Salient to Investors: David Stockman writes: The S&P 500 has sliced through both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. 2130 on the S&P 500 will prove to be a generational high. CAT, China, European luxury brands, the NASDAQ Biotech Index are shorts. Expect the Fed to announce they are well short of
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Brad Kinkelaar at Pimco said: The underperformance of many high-dividend stocks in the past 8 months shows a sentiment shift already is under way. If rates continue to rise through 2014, albeit gradually, telecom, utility and REITs should continue to underperform the market. Look for stocks with
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Ryan Sweet at Moody’s Analytics said conditions for stronger growth are falling into place for early 2014, and housing will kick in and spur faster growth. Michelle Girard at RBS Securities expects the shopping season to be OK as employment growth of around 200,000 jobs a month
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Retailers from Macy’s to Wal-Mart Stores missed Q2 sales estimates and cut forecasts. Jennifer Davis at Lazard Capital Markets sees a shift away from spending on apparel and discretionary items to spending on homes and automobiles as consumers feel better, are willing to spend on larger item purchases
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Economists are projecting consumer spending rose at the fastest pace in 2 years in Q1 and to slow to a 1.8 percent pace in Q2. Ellen Zentner at Nomura Securities Intl said households are making the difficult spending choices – there is no steam going into Q2. Ian Shepherdson at
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Piper Jaffray says new research shows: Teens are growing tired of Facebook and YouTube – which could have wide-ranging effects on retail, fashion, gaming, and other youth-oriented industries. The new hot teen channels in social media are Reddit, Twitter, Snapchat, Vine, and 4chan. Abercrombie & Fitch and
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The private-equity investment of $36 billion in US brick-and-mortar retailers before the recession in 2007 has not turned out well. Of the 8 largest retail private-equity buyouts during that period, only Dollar General has gone public Leon Nicholas at Kantar Retail said there is nothing special about
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: A. Gary Shilling at A. Gary Shilling & Co writes: Investor zeal for yield and disregard for risk favors the junkiest of the junk. When the grand disconnect between investor focus on the immense liquidity created by central banks and weak and weakening global economies becomes unsustainable, probably
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Nancy Koehn at Harvard said the boundaries between brick and mortar and online, and between channels is blurring. Koehn said we don’t yet know if online sales adds up to incremental, organic growth, but consumers are much smarter and much more adaptable. Nariman Behravesh at IHS said the consumer is in a very good mood because income growth is
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Fashion is the fastest-growing segment of online commerce. Men are flocking to websites, which are capturing a growing part of the $41 billion fashion e-commerce market. NPD Group says the women’s online clothing market is more than double men’s, but the men’s market is growing at a 13 percent annual
READ MORE... →