JHVEPhoto The Information Technology sector continues to trade with a premium valuation. According to FactSet, the IT space sports a 26.5x forward operating earnings multiple – better than six turns more expensive than the S&P 500. The P/E is also above the sector’s 5- and 10-year averages. Of course, the premium is at least partly…
NoSystem images The momentum factor has taken a breather in the last month and a half. It surged out of the gates in 2024, powered higher by overweights to the ongoing AI theme and broader semiconductor-stock surge. Also helping the strategy which seeks to pounce on what has been winning was general outperformance by large-cap…
DjordjeDjurdjevic Motio Research reports median household income increased in March 2024. The firm estimates the income earned by a typical American household increased by $906 (+1.2%) from its initial estimate of $77,265 for February 2024. Motio Research’s estimates are based on income data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau as part of its monthly Current…
Colin Anderson Productions pty ltd/DigitalVision via Getty Images By William J. Luther Inflation is once again on the decline, new data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) show. The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCEPI), which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, grew at a continuously compounding annual rate of 3.9 percent…
PM Images The first quarter has come to a close! We are pumped up to share our March dividend income summary. My wife and I earned almost $5,000 in passive income this month. In this article, we will break down the dividend income received, the individual breakdown, and share how much of the income came…
benedek This is what dividend investing is all about! Investing in dividend stocks allows you to earn dividend income, the best passive income stream! Bias, you better believe it. Time to dive into Lanny’s March 2024 dividend income results! Were records set? Love the end of the year Dividend Tally, as the retirement account is…
Boy Wirat I’ve only recently returned from several weeks in Argentina. I didn’t have access to my charts, and besides, I was rather more interested in people, food, and wine than in blogging. Time now to catch up on the market’s latest focus: Is inflation still stubbornly high? Does the Fed need to tighten more?…
Jonathan Kitchen By Nikhil Mohan, Economist, Franklin Fixed Income On a monthly basis, US headline and core Consumer Price Index (CPI) topped expectations-both rising 0.4%. The core measure has now risen at that pace for three successive months. While the pace of increase remained unchanged at 0.5% for core services (which is still more than…
gopixa The following data is derived from trading activity on the Tradeweb Markets institutional European- and U.S.-listed ETF platforms. European-Listed ETFs Total traded volume Trading activity on the Tradeweb European ETF marketplace reached EUR 55.6 billion in March, while the proportion of transactions processed via Tradeweb’s Automated Intelligent Execution (AiEX) tool amounted to 86.1%, the…
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….
Richard Drury Rose’s Income Garden Portfolio Rose’s Income Garden “RIG” portfolio ended March with 83 stocks from all 11 sectors with a goal to keep a majority of income from defensive quality investment-grade common stock. The other investments and especially the financial sector has high yield (HY), business development companies (BDCs), a few mREITs, preferred…
mikkelwilliam Co-Authored with Total Return Investor Revisiting Julia 2023 The concept of an All-Weather Portfolio – a portfolio that can perform satisfactorily in any market conditions, without any need for buying or selling – is not a new one. The “60/40” portfolio – 60% stocks, 40% bonds – is an idea that’s been around since…
zimmytws Do you need a March Madness update now that we’re officially into April? The clock is ticking, the field is narrowing, and there’s plenty to talk about in the NCAA basketball world… including off the court. If you read my last article on the subject – “My ‘Sweet 16’ REITs Revealed” – you already…
peepo/iStock via Getty Images Welcome to the March 2024 edition of Electric Vehicle [EV] company news. YTD 2024 has seen the global plug-in electric car sales ‘growth rate’ slowdown from 30% in 2023 to about 14-17% in Q1, 2024. This is no disaster and is relatively normal for the seasonal slowdown that occurs each year…
Monty Rakusen/DigitalVision via Getty Images The March US employment data were stronger than expected and lend support to the re-acceleration hypothesis and an extension of US exceptionalism. In Q1 24, nonfarm payrolls rose by an average of 276k. It was the strongest quarter in a year and compares with an average monthly job gain of…
RichHobson Earlier today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the March employment report which showed that the economy created 303,000 jobs in the month of March, well above consensus estimates. While the headline number isn’t everything when it comes to assessing the strength of the labor market and the overall economy, nothing in the March…
Hispanolistic/E+ via Getty Images The March jobs report came in at 303,000, which was significantly more than expected. Initial expectations had been for 200,000 jobs and FOMC hawks have been talking about no cuts this year, yet markets rallied. While the market initially sold off, it recovered shortly after the report. The headline unemployment number…
