Considering the reaction to the Federal Reserve minutes last week, is it likely the Fed will be the central bank that causes the recent run in equity markets to come to an end?
Does this equation make sense to you? Probably not, but it’s what the Japanese are experiencing right now.
Apple has reported fiscal Q2 earnings that beat expectations, but the street cared little about the past quarter’s results and focused on other information in the release.
North American economic data will take center stage this week as March employment numbers will be announced on both sides of the border. Analysts are calling for 190,000 new jobs in the U.S. with the unemployment rate remaining unchanged at 7.7%.
Most major exchanges have moved higher in 2013, with many factors contributing to this strength.
If you’re an equity investor, you can’t complain about stock performance in January. Most major international markets rallied and posted very impressive returns. The Dow broke through 14,000 and the S&P 500 broke through 1500 for the first time since 2007.
For the most part U.S. earnings last week can be filed in the “good” column. A number of large cap names either met or beat analyst expectations: IBM, Google, McDonalds, United Technologies, Starbucks, 3M Co. and Procter & Gamble are just a few of the companies whose share prices climbed after releasing quarterly results.
China’s Q4 GDP data suggests the Chinese economy may have hit a near-term bottom.
The fiscal cliff has supposedly come and gone with a last minute deal that nobody appears to like. Is this the end of the political squabbling in Washington? Of course not. In reality, this might only be the beginning.
Fiscal cliff. The words Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke used to describe the tax increases and spending cuts that will automatically take effect in the United States at the end of the year. These two words have also been heavily overused by the media and we hope will be completely forgotten in 2013.