honglouwawa By Rupert Watts Popularized by Warren Buffett, the term economic moat refers to a company’s sustainable competitive advantage that allows it to preserve market share and generate high profits over the long term. In this analogy, companies are compared to medieval castles surrounded by deep and wide moats, which protected the castles from attack….
PM Images In a recent article, I argued that the Russell 2000 (RTY) and other well-known, small-cap, equity indexes and funds have a problem: too many unprofitable companies dragging down returns. Some small-cap indexes and funds avoid these issues through profitability screens, leading to stronger returns and outperformance relative to the Russell. The largest of…
Userba011d64_201 By Peter C. Earle The AIER Everyday Price Index saw its third largest increase in over a year in March 2024, shooting up 0.82 percent. That rise brings our proprietary inflation index to a new record high of 289.2, surpassing the previous high of 288.60 reached in September 2023. AIER Everyday Price Index vs….
martin-dm By Carsten Brzeski One day before the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the second estimate of fourth quarter GDP growth has confirmed the shallow German recession in 2023, while the latest Ifo index reading gives very little hope for imminent improvement. In more detail, the GDP components for the fourth quarter of…
DNY59 The SPX is being driven higher by speculative momentum chasing, with a dwindling number of mega cap stocks supporting the advance. Retail investors appear to be panic buying in both individual growth stocks and options markets, with little appetite for downside protection. These are similar conditions to those seen just prior to previous volatility…
Viktor Aheiev/iStock via Getty Images As the UK share market shows possible signs of weakness early in 2024, we look at ways of reducing equity risk. In an earlier blog, we explored the FTSE 100 Target Volatility index, which adjusts its exposure to equities and cash to target a specific level of index volatility. In…
tadamichi By Catherine Yoshimoto, Director, Product Management After a sharp downturn in 2022, large cap equities bounced back to deliver strong performance in 2023. The Russell 1000 Index posted a 26.5% return for the year, largely buoyed by the Magnificent Seven. However, several other constituents were contributors to strong 2023 index performance—and these companies wouldn’t…
imaginima The ClearBridge MLP and Midstream Total Return Fund (NYSE:CTR) is a closed-end fund that aims to provide investors with a very high level of current income and total returns. Midstream companies and especially master limited partnerships generally deliver a very high percentage of their total returns to investors in the form of direct payments…
Justin Sullivan Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a great company, held in almost every portfolio, including Warren Buffett’s, but it is underperforming the S&P 500 Index (SP500), and that is a problem for portfolio managers who want to beat the Index. AAPL is overvalued and priced to perfection because it is still considered a growth company…
cagkansayin With decades of both passive and active fund performance now in the rearview mirror, the results are unequivocal: active management within fixed income is incredibly compelling, while active management in equities has failed to deliver. Let’s start by checking the scoreboard, shown in Figure 1. We see a very high percentage of actively managed…
TERADAT SANTIVIVUT In December 2023, the AIER Everyday Price Index (EPI) fell 0.55 percent to 283.3. It is the third consecutive decline in the index, and brings the 2023 change in the Everyday Price Index to 1.87 percent. AIER Everyday Price Index vs. US Consumer Price Index (NSA, 1987 = 100) Within the December 2023…
monsitj In this month’s article, I outline why I will maintain my position of having 100% of my pension plan assets invested in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY). I will not have a cash position. First, let me review my pension plan performance in December. The market, as measured by the S&P 500 index,…
The analyst said TradFi institutions trying to get into crypto, but are unsure how to begin, may use Coinbase stock to enter. According to the co-founder of research firm Reflexivity Research Will Clemente, shares of major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) could serve as an indicator for the crypto sector. Clemente says Coinbase…
Nikada By Wenli Bill Hao As the leading dividend index provider, S&P DJI is constantly looking for new approaches and methodologies to bring novel ideas to the market. Our recently launched S&P 500® High Dividend Growth Index is a prime example of this innovative thinking, as it incorporates a forward-looking assessment into its methodology. This…
Andrii Yalanskyi By Peter C. Earle In November 2023, the AIER Everyday Price Index (EPI) fell 0.79 percent to 284.9. This is the largest percentage decline in the index in 2023, and the third-largest since the start of 2022. AIER Everyday Price Index vs. US Consumer Price Index (NSA, 1987 = 100) Bloomberg Finance, LP…
