SPDR® S&P 500 ETF

LinkedIn’s stock, which traded at $269 in February 2015, fell to one of its lows of $101.11 in February 2016.

MPLX crude pipelines are connected to supply hubs, and transport crude oil to Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s, or MPC’s, refineries and third parties.

High-quality bonds can be an investor refuge when there’s market volatility. These securities provide relatively stable cash flows. The default probability is low.

Valuations are at the higher end of their historical range. Investors should avoid defensive sectors, which are highly sensitive to interest rate changes.

Rebalancing your portfolio means bringing the portfolio back to the asset allocation levels specified in the financial plan. Not rebalancing can expose you to higher risk.

Most of Nike’s (NKE) incremental revenue was recorded in its North America market, Nike’s largest geographical segment.

This year, Tesla (TSLA) stock has fallen 21.3%, underperforming broader markets. Let’s look at how Tesla’s Model Y could turn things around.

After September’s strong jobs numbers, a Fed rate hike could be on the horizon early next year. Russ explains two equity market implications.

Overall, it has been a mixed earnings season for steel companies.

The Redbook Index released the same-store weekly data on Tuesday, March 11, 2014.

The EIA expects less natural gas production at four key US shales by January 2017 compared to November 2016. It expects production to rise at three key US shales.

The S&P 500 Index is trading 1.2% above its 20-day moving average and 6% above its 100-day moving average.

With about five weeks remaining in the trade truce, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said yesterday that the US was “miles and miles” away from a trade deal with China.

International Business Machines (IBM) reported its 2Q17 results on Tuesday, July 18. The company reported falling quarterly profits and sales yet again.

Wall Street analysts’ consensus estimate for loss per share was $0.289.

Schlumberger’s trailing-one-year stock price has fallen 12% as of June 16, 2017, while XLE, the broader energy industry ETF, has fallen 3%.

Last week, the Institute for Supply Management (or ISM) and Markit both released their reports on the Purchasing Managers Index (or PMI). The ISM’s report gave its strongest reading since February.

In this series, we’ll look at what Trump’s win means for the media sector. We’ll also look at how the possibility of a change in net neutrality regulations could affect media companies.

Last Friday, President Donald Trump in a tweet called the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes a mistake.

When the Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen, testified to Congress on February 11, she affirmed the Fed’s consideration of negative interest rates. Under a negative interest rate scenario, investors would pay interest to the bank for holding their money.

Since ConocoPhillips (COP) reported its fourth-quarter earnings results on January 31, the stock has fallen 1.7%.

ConocoPhillips’s 1Q17 crude oil realized prices In 1Q17, excluding the effect of hedges, ConocoPhillips’s average realized crude oil price in the Lower 48 region was $45.89 per barrel, up ~70% from its price of $27.04 per barrel in 1Q16. Sequentially, ConocoPhillips’s 1Q17 price is ~4% higher than it was in 4Q16. Crude oil prices versus […]

The US economy stalled in 2014 for several reasons, including seasonality, weather, strength of the dollar, the West Coast port strike, and the oil price slump.

In this series, we’ll take a look at the global final manufacturing PMIs and services PMIs for March 2017. These indicators help us understand the business condition of an economy.

For 1Q16, Denbury Resources (DNR) reported an adjusted EBITDA of ~$105 million with an EBITDA margin of ~40%. Its EBITDA margin is only ~20% lower.

Are markets upbeat on potential tax reforms? The markets (SPY) (IVV) surged last week with the announcement of a phenomenal update on the corporate tax cut. The S&P and Nasdaq Comp gained ~2% in the week ended February 10, 2017. The Trump administration’s proposed tax cut is likely to boost the economy, though analysts have […]

Along with its 4Q15 earnings, Murphy Oil announced the divestiture of its Montney midstream assets located in Canada. The transaction includes the sale of existing infrastructure capable of processing up to 320 million cubic feet per day.

Alphabet reported its 3Q17 earnings on October 26, 2017. The company posted EPS (earnings per share) of $9.57, which beat analysts’ estimates of $8.33.

WFT, SPN, and FMSA have significantly underperformed the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which has produced 23.0% returns since November 3, 2016.

Due to the coverage of the US presidential elections this year, 21st Century Fox (FOXA) expects substantial advertising revenue from Fox News.

In July 2015, investors poured approximately $23 billion in US ETFs with 50% of total investments in equity funds.

PepsiCo expects currency headwinds to impact its fiscal 2015 core EPS by 11% compared to its previous estimate of 7%. It expects currency headwinds to drag down EPS in 2Q15 by 12%.

