Buyback-induced breakouts — signal or noise?

posted in: Economy, Equities, Technicals | 0

GE stages massive breakout Friday on back of massive buyback announcement S&P 500 companies splurged $565 billion on share repurchases in 2014 As/when buybacks dry up, support zones become more vulnerable Before last week, GE shares had been on a … Continued

Dow induction alone does not ensure peak in share price

posted in: Equities | 0

AAPL set to join Dow brings out ‘this is top’ talk Historically, tough to argue Dow inclusion ensures top If AAPL peaks, it will be for other business-related reasons AAPL (127.14) is slated to replace T in the Dow Jones … Continued

U.S. exports can least afford to weaken further, given increasing role in GDP

posted in: Currency, Economy, Technicals | 0

Growth rate of U.S. exports decelerating since 2Q14 At north of 13 percent, exports’ share of GDP remains very high Surging $ no good news for exports; some signs of fatigue, but buck’s momentum intact The advance estimate of real … Continued

Capex hopefuls cannot catch a break

posted in: Credit, Currency, Economy | 0

Setback in orders for business-capex proxy; down four consecutive months Inventory-to-order ratios, nowhere near previous peaks, trending higher Zero-bound suppressed rates probably impacting incentive to borrow The much-anticipated capex boom in the U.S. will just have to wait a while … Continued

Odds of continuation — or a lack thereof — of divergence between large- and small-caps

There was an article on MarketWatch.com on Friday entitled “Why lagging small caps might not bring down the S&P 500.”  The title says it all.  The story seeks to justify why prevailing weakness in U.S. small-caps is not a cause … Continued