SPDR® S&P 500 ETF

The sharp rise in wages in China prompted some fairly aggressive forward-looking estimates regarding China’s wages in manufacturing and its ability to compete as a low-cost manufacturer in the future.

This article considers the growing wage level in China and its effect on Baidu and other Asian equities.

The “three big forces” Ray Dalio believes that “three big forces” drive all economies. These are: productivity growth the short-term debt cycle the long-term debt cycle An economy has to go through upturns and downturns Central bankers need to study the determinants of productivity for their economy. The determinants could include the costs of education, […]

Target operates 1,792 stores in the United States under multiple store formats. Its merchandise assortment differs by store, store location, and store size.

The higher the expense ratio, the deeper the decline in an investment’s value. Also, the higher the period of investment, the greater the impact of expense ratios due to the compounding effect.

Under Armour (UA) grew revenue by 30% to $1.05 billion in 1Q16. This was the company’s 24th straight quarter of more than 20% growth in its top line.

Owning an ETF comes with some fees. These fees are called “expense ratios” because they’re expressed as a percentage of a fund’s assets.

Other than the operating costs of an ETF, the other hidden cost that affects the return for investors is the bid-ask spread.

To see how expense ratios can affect investments over time, let’s compare the returns of several fixed income ETFs that differ only in expense ratio.

We note that net or effective returns (that is, returns after expenses) fall to 7.95% versus perceived returns of 8.44% for TLT for the past three years.

Inflation is moving up towards its target, but it still has a ways to go before it gets there. Paul Krugman believes raising rates could keep inflation from reaching that target.

Supercenters are more likely to double as fulfillment centers as Walmart widens its omni-channel capabilities. They are likely to provide the company with economies of distribution.

In practice, asset owners (both retail and institutional) want to avoid significant portfolio drawdowns even if the benchmark index declines.

A company managing higher risk products must maintain a higher level of minimum capital compared to a company with a relatively lower level of risk.

Six Flags’ share price on May 10, 2010, reflects $7.36 per share, the price of new common stock upon the company’s emergence from bankruptcy.

For P&C insurers such as AIG and ACE, various mandatory requirements may drive sales of vehicle, workers’ compensation, and homeowners insurance.

Insurance premiums have grown at a modest pace after a dip in 2009 due to the financial crisis, which the industry was able to navigate.

In its Q3 results, Tesla said it would announce the location of its European Gigafactory before the end of this year. It fulfilled that promise yesterday.

Uber released its 3Q earnings yesterday after market hours. The company’s revenues rose 30% during the quarter. However, Uber stock still got hammered.

Kenneth Cordele Griffin is the CEO of investment management firm Citadel Advisors LLC. He is the hedge fund manager and he founded Citadel in 1990. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 have opened higher today. October’s non-farm payroll data came out, shattering expectations.

After markets closed yesterday, Apple reported its fiscal 2019 fourth-quarter earnings results. Apple stock was up 3.6% in after-hours trading.

In today’s Get Real, we saw that California Governor Gavin Newsom has ideas about Warren Buffett’s next elephant. Plus, earnings takeaways, the Fed, oil risk, and more.

Ford Motor Company designs, builds, and sells automobiles worldwide. It is the second largest U.S.-based automobile manufacturer and the sixth largest globally, based on units sold.

The US GDP increased at an impressive rate of 1.9% for the third quarter. The growth beat the expectations of around 1.6% for the quarter.

The global airline industry is large and complex, offering opportunity for informed investors. The largest U.S. carriers are Delta Air Lines (DAL), United Continental (UAL), American Airlines (AAL), and Southwest Airlines (LUV).

Uber is a San Francisco–based on-demand car service that’s accessed through a mobile phone application. Though it acts as a high-tech car service at the moment, its future could be enormous.

AbbVie (ABBV) is currently evaluating more than 20 investigational therapies targeting solid tumors. Seventeen of them are in Phase 1 trials.

Apple (AAPL) is said to hold 93.3% of its cash outside the US.

If SPY rises 5% each on two consecutive days, SSO will rise 10% each day due to the 2x leverage achieved using derivative products and external borrowings. While the compounding works even for SPY, it’s magnified in SSO due to the 2x multiplier effect.

This year, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) have risen 19.2% and 35.5%, respectively. What’s driven this rally?

Warren Buffett has been somewhat critical of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Tesla released its third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, which shattered the estimates.

All of the major indexes and ETFs are trading lower today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen by 44 points or 0.16% at the time of this writing.

China, the world’s largest auto market, is faltering like never before. September was the 15th month of annual car sales decline for the company.

Berkshire Hathaway stock has underperformed the S&P 500 this year. However, Apple is outperforming the markets. Buffett has been optimistic about Apple.

February WTI crude oil futures contracts fell 0.9% to $63.73 per barrel on January 16. Brent oil futures fell 1.6% to $69.15 per barrel on the same day.

China continued buying gold for the tenth consecutive month in September. The country also continued its de-dollarization bid.

Unofficial job numbers showed a slowdown in job creation. This hit the stock market hard. The S&P500 dropped 1.8% yesterday while Dow Jones fell 1.9%.

Despite valuation concerns, utility stocks seem relatively well placed at the moment, especially going into October, compared to broader markets.

Tech stocks’ performance was mixed last month. While Amazon and Facebook fell 2.3% and 4.1%, Microsoft, Apple, and Google rose 0.8%, 7.3%, and 2.6%.

Citing Piper Jaffray, CNBC reported on September 26 that Tesla’s China deliveries were up more than 175% year-over-year in the third quarter.

On September 26, Tesla (TSLA) rolled out its version 10 software update—its biggest software update ever—which customers were eagerly awaiting.

Today, the Consumer Confidence Index data fell sharply to 125.1 in September from August’s 134.2. The reading was below the expected 133.5.

Last week, Tracy Britt Cool, a Warren Buffett protégé, said she’d leave Berkshire Hathaway to start a new company. She joined Berkshire Hathaway in 2009.

Last week (ended September 20), gold rose 1.1% and settled at $1,507.30 per ounce. Meanwhile, the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) rose 2%.

Yesterday, Goldman Sachs’ strategist warned of high volatility in October. Based on Goldman Sachs’ data, since 1928 volatility in October is 25% higher.

Yesterday, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas provided his thoughts on Tesla while maintaining his rating and target price on its stock.

Jim Cramer believes Apple and Microsoft stocks are ready to boost equity markets to new highs. Both stocks’ market cap has crossed the $1 trillion mark.

Abbott Laboratories posted a strong earnings results on January 24, surpassing Wall Street estimates and posting earnings at the high end of its guidance.

Another piece of information that lent optimism to Tesla bulls came out yesterday: its Model 3 became the third-best-selling car in the UK in August.