Economic Distortion the Play of the Day
The Institute for Supply Management’s December Manufacturing ISM Report on Business was ballyhooed by the market on Monday. The headline PMI increased to 53.9%, up 1.2% percentage points compared to last month. A reading above 50% indicates that the American manufacturing sector is expanding, and the... Read the full story
Capacity Utilization: 2 Sectors That Win
This month’s Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report from the Federal Reserve fell short of economists’ predictions. Capacity utilization remained essentially flat in April, with growth failing to meet analysts’ expectations. Parts shortages created by the continued troubles in Japan... Read the full story
Kentucky Derby Owner Hits 52-Week High
This year a record-breaking 164,858 people attended the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby, breaking a 37 year record. The race was watched by an additional 14.5 million people on television. The stock price of the Derby owner, Churchill Downs Inc. jumped to a new 52-week high on the news, and in response... Read the full story
Coal, an Export Story
Over the past year U.S. exports of metallurgical coal (met-coal) have nearly doubled in dollar terms. Increased trade of metallurgical coal, used in the steelmaking process, has led to consolidation in the coal mining industry as major players scale-up to meet the demands of globalized competition. Toward... Read the full story
Bottom Fishing the Stock Market
Markets are bullish, as new highs on the NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ outpaced news lows by 8 to 1 last week. A total of 1,109 new highs were recorded, compared to only 137 new lows. Investors should thoroughly examine any stocks trading at new lows in this market. There are probably some hidden gems, but... Read the full story
Low Fliers
The airline industry has predictably been hit hard by recently elevated oil prices. AMR and Delta Air, along with jet leasing company Air Lease all hit 52 week lows last week. Jet fuel alone could represent 40% of airlines’ operating costs when oil prices are above $100/barrel. Jet fuel kerosene closed... Read the full story
Chinese Fraud: Tip of the Iceberg?
Welcome to the first post in our new Stock Market Movers column. This new area of the website will focus on explaining and analyzing some of the market’s best and worst performing stocks. The focus will be on stocks reaching 52 week highs and lows, and those with extreme short term price changes. Below... Read the full story
G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether
While large corporate giants like GE have the resources to hire hundreds of tax avoidance specialists and to lobby Congress for specific provisions, the life-blood of the U.S. economy, America’s small and medium sized businesses do not. America will soon have the highest corporate tax rate in the... Read the full story