kate_sept2004/E+ via Getty Images March nonfarm payrolls printed a strong +303,000, significantly above the +214,000 consensus forecast, though it was not far from in line with the whisper number due to the strength in ADP Private Payroll report back on Wednesday. The 303k figure was the strongest monthly employment climb since May 2023, while February’s…
Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw their trading volume surge to a record $111 billion in March, nearly triple the $42 billion traded in February. Approved earlier this year by the SEC, US spot bitcoin ETFs have rapidly gained traction among investors. Their volumes last month exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. NEW: #Bitcoin ETFs…
Marina Novitkaia/iStock via Getty Images The Consensus Expectations The BLS is set to report the labor market data for March on April 5th. These are the current consensus market expectations: March (Trading Economics) Essentially, the market expects a slowdown in non-farm job creation to 200K from 275K in February, and the unemployment rate to stay…
zhz_akey Welcome to the March 2024 edition of the lithium miner news. The past month saw a strong recovery in lithium prices suggesting the lithium price bear market may be over. For example, China spot lithium carbonate prices have increased by 19.9% in the past month, bouncing higher from the mid-February low. Lithium price news…
gaffera Author’s Note This simulation has been done jointly with a U.S. Treasury yield simulation in a way that reflects the correlation among the 12 factors driving yields in each country. For more on the companion U.S. Treasury simulation, please contact the author. Both the Bund and the U.S. Treasury yield simulations impact foreign exchange…
m.czosnek/iStock via Getty Images Foreword This article is based on Fortune magazine’s 2023 survey of 500 Largest U.S. Corporations (F500-IL) “Size matters: the 50 largest companies on this year’s list accounted for 49% of total Fortune 500 revenue and 45% of earnings.” This article covers those 50 and 18 more as industry leaders. Any collection…
cemagraphics The S&P 500 (SPY) made another decisive break higher this week. This follows several weeks of stalling and a shift in market behaviour (lower weekly closes, weaker action on Fridays) which failed to deliver a decisive breakdown. As last weekend’s article concluded, “The charts show indecision rather than a strong signal either way…the odds…
mohd izzuan/iStock via Getty Images To quote the pithy Abraham Lincoln, Better to be silent and thought a fool than post your thoughts on the Internet and remove all doubt. Is that how the quote goes? It’s something along those lines. Well, I don’t claim to have ole Abe’s wisdom, but I’d like to think…
2d illustrations and photos Four IPOs priced this past week, joined by one SPAC. After upping its terms at the start of the week, chipmaker Astera Labs (ALAB) priced above the raised range to raise $713 million at a $6.3 billion market cap. Astera offers its Intelligent Connectivity Platform, which comprises semiconductor-based connectivity products and…
Funtap To no one’s surprise, the FOMC held its target rate range constant at 5.25-5.5% and continued the process of letting its securities run off as they mature. In support of that decision, the committee’s statement cited data suggesting that job gains remain strong, the economy is expanding at a solid pace, and inflation has…
da-kuk Japan’s private sector picked up growth momentum into the end of the first quarter, according to flash PMI data. This was attributed mainly to faster service sector expansion, though manufacturing output also declined at a slower rate in March. Notably, services new business grew at the quickest pace in nine months, helping to drive…
spooh A guest post by D Coyne The OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) for March 2024 was published recently. The last month reported in most of the OPEC charts that follow is February 2024 and output reported for OPEC nations is crude oil output in thousands of barrels per day (kb/d). In the OPEC…
thitivong This monthly article series shows a dashboard with aggregate subsector metrics in industrials. It is also a top-down analysis of sector ETFs like Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI), whose largest holdings are used to calculate these metrics. Shortcut The next two paragraphs in italic describe the dashboard methodology. They are necessary for new…
This article was written by Follow Justin Law has a Ph.D in Chemistry from Rice University and has earned the CFA Institute Investment Foundations certificate. He applies his knowledge to deep value and dividend paying stocks. Justin is a contributor to the investing group The Dividend Kings where he curates the Dividend Champions list, a…
cemagraphics The S&P500 (SPY) made a lower high this week for only the second time since the rally started back in October 2023 and the first time since the week of 2nd January. This is another shift in behaviour to add to those outlined in last weekend’s article and there is growing evidence the bulls…
DNY59 Investment Thesis For the second straight time, the Pacer US Cash Cows 100 ETF (BATS:COWZ) substituted nearly two dozen holdings in its 100-stock portfolio during its scheduled quarterly rebalancing process. One of the most significant changes was a 5% reduction in Energy exposure, down from 28% previously, which I listed as a key reason…
Olivier Le Moal In this series of articles, we focus on selecting and highlighting stocks that have rapidly grown their dividends in the recent past. We also need to ensure that these stocks will likely grow their earnings at a fast pace in the next few years. Due to their hypergrowth, their price generally grows…