According to the latest CPI data published by United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the surge in consumer prices was propelled by various factors. The shelter index, for instance, continued its upward trend, effectively offsetting a decline in the gasoline index. The energy index, witnessing a 2.3% decrease, was notably impacted by a significant 6.0%…
Jun Because of the unusual arbitrage situations that are appearing in the crypto-related closed-end funds driven by rapid price changes and uncommon limits to arbitrage due to different geographic regulations or accessibility of markets, I’m swamped looking at a lot of these types of funds. Another one I’ve come across is the Bitwise 10 Crypto…
monsitj In this month’s article, I outline why I will reverse last month’s decision and return to having 100% of my pension plan assets invested in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY). I will not have a cash position. First, let me review my pension plan performance in November. The market, as measured by the…
Julia_Albul By George Valantasis The S&P 500® continued its strong performance this year after posting a 9.8% gain in a span of less than three weeks from Oct. 30 to Nov. 17, 2023. During this period, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield dropped approximately 45 bps1 and October’s year-over-year headline CPI inflation cooled to 3.2%.2 As…
StudioEasy Introduction Historically, the Index of Leading Indicators (“LEI” and “the Index”) has had the inconvenient habit of being more accurate than Wall Street forecasters. But, of course, no forecasting tool is perfect, and in the past year the Index, if accurate, would have had us in a very deep recession by this point, as…
Bitcoin bulls may be hoping that the expected CPI report may present some respite for BTC, which has struggled to maintain momentum. The general financial market is anticipating the Consumer Price Index (CPI) today to put some figures in perspective regarding the state of the economy. In addition to economic indicators, the content of the…
The Crypto Sector Index Series will include several indices tracking the prices of a bucket of different digital assets based on their use cases. The world’s largest digital assets manager Grayscale Investments continues to take steps in order to expand its footprint in the market. Also, the latest report shows that Grayscale is venturing into…
The report also delved into the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on the pension sector. Retirement planning has become an increasingly pressing issue as economic uncertainties and an aging population continue to shape global discussions. According to a recent study released by the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index, the Netherlands has again reclaimed its…
Data released by the Labor Department show that CPI for September increased higher than expected, with several prices up from August. According to figures published by the Labor Department, the prices of goods and services increased quicker than expected in September. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4% in September and 3.7% compared with the same period…
KanawatTH The 2023 Principal Global Financial Inclusion Index indicated that despite many economies navigating through a period of supply-side shocks, heightened inflation, and the consequent adjustments in interest rates, financial inclusion is improving on a global level. For investors, financial inclusion is tightly correlated to economic resilience, human development, and productivity, and could be read…
The new product is set to give investors exposure to the Bitcoin value movements on the underlying CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX) and will only be settled in the United States dollar. A leading exchange in Canada, TMX Group, has announced plans to launch cash-settled Bitcoin futures on the Montréal Exchange (MX) soon. According to…
primeimages In this month’s article, I outline why I will keep 100% of my pension plan assets invested in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY). I will have no cash position. First, let me review my pension plan performance in September. The market, as measured by the S&P 500 index, lost 4.87% for the month,…
Peter Vahlersvik/E+ via Getty Images The Haystack Corporate Governance is ensuring businesses have the appropriate decision-making processes and controls to ensure that all stakeholders’ interests (shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers, and the community) are balanced. Companies stress this ideology, but it often doesn’t work out for all stakeholders. Some management groups may put the shareholder first,…
Pgiam/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Last week the Trifecta Distribution Index [TDI] flashed a Correction Signal completely suddenly. Both the TDI and the SDI (the S&P 500 11-Sector Diffusion Index) have a Daily Signal. These two indices are not products of the time-series analysis such as econometric models, but a sort of a cross-section analysis…