Salient to Investors: Brad Sorensen at Charles Schwab said the World Bank cuts in growth forecasts are reminders that there’s still work to be done. Sorensen likes earnings so far and the sizable money on the sidelines could boost the market higher. The World Bank cut its global growth forecast for
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: EPFR Global said investors added a record $3.1 billion to equity mutual funds in the first week of 2013, the most since it began tracking the industry in 2000. Investors withdrew $69.1 billion from US equity funds in 2012 and $375 billion since 2007. Walter Todd at Greenwood Capital Associates said
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Morgan Stanley said leverage among equity managers climbed to the highest level to start any year since at least 2004. Margin debt at NYSE firms rose in November to the highest since February 2008. James Dunigan at PNC Wealth Mgmt said leverage is increasing among hedge-funds. Gross leverage at hedge
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: James Paulsen at Wells Capital Mgmt said Apple is the story for the market and proxy for other companies and industries. James Cordwell at Atlantic Equities Service said IPhone sales are slowing because smartphones have saturated developed markets. Almost 80 percent of the 28 S&P 500 companies so far
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture says: Obama has nowhere to go but up in selecting the new Treasury Secretary as Larry Summers and Tim Geithner were asleep at the switch when the crisis occurred and were there to help the banks and not service the taxpayers.
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The 20 stocks with the highest short sales in the S&P 500 rose an average of 5.1 percent in December versus 0.7 percent for the Index, the widest performance gap since January 2012. Equities tend to rally when companies with the most short interest outperform – like in
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The MSCI All-Country World Index of equities increased 16.9 percent in 2012 including dividends, versus 0.1 percent for the S&P GSCI Total Return Index of 24 commodities, 0.5 percent for the US Dollar Index, and 5.73 percent for the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Broad Market Index. James Dunigan at PNC Wealth
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: John-Paul Smith at Deutsche Bank said stocks in the major developing markets will again lag global equities in 2013 – China has focused on increasing the pool of buyers for Chinese assets, rather than boosting the role of free markets and privately run companies in the broader economy. Smith prefers cash to BRIC
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Laszlo Birinyi at Birinyi Associates expects the fourth and final stage of the bull market to take the S&P 500 to a record high in 2013, driven by capitulating bears, individual investors piling in, US housing continuing to expand, and markets rallying in Europe. Birinyi said this 4-year bull market resembles the bull markets in the
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Americans have missed $200 billion of stock gains by draining money from the market in the past 4 years. Since the bull market began in March 2009, the proportion of retirement funds in stocks fell 0.5 percent versus the average rise of 8.2 percent in rallies since 1990. ICI
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