an interest rate cut at the central bank’s July 31 meeting. “Cutting rates at this juncture could reinforce negative sentiment about a...
Can earnings be the catalyst to take markets higher? Not this quarter, at least
Join me on my search for the elusive catalyst that could take U.S. stocks higher from what is already an all-time high. Quiet, though, catalysts can be very shy. Peaking through the bushes surrounding the water hole, I can see signs of company earnings. The big banks,...
China, U.S. economic data take gloss off of trade truce
Earlier this morning–11 a.m. New York time–the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index was up almost 1% on news that talks between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping had resulted in a trade truce and the resumption of talks aimed at...
No. 2 Value Pick Constellation Brands up 4.73% today on earnings
On June 26 I added Constellation Brands (STZ), my No. 2 pick in my 5 Best Value Picks Special Report on my JubakAM.com subscription site to my Volatility Portfolio on JubakAM.com and JugglingWithKnives.com. Today, June 28, Constellation Brands closed 4.73% higher on...
Is that inflation we see?
The core Personal Consumption Expenditures Index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, picked up in May by 0.2% from April. That took the annual inflation rate to 1.6%. That was just above the median estimate from economists surveyed by Bloomberg and...
Adding Palo Alto Networks, #6 in my 10 Best Picks for the Rest of 2019 on JubakAM.com, to my Jubak Picks and Volatility Portfolios tomorrow
Today I made Palo Alto Networks (PANW) the sixth pick in my Special Report 10 Best Picks for the Rest of 2019 on my JubakAM.com subscription site. Tomorrow, June 28, I’ll add these shares to my Jubak Picks Portfolio and my Volatility Portfolio with a target...
How low can 10-year Treasury yields go? How about another 25 basis points
Today with the yield on the 10-year Treasury down to 2.02%, a drop of 2 basis points, two Wall Street heavy weights are predicting that we haven’t seen a bottom in yield yet. Not by a long shot. Goldman Sachs today cut its forecast for the year-end yield on the...
Oil rallies on U.S. inventory drawdown, record U.S. exports, slip in U.S. production–and, oh yes, those pesky tensions with Iran
U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude is now up 10% for the week following on a 2.44% jump in price to $59.24 a barrel today. International benchmark Brent crude gained 1.94% to $66.31 a barrel. Continued tensions between the United States and Iran, of course,...
Trump interview utterly confuses markets ahead of Saturday meeting with China’s Xi
So what does the United States want out of the Saturday talks between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping? In a Wednesday interview with Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo Trump thoroughly confused expectations. The market consensus had been...
Whoa! on those interest rate cuts, the Fed says
The financial markets are getting ahead of themselves in a bad case of rate cut fever, Fed chair Jerome Powell, and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard both said today. This is a message that I’ve been waiting to hear as the financial markets moved to price in...
Confrontation with Iran continues to heat up
You can measure exactly how worried the oil sector is about more attacks in the Persian Gulf by trading the insurance premiums for oil tankers in the region. War risk premiums for a standard oil cargo from the Persian Gulf and the tanker hauling it can now cost...
Raising target price on Tencent Holdings , #4 in my 10 Best Picks for the Next 6 months of 2019 Special Report on JubakAM.com
In my first three picks for my Special Report 10 Best Picks for the Next Six Months of 2019 on my subscription site JubakAM.com I’ve focused on index ETFs that, in my opinion, will ride the big trend of lower interest rates higher in 2019. In other words, these...
$416 billion for seawalls in the United States by 2040–that’s a lot of gravel sales for Vulcan Materials
In the next 20 years spending on seawalls to protect communities could cost as much as the initial investment in the interstate highway system. Total spending to defend against rising ocean levels could run to $416 billion in the next 20 years, according to a report...
Adding Vanguard Short Term Treasury ETF to my Picks Portfolio
Last night I made Vanguard Short Term Treasury ETF (VGSH) the No. 2 pick in my Special Report 10 Best Picks for the Next 6 Months of 2019 on my JubakAM.com subscription site. Today I’m adding it to my Jubak Picks Portfolio on all my sites. I’m calling this...
Apple contemplates moving some production from China–but not back to the United States
President Donald Trump has argued that slapping higher tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the United States would bring jobs back to this country–if China didn’t agree to a new trade deal–as companies moved factories in order to avoid the higher...
Federal Reserve rhetoric moves strongly toward interest rate cut
So much for “patient.” Today after the meeting of the Open Market Committee on interest rates the Federal Reserve announced that it would leave benchmark interest rates at the current 2.25% to 2.50%. But in its words the Fed delivered what the market hoped...
Presidents Trump and Xi now likely to meet at G20 gathering
Apparently U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will talk at next week’s meeting of the Group of 20 in Osaka Japan. President Trump tweeted his morning: “Had a very good telephone conversation with President Xi of China. We will be...
I added Parsley Energy to my Jubak Picks Portfolio back on April 17–but neglected to post it to the portfolio
Back on April 17, I made Parsley Energy (PE) my first disruption in the oil sector pick in my Special Report on Disrupted Sectors on my JubakAM.com subscription site. I didn’t actually post that pick to the portfolio on all my sites, however, and this post,...
Two more oil tankers attacked in Gulf of Oman; here’s how financial assets moved and which might be interesting ahead
For the second time in a month two oil tankers came under attack in international waters near the strategic Strait of Hormuz. One ship, a Japanese-owned tanker carrying methanol, was apparently attacked by limpet bombs attached to its hull or by a mine. The second...
Chip recovery keeps slipping further away, Broadcom says
Today Broadcom (AVGO) cut its annual sales forecast, saying that the U.S.-China trade war will wipe out the rebound in orders that it had predicted for the second half of 2019. Revenue at the chipmaker for fiscal 2019 will be $22.5 billion instead of the $24.5 billion...
Oil falls to lowest level in five months; Brent breaks below $60 a barrel
Oil slumped to its lowest in almost five months and international benchmark Brent crude book below $60 a barrel today, June 12. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 4% today to $51.14 a barrel, threatening the $50 a barrel psychological benchmark. Brent fell...
Nektar Therapeutics bumps along ahead of August FDA action on new non-addictive opioid
Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) have been bumping along between $32 and $34 for two months now, but the company continues to take steps to prepare for the likely August approval of NKTR-181, a new non-addictive opioid. Nektar has formed Inheris Biopharma, a...
Materials stocks up today even as U.S.-China trade fears linger
I think the strong move in commodities stocks today has more to do with continued weakness in the U.S. dollar than it does with any renewed faith in growth in the global economy. After all the U.S.-China trade war doesn’t look any more settled today than it did...
U.S. stocks wander as China trade worries nag
The market doesn’t go up every day so it’s important not to over-react to minor weakness. As of the close today New York time the Standard & Poor’s 500 index was off a slight 0.03%; the Dow Jones Industrial Average had slipped 0.05%. The NASDAQ...
Adding Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico to my Dividend Portfolio on Monday
Now that President Donald Trump’s tariff threat isn’t hanging over the Mexican economy (for the moment, anyway), I’m adding Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (PAC) to my Dividend Portfolio on Monday. The shares of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico,...Jim’s Daily Email Alerts:
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