The financial press has been trashing malls for months now, but it doesn't make much to turn the tide. With a bid by Brookfield Property Partners to purchase the remaining shares of GGP, a REIT that is significantly invested in malls and retail operations, Wall Street is taking a second look at mall properties. Esther Fung writes: Shares of A-mall real-estate investment trusts Taubman Centers Inc., TCO -0.16%Macerich Co. MAC +0.32% and GGP all have risen between 14% and 24% since the start of November after having underperformed the broader REIT market since August 2016. “Two weeks ago … [Read more...]
Manufacturers Thrive in New Era
Attitudes are optimistic in the manufacturing sector. Owners of manufacturing businesses are excited to have an ally in the White House. Manufacturing employees are excited about increased hiring here in the U.S., in part thanks to rising wages for foreign workers. The rising wages and supportive environment for manufacturing are driving hiring and investment here in the U.S. Andrew Tangel and Josh Zumbrun report: Employment numbers point to the overall progress. The U.S. manufacturers have added 156,000 workers since Donald Trump was elected president in November 2016, according to … [Read more...]
Is This the Start of a Major Downturn or Just a Healthy Correction?
The FT reports on the sell-off in the $1.3 Trillion high-yield bond market. We wrote about the shifting landscape in the high-yield bond market last week. The high-volume sell-off in junk bond ETFs is continuing. High-yield bonds are on pace for their worst month since January of 2016, the month of the last major stock market correction. Even if you don’t invest in high-yield bonds, the market should be watched closely as it can be a harbinger of things to come in equity markets. Junk-rated debt has already lost 1.1 per cent in value so far during November, on pace for its worst month … [Read more...]
Total Buys $2 Billion LNG Business to Supply the Future of Power
Pointing to the increasing use of natural gas as a fuel for generating electricity, Total has purchased the LNG business of French utility Engie. Total is hedging its exposure to the oil market by diving deep into natural gas. Sarah Kent reports: The acquisition is a down payment on Total’s strategic bet that lower-carbon natural gas will replace coal and play a central role in future power supply. More than any other major oil company, Total has identified the power sector as a hedge against oil’s eventual decline and has been building a business around that strategy. “We think gas-to-power … [Read more...]
What do I think of Bitcoin? Part I
In light of recent events, it's worth reexamining this series I originally posted November 15, 2017. I’ve been asked the question “What do you think of Bitcoin,” as much as any question I’ve received about my website www.yoursurvivalguy.com or my series on the S&P 500. I’ve been in the weeds studying bitcoin (the currency) and Bitcoin (blockchain tech) and I’ll tell you, I haven’t had that “Aha!” religious-like moment experienced by, I’m told, its cult of followers. Count me in the “still skeptical” camp, with a distinction. Bitcoin, the technology, or blockchain, is here to stay … [Read more...]
Are Stocks Cheap Because Interest Rates Are Low?
For the third time in the last 17 years, Federal Reserve researchers are out with a “this-time-is-different” research piece on asset markets. This version seeks to justify the bubble conditions in the stock market that ultra-loose monetary policy has helped foster. Titled Stock Market Valuation and the Macroeconomy, this piece concludes that even though more than a century of stock market data shows that extremes in the cyclically adjusted price-earnings ratio have signaled an overvalued stock market, today’s lower interest rates justify today’s inflated valuations. You can read the full … [Read more...]
With U.S. Out, Japan Takes the Reins on TPP
After the U.S. pulled out of the Trans Pacific Partnership, the other eleven countries involved didn't abandon the effort. Led by Japan, the nations are trying to finish the job on successfully signing the trade pact. Ben Otto reports: Led by Japan, trade negotiators are meeting in this seaside town ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, seeking a revised version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership by suspending clauses that the U.S. had backed for years in negotiations under former President Barack Obama. Paulina Nazal, Chile’s vice minister of trade and TPP chief, said … [Read more...]
The Truth Behind the S&P 500: Part IV
This is the time of year when you need to be extra careful about what you invest in, especially when you’re buying a so-called passive index fund that tracks the S&P 500. I have many concerns about the S&P 500 index approach, as I point out here, here, and here. Add one more issue to the list: “Passive” investors paying for someone else’s actions. Recently, the PNC S&P 500 Index Fund announced it will pay out $4.19 in cap gains per share, as pointed out in by Jason Zweig in his weekly WSJ column The Intelligent Investor. “This week, the fund’s per-share value was around … [Read more...]
Will Telecoms or Automakers Win Smartcar Tech Race?
The FT reports that a battle is brewing between European telecoms and automakers over which technology will be used to power communications with smart cars. The automakers want to use a short-range vehicle to vehicle technology that could be rolled out very soon. Meanwhile the telecoms want car communications to travel over their networks on bandwidths used for cellular communications. Nic Fildes and Peter Campbell write: Carmakers largely favour a short range technology using a dedicated band of spectrum or radio frequencies for car-to-car communication. This vehicle-to-vehicle system, or … [Read more...]
Are Apple Shareholders Married to China?
It seems more and more that sales of iPhones are dominated by the fickle buying habits of Chinese customers. When sales in China are soft, Apple has trouble, when sales in China pick up, Apple feels the love. Are shareholders getting what they think they're getting when they buy shares of Apple? Is the company a high beta bet on Chinese consumer spending? Tripp Mickle reports: China has posed the biggest test for Apple. The iPhone, which surged in sales in 2015 and 2016 behind the iPhone 6, declined in market share during the September quarter to 8.5% from 10% a year earlier as low-cost … [Read more...]
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