Salient to Investors: Martin Connaghan at Aberdeen Asset Mgmt said: Buying industrial stocks with stable revenue and selling health-care stocks as uncertainty about the global economy has caused cyclicals to lag pharma and other defensive stocks by a margin that is too wide to ignore. The outlook for cyclical stocks
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Currency trading suggests traders are dismissing the prospect of an upset “yes” in the September 18 referendum on Scottish independence. Strategists say the pound’s peaks and troughs in 2014 reflect the prospect of the BOE becoming one of the first major central banks to raise rates. Geoffrey Yu
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The value of equities globally is at a record $66 trillion versus $25 trillion in March 2009 and $63 trillion at the 2007 peak. The US stock rally is approaching the dot-com bubble in terms of speed, but not in valuations – at 16.8x estimated earnings versus 26x at
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Amundi Asset Management, Credit Suisse and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank expect Hong Kong stocks to struggle as reduced Fed stimulus weighs on developers and banks that comprise over 35 percent of the index. Ayaz Ebrahim at Amundi Asset Mgmt says China is too cheap and is selling
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Mark Matthews at Julius Baer said the sell-off of Thai assets is not over and the protests will weaken Yingluck’s ability to increase investment in the economy – no one is itching to buy this market. Joel Kim at BlackRock said the Thai baht is one of
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Bloomberg New Energy Finance says peak fossil fuels demand could happen in 2030 – the point when humans stop increasing their annual burn, either because the environmental danger makes it too costly or because buildings and cars run more efficiently. Oil and coal companies worth more than
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Marco Oviedo at Barclays said teacher protests are a sign that President Nieto may struggle to push through his energy and tax-law plans without modification. Oviedo said education reform shows that it won’t be easy to pass other reforms that hurt certain political groups or interests. Opposition to Nieto’s pledges
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The Euro Stoxx 50 Index is at 12.5 times projected earnings, versus 15.3 times projected earnings for the S&P 500 and 14.2 times income for the Topix. Bulls say European stocks are cheap as the first expansion for euro-area manufacturing in 2 years helps drive forecasts for profit growth of more
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The MSCI China Index has gained 14 percent, including dividends, since July 1993 versus 452 percent for the S&P 500 Index, 322 percent for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and 86 percent from US Treasuries. Only the MSCI Japan Index had a weaker performance among the 10 largest
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Marc Chandler at Brown Brothers Harriman said there is one big story and that is, of course, Bernanke, and given that his comments rattled the market a couple of times now in a short period of time, many traders will be loath to take significant positions ahead of his address
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