Is Two Months the End of the Cycle?
The ISM Manufacturing reports for January and February 2013 looked to be showing a noticeable rebound in manufacturing activity after some rather dicey months in the second half of 2012. I posited that this rebound was largely inconsistent with broader data (notably durable goods and factory orders) and explained them in the context of a .. read more
IBM Earnings, Q4 & FY 2012
Some good results from Big Blue in an extremely tough environment. Across the board there was strength in the key areas, including 80% growth in cloud computing (a segment we want to see IBM as a leader). In terms of numbers, EPS growth was 10% for the full year, to $14.37, while net profits rose .. read more
Weekly Economic & Market Review
And so another year has passed into the history books – the older I get, the faster they seem to go – and investors must again try to position their portfolios for a profitable year. It hasn’t been easy to do the last few years and this year promises to be just as challenging. The .. read more
Weekly Economic & Market Review
What would you think if you surfed over to the home page of the Wall Street Journal tomorrow and saw this headline: Malaysian Recession Threatens US Economic Expansion How about this one? Oman Facing Depression – World Economy At Risk Or this one? Ghana Prime Minister Resigns, US Investors Await Formation of New Government Or .. read more
Weekly Economic & Market Review
The economic data last week continued to defy the prognostications of impending economic doom. The vast majority of the reports were better than expected – although not good enough to disperse the Occupy (insert your city here) protestors. Based on the rate of improvement in the employment statistics, the occupiers encamped down at Wall and .. read more
Weekly Chart Review
-Joseph Gomez The week began with all eyes on the 1140-1143 support level in the S&P 500. Last week, I highlighted the fact that the S&P 500 was in a short-term upward channel and that any breaks from the lower trading band could mean more selling was imminent. The index actually crossed below momentarily but .. read more
Weekly Economic and Market Review
There wasn’t a lot of good news last week – not actual good news anyway – but investors appear to be grasping for anything to justify taking on the risk the Fed so desperately wants them to take. And take it they did last week with stocks rebounding a quick 5.6% based on nothing more .. read more
Weekly Economic and Market Review
Why haven’t stock prices fallen more? I’ve been asking myself that question every day for weeks and I don’t have a good answer. The US economic data continues to weaken. Europe is still grappling with its debt problems and a Greek default – at a minimum – seems more likely by the day. It seems .. read more
