Tag Archives: 9) Personal Investment

New home sales fell by 17.30% in October, marking the most significant monthly decline in ten years, as shown in the graph on the left below. Furthermore, the supply of new homes on the market rose from 7.7 to 9.5 months. Not surprisingly, building permits fell by 0.4% following a 3.1% decline last month due to slowing sales. New home sales have been negative in six of the previous eight months. Furthermore, the Case-Shiller home price index shows weakness in the...

Inside This Week's Bull Bear Report Extreme Speculation Has Returned How We Are Trading It Research Report -Trumpflation Risks Likely Overstated Youtube - Before The Bell Market Statistics Stock Screens Portfolio Trades This Week A Note Of Thanksgiving While belated, we sincerely hope you had a happy and fulfilling Thanksgiving holiday. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, “I am grateful for what I am and have. My Thanksgiving is perpetual.”...

In a recent Commentary- MicroStrategy Is A Leveraged ETF In Disguise - we discussed the company's business model, which revolves almost entirely around highly speculative bitcoin and leverage. To wit: So, what is MicroStrategy? It’s a leveraged Bitcoin fund disguised as a non-profit technology company. Regarding leverage and speculation, we also recently discussed the surging use of options, particularly those with short time frames. Options employ significant...

Donald Trump nominated seasoned hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as the next Treasury Secretary. While the Treasury Secretary has many responsibilities, debt management is one of the most important. Therefore, given the recent scrutiny the bond market has been paying to high deficits and associated debt, Scott Bessent appears to be a timely appointment. Bessent appears to appreciate the bond market's concern, which helps explain why he immediately released his 3-3-3...

Credit spreads are critical to understanding market sentiment and predicting potential stock market downturns. A credit spread refers to the difference in yield between two bonds of similar maturity but different credit quality. This comparison often involves Treasury bonds (considered risk-free) and corporate bonds (which carry default risk). By observing these spreads, investors can gauge risk appetite in financial markets. Such helps investors identify stress...

Since the election, Bitcoin has risen nearly 50%. While Bitcoin investors are licking their chops, believing the magnificent rally will continue, they need to realize that Bitcoin is entering a period of pronounced seasonal volatility. The graph below from Sentimentrader shows that the recent performance has tracked the typical performance for the time of year. However, as they highlight with the green line, the recent gains may fade, and volatility in Bitcoin may...

Mark Cuban Says Trump's Tariff Proposals Will Ramp Up Prices- Business Insider Fed's Kashkari Says Trump Tariffs Could Reheat Inflation If They Provoke Global Trade War- CNBC Blanket Tariffs Would Be Incredibly Inflationary, Says Strategist- CNBC Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Warns "Sweeping Untargeted Tariffs" Would Reaccelerate Inflation- CBS News Trump Tariffs Expected To Spike Inflation, Interest Rates- Business Insider The headlines regarding...

Walmart's (WMT) shares opened higher as its earnings report surpassed expectations. EPS and revenues beat expectations. Moreover, the company increased its sales guidance for next year by a full percent. As its latest earnings report reminded us, Walmart is doing very well financially. Furthermore, its share price has surged, reflecting the company's health. While the price of Walmart shares should increase with its fundamentals, we must ask if the stock...

Many investors consider a decline of 20% or more to be a bear market. We can debate the merit of the random 20% figure, but according to that definition, gold miners, down 25% from its peak on October 22, are in a bear market. We have noted numerous times in the last month or so that gold and gold miners were getting very overbought based on their technicals. Furthermore, our recent article - Why Is Gold Surging? - highlights how the price of gold is diverging from...

Following President Trump's re-election, the S&P 500 has seen an impressive surge, climbing past 6,000 and sparking significant optimism in the financial markets. Unsurprisingly, the rush by perma-bulls to make long-term predictions is remarkable. For example, Economist Ed Yardeni believes this upward momentum will continue and has revised his long-term forecast, projecting that the S&P 500 will reach 10,000 by 2029. His forecast reflects a mix of factors...