Pixelimage/iStock via Getty Images S&P Global Market Intelligence’s global growth forecast for 2024 has again been revised upward in March. Annual real GDP growth is now projected at 2.6%, up from 2.3% at the start of the year. The upward revision reflects somewhat higher forecasts for growth in several countries, including the US, the UK,…
Olekcii Mach/iStock via Getty Images This monthly article series shows a dashboard with aggregate industry metrics in materials. It is also a top-down analysis of sector exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, like Materials Select Sector SPDR® Fund ETF (XLB) and Fidelity MSCI Materials Index ETF (NYSEARCA:FMAT), whose largest holdings are used to calculate these metrics. Shortcut…
SlavkoSereda/iStock via Getty Images This article talks about how money moved around in different parts of the US in February 2024 and how it could impact the markets in March 2024. This is important because when the amount of money going into the economy changes, it takes about a month before it affects the stock…
cemagraphics The S&P 500 (SPY) worked its way to another new all-time high of 5189 this week, just above the Fibonacci target of 5179 outlined in my last article. To be honest, I nearly shut down my screens early on Friday as it surged higher – after all, 16 out of the last 18 weekly…
NoDerog/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Investment Thesis Receiving a regular dividend income coupled with the prospect of capital appreciation is one of the principal benefits for those who invest in high dividend yield companies. However, identifying high dividend yield companies that offer sustainable dividends can be a challenging task. Companies that pay sustainable dividends don’t…
PM Images Co-produced by Austin Rogers. All major US stock averages, including the S&P 500 (SP500), Nasdaq (COMP:IND), and Dow Jones Industrial (DJI), are currently at or very close to all-time highs. Investors who are focused primarily on total returns and invested in a broad-based index or in the specific technology stocks that have soared…
cemagraphics Last weekend’s article detailed a “Window for a Reversal” for the S&P500 (SPY) after it tested the 5107-12 target. It’s tempting to get carried away when a market stops exactly where you thought it would and drops 50 points, but there were two key things needed to confirm a reversal – a break of…
bymuratdeniz Quality Stocks The SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY) posted a 5.22% return in February, extending its positive streak this year. Vanguard’s Dividend Appreciation Index Fund ETF Shares (VIG) locked in a lower gain of 3.41% last month. My watchlist underperformed both, posting a very weak return of 0.89%. After two strong months of…
This article was written by Follow Justin Law has a Ph.D in Chemistry from Rice University and has earned the CFA Institute Investment Foundations certificate. He applies his knowledge to deep value and dividend paying stocks. Justin is a contributor to the investing group The Dividend Kings where he curates the Dividend Champions list, a…
ALEAIMAGE/E+ via Getty Images This article was coproduced with Leo Nelissen. About a month ago, Sports Illustrated published a piece about one former Kentucky Wildcat dunking on another. One problem with (the University of) Kentucky putting a ton of talent in the NBA and G-League is that we often see some Kentucky-on-Kentucky crime when it…
spawns/iStock via Getty Images Rarely are officials able to achieve the proverbial economic soft-landing when higher interest rates help cool price pressures without triggering a significant rise in unemployment or a contraction. Yet, without declaring victory, the Federal Reserve’s confidence that this will be achieved has risen. Still, its increased confidence is unlikely to lead…
PashaIgnatov Author’s Note: This article is part of our periodic/monthly series that attempts to present two lists of stocks for the month that could be suitable for writing options to generate relatively safe income. Certain parts of the introduction, definitions, and section describing the selection process will have some commonality and repetitiveness with our previous…
istetiana/Moment via Getty Images By Andrew Prochnow Recent developments suggest that those banking on a March rate cut by the Federal Reserve may need to recalibrate their expectations. The likelihood of a March rate cut diminished significantly in early February following the U.S. Labor Department’s announcement affirming robust hiring in the economy and the unyielding…
Nerthuz By James Knightley, Chief International Economist | Padhraic Garvey, CFA, Regional Head of Research, Americas | Chris Turner, Global Head of Markets and Regional Head of Research for UK & CEE Fed caution argues against a March rate cut No change from the Federal Reserve on interest rates (target range kept at 5.25-5.50%) and…
Today, BTC-only exchange Swan Bitcoin unveiled its new mining division, Swan Mining, which was previously operating in stealth mode, according to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine. The division is now positioned under Swan Institutional, with a focus on securing the Bitcoin network while contributing to the expansion of energy production and stabilization of electrical…
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images After just over two years, the S&P 500 (SP500) has finally posted a new all-time high. A lot has happened over the period with the market climbing over major headwinds including the post-pandemic hangover, supply chain shortages, a short-lived energy crisis, the start of two wars, 40-year high inflation, and…