ONEOK (OKE) stock is currently trading at a forward EV-to-EBITDA multiple of 14.3x.

In the last three months, Abraxas Petroleum (AXAS) has had the highest positive correlation with WTI crude oil among upstream companies that are part of XOP.

Merck provided revenue guidance of $39.7 billion–$40.2 billion in 2016. It expects negative foreign exchange fluctuations to reduce its fiscal 2016 revenue.

On January 7, 2016, Signet Jewelers (SIG), the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewelry, announced its broad-based success in the holiday season with revenue of $1.9 billion.

Retail sales in the United States in April didn’t see any growth over March’s sales figures. But the jobless claims reading brought some positive news for the consumer sector.

With manufacturing slowing, a reading of the Non-Manufacturing Index at an above-neutral level (56.9) may provide some relief to the US economy, which is highly dependent on the service sector for its economic growth.

In March 2018, President Donald Trump imposed a tariff of 25% on steel imports. What’s happened since?

Suncor Energy (SU) is the only losing stock in the current week from the integrated energy sector. It fell from last week’s close of $34.67 to $34.52 on October 11, 2017.

The US saw positive fund flows in 2014 due to a relatively better economic position.

Time Warner announced at its fiscal 1Q17 earnings call that it most likely won’t extend its agreement with Amazon beyond 2018.

Of the 44 analysts covering Netflix, 23 have given it a “buy” recommendation, seven have given it a “sell” recommendation, and 14 have given it a “hold” recommendation.

In evaluating the FOMC’s performance over the past three years, Kocherlakota mentioned that the unemployment rate fell to 5.6%.

General Motors has delivered a return of 6.9% year-to-date as of December 16, 2016. This return was much lower than the 10.5% return of the S&P 500 Index.

On June 8–15, Whiting Petroleum (WLL) and California Resources (CRC) fell the most on our list of energy stocks.

Devon Energy (DVN) has a forward EV-to-EBITDA (enterprise value to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) ratio of ~13x.

I would pay particular attention to the Shiller P/E Ratio, which is a variation on the Cyclically Adjusted P/E or CAPE. This indicator is worth watching as it has historically correlated with long-term stock market returns.

Farmers for Free Trade’s campaign was rolled out on September 12 with the slogan “Tariffs Hurt the Heartland.”

In fiscal 1Q16, Time Warner bought back $700 million worth of shares. Including dividends, it has returned around $1.3 billion to its shareholders year-to-date.

BlackRock’s (BLK) retail business had assets under management (or AUM) of $542 billion as of March 31, 2016.

Rising stocks have been buoyed by various factors, including the accommodative monetary policy of the Federal Reserve and robust US corporate earnings.

Campbell Soup (CPB) has been disappointing investors with its sales and has missed the analysts’ consensus estimates in the past three quarters.

In 4Q15, Range Resources was trading at higher price-to-book and price-to-sales multiples than peers.

The week ending March 24, 2017, was broadly negative for agricultural fertilizer stocks. The VanEck Vectors Agribusiness ETF (MOO) fell 0.98%.

Between December 2014 and December 2016, Baker Hughes (BHI) stock hit its peak in April 2015. It troughed at ~$39 in January 2016.

Micron’s PE ratio For the past two to three months, many analysts have been touting Micron Technology (MU) as a cheap stock at a forward PE (price-to-earnings) ratio of 6.0x. Micron’s PE ratio is well below the semiconductor industry’s (SMH) average PE ratio of 23.4x and the S&P 500’s (SPY) average PE ratio of 21.5x. […]

Netflix (NFLX) is expected to announce its 1Q17 results on April 17, 2017. In its 4Q16 results, Netflix had total streaming revenues of $2.4 billion, up 41% year-over-year.

Net sales in North America fell 5.0% in 1Q17, reflecting a strong decline in volumes coupled with lower pricing.

Kinder Morgan stock has risen 44% in the past year, as compared to Enterprise Products Partners’ 32% rise and ONEOK’s 162% rise.

Boston Scientific reported its 4Q15 earnings on February 4 and registered adjusted EPS of $0.26 in 4Q15, which represents 18% YoY growth.

In his recent webcast by Janus Capital, Bill Gross expressed his surprise at the extent to which central bankers of the developed world (EFA) (VEA) have distorted the financial system.

Netflix has been streaming low-quality videos for subscribers on AT&T and Verizon Communications’ (VZ) wireless networks. Here’s why.

Now that the Fed’s meeting is over, the timing of the rate hike has made investors anxious. The delay in the rate hike is a sign of the health of the domestic economy.

The Blackstone Group (BX) reported its second quarter earnings on July 21. The company beat Wall Street analysts’ economic net income estimates of $0.39.

