Salient to Investors: Ivan Martchev at Navellier & Assoc writes: Last week’s equity collapse was predicted by the dramatic increase in the spread between junk bonds and Treasuries. Credit spreads are good overall indicators. The sell-off in junk bonds was caused by weak commodity prices: new capacity in hard commodities and energy has
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Miles Hoffman writes: Expect at least a 20% move down, and a seasonally bearish Fall. Bear markets have two phases, and can move down and up sharply. The first is where the leading sector of the prior bull market goes into a bear market, while other sectors
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Fareed Zakaria said: New America reports that, since 9-11, 74 people have been killed in America by terrorists vs. over 150,000 killed in gun homicides. ShootingTracker.com says that in the first 207 days of 2015 America had 207 mass shootings. Gunpolicy.org says America’s gun homicide rate is 50 times
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: New research suggests the advice analysts give in bad times seems to be even worse than the boosterism they peddle in good times. Roger Loh of Singapore Management University and René Stulz of Ohio State found: Analysts’ forecasts of profits and buy/sell recommendations from 1983-2011 were less
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: On April 8, Microsoft cuts off tech support for Windows XP, meaning that most of the 420,000 ATMs in the US running XP will no longer receive regular security patches and won’t be in compliance with industry standards. Most machines that get upgraded will shift to Windows
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: ATP, Denmark’s biggest pension fund said: Unprecedented stimulus from the biggest central banks has supported prices in “risky” markets, including equities, so investors need to brace themselves for potential disruptions when normalization of monetary policy comes, as recent investor reaction to the Fed’s warning of tapering showed
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The term “he cha” in Chinese, literally meaning to drink tea, is a euphemism for the informal interrogation of citizens deemed to have stepped out of line. Accounts of such conversations have proliferated online, describing how police use the talks to try to suppress activities that are considered
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Justin Smirk at Westpac Banking said China coming in below expectations is adding to the downside risks in commodities, while Europe is performing badly and the US is not looking great. Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-23/copper-oil-lead-commodity-decline-as-china-manufacturing-slows.html Click here to receive free and immediate email alerts of the latest
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Luke Sims at Eagle Capital Growth Fund said Warren Buffett is trying to build up his stock pickers Combs and Weschler to show he hired the right money managers to succeed him. Buffett book author Jeff Matthews said the 2012 performance by Combs and Weschler was extraordinary but wants to see
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Lou Crandall at Wrightson ICAP said economic activity rose in part due to spillover effects from the housing recovery, but a sequence of budget-related concerns overhangs consumer spending. Ken Goldstein at the Conference Board said the underlying economy remains relatively sound but sluggish, with the biggest positive being housing.
READ MORE... →