Salient to Investors: Costco’s “Tiffany” engagement rings have nothing to do with the New York jewelry store, who is now fighting Costco in a multimillion-dollar trademark suit. In 2005, Good Morning America appraised a $16,600 Tiffany at $10,500 and a $6,600 Costco “Tiffany” at $8,000. Read the full article at http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-06/tiffany-vs-dot-costco-which-diamond-ring-is-better#r=rss
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Bond investors are gaining confidence that Bernanke will unwind the Fed’s $3.3 trillion balance sheet without sparking a crash similar to 1994. Money managers from JP Morgan to Fidelity say this time will be different, in part because of Bernanke’s transparency. Edward Fitzpatrick at JPMorgan said the Fed’s transparency should help offset
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The wealth effect from rising house prices may no longer be as effective in spurring the US economy as homeowners increasingly pay down mortgage principal and shorten maturities. Freddie Mac said cash-in refinancings outnumbered cash-outs by more than 2-to-1 in Q4 2012. Amir Sufi at the University of Chicago said the
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Hedge funds et al increased bets on a gold rally by the most in 3 weeks, while short contracts fell 9.2 percent, the most since March 19, though short holdings are still more than triple the average since 2006, when data begins. Net-bullish wagers across 18 US-traded raw
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Michael Kurtz at Nomura said resilient US private demand, plus stronger-than-expected jobs data should help risk appetite, so remains positive on regional equities. Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-06/asian-stocks-outside-japan-rise-on-u-s-jobs-growth.html Click here to receive free and immediate email alerts of the latest forecasts.
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Fareed Zakaria said: A recent Pew survey found that only 51 percent of Americans think it’s essential to act on immigration reform this year, versus 70 percent who demand a deficit reduction deal this year, despite the wealth of data that shows that immigration reform will lead
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: More investors are pursuing a modified DIY approach, using increasingly sophisticated online tools and a-la-carte advice services offered by financial firms. Surveys suggest between one-third and two-thirds of boomers manage their own investments. Ed Tracy at Deloitte Consulting said many investors were massively disillusioned by the perceived
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Mark Hulbert writes: The Utility Forecaster, whose editor is leaving, ranks first among 108 monitored services for risk-adjusted performance over the last 10 years, second out of 70 monitored services over the last 15 years, with above-average performance in both up and down markets over the last
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Mohamed El-Erian at Pimco said the inherent momentum of the US economy is still weak so the Fed may increase its efforts to support the economy following a meeting tomorrow by changing the narrative away from the Fed taking its foot off the accelerator. Kei Katayama at Daiwa SB Investments is below
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Jeremy Grantham at GMO says: The global economy is reckless in its use of all resources and natural systems and is showing many of the indicators of potential failure that brought down so many civilizations. Civilizations have an average lifespan of around 250 years. Failing civilizations suffered
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