Broad Equity Market Tone:Advance/Decline Line: HigherSector Performance: MixedVolume: Around Average Market Leading Stocks: Performing In LineEquity Investor Angst:Volatility(VIX) 20.99 -1.22% Bloomberg Global Risk On/Risk Off Index 1,323.0 +59.0 points Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 128.82 +.16% Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 10.10 unch. S&P 500 Implied Correlation 50.1 +1.4% ISE Sentiment Index 225.0 +77.0 pointsTotal Put/Call .69 -1.43% NYSE Arms 1.52 +45.7% Credit Investor Angst:North American Investment Grade CDS Index 51.21 -2.09%US Energy High-Yield OAS 680.32 -.11%European Financial Sector CDS Index 59.78 -1.7% Italian/German 10Y Yld Spread 118.0 unch.Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 59.29 +.09%Emerging Market CDS Index 165.03 -1.68%iBoxx Offshore RMB China Corporate High Yield Index 180.63 -.11% 2-Year Swap Spread 10.0 +.5 basis point TED Spread 15.25 +2.5 basis points3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -18.5 -2.75 basis … [Read More...]

There were several companies over the past week which announced their intent to raise dividends to shareholders. It is always great to see companies that are able to extend their long streaks of annual dividend increases. I find dividend increases to be a good indicator of how company executives feel about the near-term business environment. It also shows their confidence in the company’s growth… To read the whole article, please click on the article title above. [Read More...]

Fragile And Unsustainable Lies Tyler Durden Sun, 11/29/2020 – 00:00 Authored by Robert Wright via The American Institute, Many times throughout history, policymakers have doubled down on their own mistakes, refusing to believe that they were wrong or hoping that somehow doing the wrong thing twice or thrice would somehow make things right. Then it all came crashing down at once and the rulers lost their minds, and sometimes their necks or heads. Economic, governance, and social systems often rely on each other in ways not readily discerned by narrow technocrats. When one crumbles, the others fall in rapid succession while all the putative experts express surprise. Look at the way that the U.S.S.R, one of the world’s two “super” powers, fell apart in the late 1980s … [Read More...]

Broad Equity Market Tone:Advance/Decline Line: Around EvenSector Performance: MixedVolume: Around Average Market Leading Stocks: Performing In LineEquity Investor Angst:Volatility(VIX) 22.5 -2.7% Bloomberg Global Risk On/Risk Off Index 1,025.0 +9.0 points Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 127.45 -.07% Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 10.22 -.29% S&P 500 Implied Correlation 39.45 -.4% ISE Sentiment Index 100.0 +2.0 pointsTotal Put/Call .67 -9.5% NYSE Arms .99 +12.5% Credit Investor Angst:North American Investment Grade CDS Index 55.95 +4.08%US Energy High-Yield OAS 710.93 +.1%European Financial Sector CDS Index 64.95 +1.38% Italian/German 10Y Yld Spread 122.0 +1.0 basis pointAsia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 62.42 +2.85%Emerging Market CDS Index 169.43 -.41%iBoxx Offshore RMB China Corporate High Yield Index 180.82 +.05% 2-Year Swap Spread 9.25 +1.0 basis point. TED Spread 15.0 -1.5 basis points3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency … [Read More...]

In my previous article, I discussed in brief how I come up with investment ideas. I also wanted to share with you my general philosophy on understanding dividend growth stocks. In general, I look for a history of annual dividend increases. This is indicative of a business that generates a lot of free cash flow, which is a sign of a successful business model. I then dig into that… To read the whole article, please click on the article title above. [Read More...]

Navy To Test Resupply Drones For Warships  Tyler Durden Sat, 11/21/2020 – 23:30 The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) recently launched a pilot program to assess just how useful delivery drones are for hauling critical cargo to surface ships, read a US Navy press release.  NAWCAD engineers and military pilots are set to evaluate a commercially procured logistics Unmanned Air System (UAS) prototype – called the Blue Water Maritime Logistics UAS – for long-range naval ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore cargo transport.  “The Blue Water logistics UAS will be further developed and tested by the Navy, for the Navy,” said NAWCAD Commander Rear Adm. John Lemmon. “NAWCAD has organic talent and facilities you can’t find anywhere else. Combined with increased acquisition freedom granted by Congress, this … [Read More...]