FOXA believes that its “ability to create, own and monetize hit content” for its television segment will drive long-term value for its shareholders.

The EIA expects less natural gas production at four key US shales by December compared to October, but it expects production to rise at three key shales.

In 2016, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCAU) sold about 2.24 million vehicle units in the US market, compared to 2.25 million units in 2015

Whiting Petroleum (WLL) stock rose 5.3% in the week ending December 29 from the previous week. However, the stock fell ~47.6% by the end of 2017.

After a year with relatively less drama, European politics are likely to return to center stage next year.

Macy’s (M) operating margins declined to 6.6% in 1Q15—ending May 2, 2015—from 7.1% in the same quarter last year. The operating income declined by 7.7%.

Last week was mostly negative for agricultural fertilizer (FXZ) stocks. However, the VanEck Vectors Agribusiness ETF (MOO) ended the week in positive territory.

In 2014, Philip Morris’s Latin America and Canada segment reported a 2.3% decline in net revenues. The region had the company’s lowest revenues, at 11%.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock (BLK), shared his views on market movement, the US economy, and the dangerous impact of the lower interest rates.

As the PC demand slowed, Intel started reducing its exposure in the CCG segment.

Utility sector valuation appears stretched. 2014 was a great year for utilities, which gained 26.62% ex-dividends and were the best-performing sector.

On the positive side, growth in AT&T’s net additions of connected devices continued to be solid during 2Q15. AT&T added ~1.4 million connected devices during the quarter.

The US September manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers’ index) report indicated an improvement in US (QQQ) (IWM) business conditions.

Valuations rose by 3.10% in the week ended September 11, 2015. The rise was mainly due to buying in India’s equities on higher industrial production and low inflation.

This article considers the impact of Japan’s trade dynamics on Japanese automakers like Toyota (TM) versus General Motors (GM) from a macroeconomic perspective.

According to unaudited financial results published by Celgene (CELG) on January 9, 2017, Revlimid sales for 2016 are about $7.0 billion, a YoY rise of about 20.0%.

In this series, we’ll review updates in the US Internet space and discuss some of the current issues faced by companies in the industry.

In this environment of crude oil prices declining sharply and staying low, investors continue to favor stocks that are increasing investments.

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minnesota, is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer-branded food and meat products.

21st Century Fox owns STAR India, India’s largest media network. STAR India develops, broadcasts, and produces programming for 51 channels in its portfolio.

Last week, which ended October 13, 2017, Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) stock remained mixed and witnessed a minor rise of 0.90%.

The US Federal Reserve met on September 16 and 17 in one of the most anticipated monetary policy meetings in recent memory.

The ADP National Employment Report for September 2017 showed some weaker improvement in private sector employment to 135,000 in September compared to the market’s expectation of 125,000.

Chesapeake Energy’s (CHK) 2016 debt management efforts included a combination of debt exchanges, open market repurchases, and equity-for-debt exchanges.

Credit Suisse (CS) strategists forecast 10% earnings growth in Europe versus a 6.8% growth expected from the US.

Schlumberger’s (SLB) one-year stock price fell 21.0% as of August 11, 2017. In the past year, the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) has fallen 7.0%.

The trade war between the United States and China has shown no signs of abating.

On July 19, 2017, natural gas August futures closed at $3.07 per MMBtu (million British thermal units), 0.7% below their previous settling price.

General Electric (GE) released its 1Q18 earnings on April 20. GE’s adjusted earnings per share were $0.16, up 14.0% year-over-year.

On May 18, 2017, Devon Energy (DVN) had an implied volatility of ~33.9, which is ~14.9% below its 260-trading day historical price volatility of ~39.9%.

In the past ten quarters including fiscal 1Q17, Oracle’s revenues have missed analyst expectations nine times.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) produced 3.8 MMboepd in 1Q17 from its worldwide operations, compared to 3.7 MMboepd in 1Q16.

Verizon (VZ) will report its 1Q15 results on April 21, 2015. It’s the largest US telecom company. It had a market capitalization of $200.08 billion as of April 13, 2015.

Diamondback Energy’s stock price saw uptrend from October 2012 to June 2014. When NYMEX WTI crude oil started falling in June 2014, FANG’s stock peaked.

Margins remained pressured Similar to peers, Costco Wholesale (COST) saw its margins pressured in fiscal 1Q18. Increased investments in growth initiatives and lower pricing to fend off competition from Amazon (AMZN) in the grocery space are taking a toll on the profitability of mass US (SPY) merchandisers. Whereas rising digital sales and fulfillment costs have […]