Glimmers Of Hope For The Economy?
We have been pointing out for over a year now that the trend in the economic data has been negative and we’ve taken some grief for that as the stock market has marched higher. Jeff Snider, in particular, has been raked over the coals by some commenters (public and private) for his reporting on the .. read more
Fear Is Receding, Greed Winning Going Away
Well, as I said in last week’s update, volatility has returned. It was another wild week in global markets with politicians, central bankers and even some actual economic data providing the fireworks. Japan barely kept the JGB/Nikkei roller coaster on the tracks with a wild week that ended with the Nikkei in what some are .. read more
Mea Gulpa?
I wrote last week that investing today requires a huge dose of humility and so with that in mind, I have to admit that I’ve been…..well, to be kind to my ego, I’ll just say I’ve been too cautious about the market recently. Anyone who bothers to read these weekly missives knows that I turned .. read more
Markets & Economy Update
The sentiment regarding US stocks has recently gotten even more bullish and while our longer term outlook is fairly bullish, it is hard to maintain that stance in the short term. The AAII weekly poll now has bulls at 46.5%, bears at 26.9% and fence sitters at 26.6%. While that isn’t enough to send me .. read more
Revisions, Revisions, Revisions
In the context of the now-permanent establishment of QE, there was little note of the downward revisions to the Fed’s economic “forecast” for both 2012 and 2013. The revisions were minor in the, of course, downward direction, but we just need to give them time to be fully downgraded. Last December, the FOMC said the .. read more
Is The US Already In Recession?
Is the US economy already in a recession? That’s what Lakshman Achuthan of the Economic Cycle Research Institute believes. He made the media rounds last week and his message was a simple one – the US economy has been in recession since July of this year. ECRI has a flawless record of predicting US recessions .. read more
Correction On The Horizon
I’m traveling today (and a little under the weather to boot) so this will be a fairly short update. I’ve spent the last week visiting clients and potential clients in Augusta, GA and Asheville, NC and before I get started, I’d just like to thank our representatives Larry Hogue and Bob Williams in Augusta and .. read more
Fed, ECB Do Nothing, Markets Don’t Crash
There’s an old saying on Wall Street that the market will always act in a way that frustrates the majority of market participants. If that is true, then it goes without saying that the majority must be bearish because this market has had ample opportunities to move lower and steadfastly refuses to do so. Coming .. read more