Lockdowns Haven’t Brought Down COVID Mortality, But They Have Killed Millions Of Jobs Tyler Durden Sat, 11/14/2020 – 23:30 Authored by Mitch Nemeth via The Mises Institute, During the early onset of covid-19 in the spring, government officials across the political spectrum widely agreed that government intervention and forced closure of many businesses was necessary to protect public health. This approach has clearly failed in the United States as it led to widespread economic devastation, including millions of jobs lost, bankruptcies, and extremely severe losses in profitability. Nor have states with strict lockdowns succeeded in bringing about fewer covid deaths per million than states that were less strict. Consequently, a few months into the pandemic, some governors weighed the competing economic costs with covid-19 containment and slowly reopened their economies. … [Read More...]

Broad Equity Market Tone:Advance/Decline Line: Substantially HigherSector Performance: Almost Every Sector RisingVolume: Above Average Market Leading Stocks: Performing In LineEquity Investor Angst:Volatility(VIX) 23.2 -8.4% Bloomberg Global Risk On/Risk Off Index 1,037.0 +84.0 points Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 128.15 -.27% Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 10.56 -1.1% S&P 500 Implied Correlation % ISE Sentiment Index 114.0 +104.0 pointsTotal Put/Call .76 -18.3% NYSE Arms 1.13 -12.4% Credit Investor Angst:North American Investment Grade CDS Index 54.30 -.88%US Energy High-Yield OAS 737.27 +.60%European Financial Sector CDS Index 66.63 -1.48% Italian/German 10Y Yld Spread 121.0 -1.0 basis pointAsia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 59.64 +2.47%Emerging Market CDS Index 174.99 -1.42%iBoxx Offshore RMB China Corporate High Yield Index 180.82 -.02% 2-Year Swap Spread 8.5 unch. TED Spread 13.5 +1.0 basis point3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -16.5 -1.75 basis … [Read More...]

I have often been asked to name my best idea by people who have not heard much about me apparently. Regular readers know that I am a very big fan of diversification. I like owning a lot of quality companies, purchased at attractive valuations, which I can then hold on for decades. I rarely sell. The only factors these days that would cause me to sell are a dividend cut or an acquisition in cash…. To read the whole article, please click on the article title above. [Read More...]

Bloomberg: Alito Temporarily Orders Late-Arriving Pennsylvania Ballots Segregated.Covid Back in Focus for FX After Election Takes an Ax to Dollar.N.Y. Cases Surge Above 3,000 as Upstate Drives Second Wave. Tech, Exchanges, Health and Pot Stocks Rally With Biden Boost. Wall Street Journal:Intel’s Success Came With Making Its Own Chips. Until Now.. Biden Pulls Ahead in Pennsylvania and Georgia as Vote Counts Continue. As Biden Moves Closer to Presidency, Trump Pursues Legal Challenges. Fall in Jobless Rate Shows Healing U.S. Labor Market. Return to Normalcy? Not on the Streets of Philadelphia.Muni Bonds Falter on Prospect of Divided U.S. Government. CNBC: Toyota president: Tesla has ‘not created a real business in the real world yet’. These states could go to a recount, … [Read More...]

Livid Luongo Lashes Out At Democrat “Depravity” Playing Out In Real-Time Tyler Durden Sat, 11/07/2020 – 23:15 Authored by Tom Luongo via Gold, Goats, ‘n Guns blog, It is one thing to know your opponents have no soul. It is quite another to watch in real time their depravity play out with gleeful disdain. Anyone saying that what is happening right now in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan etc. is not a conscious effort to rig an election is either a victim of propaganda or being willfully obtuse. Because they told us this is what would happen. Through the Transition Integrity Project and bread crumbs left throughout the campaign, we knew it would come to this. For weeks I’ve been saying I hope Trump’s performance is strong enough and his coattails … [Read More...]