Salient to Investors: Rick Fier at Conifer Securities said Bernanke’s message that tapering is coming, the economy is improving, and rates will be low for a time is taking hold in the market, and with better than expected initial jobless claims and OK earnings its hard not to be bullish. The S&P
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for a 0.2 percent gain in GDP in the next the next 3 to 6 months. Kenneth Kim at Stone & McCarthy Research uncertainties for businesses are more limited going forward. Ken Goldstein at the Conference Board said some
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Jonathan Weil writes: The reason it’s a good idea to separate securities firms from commercial banks is to protect consumers from brokers selling schlock investments. There are countless tales of banks cross-selling unsuitable investments to unsophisticated customers. Many people trust the advice they get from their local
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Baby boomers are retiring at the worst time in a generation or more, as bond yields and stock dividends have tumbled to 2 percent, and the cohort never saved like their parents and grandparents. Pension plans have largely disappeared from the private sector, home values are the
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Jeremy Siegel at Wharton said: The start of tapering in September is already baked into bond and stocks prices and won’t stop stocks rising to between Dow 16,000 and 17,000 by year-end and 17,000 or more in 2014 as long as earnings continue to beat expectations at
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Matthew Crews at Smith Patrick Financial Advisors writes: The combination of a high CAPE valuation and above-trend earnings is bearish. Either earnings growth will rebound, or more likely market valuations will compress. The market expects a strong rebound in earnings in half2, 2013. More likely is downward
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Street Authority writes: The AAII survey shows less than 20% of investors are bearish, the lowest reading in 18 months. Stocks tend to rally when the AAII survey finds few bullish investors. Technical indicators including momentum and not fundamental indicators like valuations and growth rates are driving the
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Argutori writes: The financial markets are due for a correction. Volatility in the financial markets will spike before the end of 2013 because: Volatility can’t go much lower. Historically, when the VIX has dropped below 15 the S&P 500 tends to fall as well. Over the past
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The IMF said: Risks are increasing that China’s economic growth this year will fall short of its forecast of 7.75 percent. China is becoming increasingly vulnerable to risks from an expansion of non-traditional sources of credit and borrowing by local governments. China’s heavy reliance on credit and investment to sustain activity is raising
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Caroline Baum writes: For the past two months, the Fed has been doing everything in its power to depress long-term interest rates. The Fed seems to talk as if they can send rates tumbling again. They can’t. The problem is the underlying message, not communication. The US economy is gradually
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