Finance
Market Euphoria “how bull markets end“, says Bank of America strategist
The current market rally tends to be “how bull markets end“, as per Savita Subramanian of Merril Lynch. Savita Subramanian, an equity and quant strategist of Bank of America Merrill Lynch sees the current market rally as a sign of caution. As part of an interview given to CNBC on Tuesday, the Wall Street strategist stated “This is kind of how bull markets end…What we’re in right now is this sort of euphoria around stocks that’s been missing for this entire bull market.” The lack of investor participation in the ongoing run, which began back in 2009, has gotten it labeled as “the most hated bull market in history“. However, Subramanian feels like a change in the tone is looming. More and more, pro investors are moving their cash over to equities, while investor...
Investors Looking to Cash In On post-Hurricane Homeowner Panic
(FinancialPress) — Wall Street is well known for being a place where investors make bold, risky moves when they smell blood in the water. The housing crisis generated by Hurricane Harvey is not the exception, as several deep pockets are gunning for big paydays through a tried-and-tested formula: when there is panic, buy. Those investors are looking to acquire damaged property for low prices to fix them up and turn them right back into the market, either to right out sell or rent them for many years before doing so, making their investment much more profitable. As for the tried-and-tested formula? Precedents of similar situations are not scarce. The 1970s crisis in New York, which saw the city almost sink into bankruptcy, made way for investors to snag co-op and office towers. Once the city...
Bitcoin‘s theoretical bubble burst could have widespread consequences
(FinancialPress) — A burst in the theoretical Bitcoin bubble has financial analysts wary of significant “collateral damage,“ which could not be limited only to the cryptocurrency industry. As a follow up to JPMorgan‘s CEO Jamie Dimon infamously putting the popular cryptocurrency on blast, stating “If you were in Venezuela or Ecuador or North Korea or a bunch of parts like that, or if you were a drug dealer, a murderer, stuff like that, you are better off doing it in Bitcoin than US dollars… so there may be a market for that, but it’d be a limited market.”, The Wall Street Journal quoted various commentators in a feature released over the weekend. The idea that the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin and blockchain trend is a 90‘s-styled bubble is popular among financial traditionalists. “What we’re lo...
Fed‘s Fischer: Pace of rate hikes is “OK“; Inflation will pick up
(FinancialPress) — The 2nd-in-command at the U.S. central bank stated that inflation will pick up shortly. In a Wednesday interview with Bloomberg TV, Stanley Fischer stated: “I still believe we will have higher inflation.” As unemployment continues to decline, he expects wages to go up “at some stage“. Fischer‘s statement is in line with what Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen said recently, as she also expressed that inflation should be expected to gradually go higher. With unemployment declining, wages will go up “at some stage,” Fischer said. “You have to wait a long time, usually longer than you expected to wait for something to happen, but then, if it is a very basic force… it will show up,” Fischer said. Fischer said he was satisfied with the gradual pace of rate hikes the Fed has en...
Equifax’s woes continue, loses CEO
(FinancialPress) — Equifax (NYSE: EFX) CEO and chairman of the board Richard Smith has called it quits, as per an announcement released by the company on Tuesday. Smith was at the helm of the credit company when the gargantuan data breach that compromised the information of 143 million citizens occurred. The company has remained besieged ever since the security failure was disclosed earlier in September. He is third in a series of resignations that also saw the company‘s chief security and chief technology officers vacate. The announcement had been released on Sept. 15th – a Friday. Mark Feidler, a current board member of the company, will take over as executive chairman of the board while a replacement is searched for both internally and outside of the organization. Trading of the company...
Wall St. unfazed by North Korea missile test, economic data
(FinancialPress) — Friday‘s trading session opened with little movement despite North Korea‘s latest missile muscle flexing and plenty of domestic economic factors that were disclosed. The Dow even managed to rise a little bit more, thus setting a new record high. Major indexes are floating at record highs, while investors await the Fed‘s Sept 19-20th meeting to get a glimpse of where monetary policy is headed in the future. While no changes are expected on that end, a December rate hike became more probable after Thursday‘s reports on inflation and consumer prices – factors the central bank keeps a close eye on. A report shows that industrial output lowered this past August for the first time since January. Also, retail sales dropped last month rather unexpectedly. Hurricane Harvey ...