The final numbers are in for buybacks, and it continues to show a decelerating trend. In 1Q17, S&P 500 companies spent $133.2 billion in share purchases– down 1.6 percent quarter-over-quarter and down a whopping 17.5 percent year-over-year. One year ago, … Continued
Later this morning, sales of existing homes for May will be published. On Friday, new home sales come out for the same month. Using a 12-month rolling average, sales of existing homes in April were 5.51 million units and new … Continued
Post-presidential election last November, a fire was lit under U.S. small-caps. Between November 8 and December 9, IWM (iShares Russell 2000 ETF) jumped north of 16 percent. QQQ (PowerShares Nasdaq 100 ETF) only rallied two percent during the period. As … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of June 13, 2017. 10-year note: Currently net long 274k, up 61.9k. Market reaction to the FOMC decision Wednesday smacked of confusion, to say the least. As expected, the Fed raised the fed … Continued
Last Friday sent shivers down U.S. equity bulls’ spine. Sort of. The rout in tech stocks in particular was unsettling. After rising to a new all-time high of 5897.69, the Nasdaq 100 index lost 2.4 percent Friday. Intraday, it was … Continued
The House pushed through a bill last Thursday aiming at getting rid of many of the Dodd-Frank reforms implemented post-Great Recession. The bill probably does not pass the Senate, but the very idea of less/lax regulations lit a fire under … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of June 6, 2017. 10-year note: Currently net long 212.1k, down 46.1k. The Fed is all set to hike next week. Futures are pricing in 99.6-percent odds of a 25-basis-point increase. This will … Continued
After President Donald Trump won the election last November, U.S. bonds and stocks had a massive positive reaction. The former sold off, the latter rallied. On November 8 (election day), TLT, the iShares 20+ year Treasury bond ETF, closed at … Continued
ETF.com carried a story on June 1 stating that U.S.-listed ETFs took in $32.7 billion in inflows in May. Year-to-May, a total of $203.8 billion came in. International equity ETFs made it big, as seven of the top 10 belonged … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of May 30, 2017. 10-year note: Currently net long 258.2k, down 104.3k. “If the tension between the progress on employment and the lack of progress on inflation persists, it may lead me to … Continued