Improved oil demand, clouded outlook

“While the oil market has undoubtedly made progress… the large, and in some countries, an accelerating number of COVID-19 cases is a disturbing reminder that the pandemic is not under control and is casting a shadow over the outlook,” the IEA wrote in its closely watched . . . → Read More: Wall Street Breakfast: Return Of The Stay-At-Home Trade

By the end of 2018, the amount of assets in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) had passed $6 trillion. The growth in assets has led to many questions about how ETFs are impacting market liquidity, comovement of stocks and market efficiency. Lawrence Glosten, Suresh Nallareddy and Yuan Zou , authors of the September . . . → Read More: The Impact Of ETFs On Market Efficiency

Veritone (VERI) is mostly a collection of low-quality acquisitions that the market has heaped value upon because of the AI hype around a business that makes up only 20% of the company’s revenue. The company currently trades at an enterprise value to revenue ratio of 7x 2020E revenue, a huge valuation . . . → Read More: Veritone Is Trading On AI Hype With 70% Downside

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact economies across the globe as they emerge from lockdowns, including emerging markets. Our Emerging Markets Equity team provides an overview of developments over the past month, and takes a look at how the pandemic is driving a trend toward deglobalization as well as new innovations.

Three . . . → Read More: Emerging Markets Rally As Economies Reopen In The Second Quarter

Here we are after a very interesting quarter.

At the end of February, I was chatting with an investor friend and he mentioned the coronavirus situation in China and how it is already starting to spread in Italy. For all practical purposes, the West was treating the virus as . . . → Read More: Quarterly Update (Q2 2020)

The largest U.S. banks will announce their second-quarter results next week. Investors should expect another big hit to earnings as banks set aside more money to cover expected loan losses. On the other hand, the big banks are also continuing to see a boost to fee income from elevated investment-banking and trading activity, . . . → Read More: Deep Dive: What to expect as banks report earnings: more loan pain but plenty of fee income

By Nicholas Hardingham, CFA, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager, Emerging Market Debt Analyst, Franklin Templeton Fixed Income; and Robert Nelson, CFA, Vice President, Portfolio Manager, Research Analyst, Franklin Templeton Fixed Income

With inefficiency comes opportunity, according to Franklin Templeton Fixed Income’s Nicholas Hardingham and Robert Nelson. They consider the . . . → Read More: A Turning Point For Emerging Market Debt

Overview

Waitr Holdings (WTRH) pre-released earnings on July 6th, and I believe it’s a signal from management of its intentions to sell the company. With tons of activity going on in the sector, positive macro headwinds, and very positive financials, it looks clear to me that Waitr stock has a disproportionate number . . . → Read More: Waitr Holdings: A Compelling M&A Target In The Consolidating Meal Delivery Market

By Alessio de Longis, CFA, Senior Portfolio Manager, Invesco Investment Solutions

By and large, recent global economic data releases have shown signs of stabilization as most economies have begun the reopening process, confirming our Recovery regime initiated in June.

Our macro regime framework continues to . . . → Read More: Tactical Asset Allocation – July 2020

As a result of the pandemic demand contraction and March oil price war, ConocoPhillips (COP) is coming off a second quarter in which it curtailed production by over 25%, much of it in the Lower 48.

Cautious optimism about increasing demand and stabilizing oil price, offset somewhat by new waves . . . → Read More: DAPL Ruling Nicks, Doesn’t Negate, ConocoPhillips’ Strategy

Time will tell if chasing yields from Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”) will damage the long-term health of an income investor’s portfolio. The pandemic is an unprecedented and unlikely event that disrupted businesses that could not prepare for the worst-case scenario. Months of business closings shook up the regular income from REITs. . . . → Read More: 3 Reasons To Speculate And Get Rewarded On STORE Capital

If we pull up a daily chart of Toyota (NYSE:TM), we can see that shares presently seem to be undergoing a symmetrical triangle. Considering the bullish move shares underwent from May to November of last year, we expect this present coil to end up being a bullish pattern. The reason being is . . . → Read More: Toyota: Standing Pat Until Coil Plays Itself Out

By James T. Tierney, Jr.

US growth companies led the second-quarter rebound, fueled by the five largest technology and new media stocks, which now comprise more than a third of the Russell 1000 Growth Index (R1000G). Investors should be alert to the risks of high benchmark concentration.

. . . → Read More: Record U.S. Index Concentration Adds Hazards For Investors

A rally for technology and Chinese stocks has provided recent fuel for markets to keep rising and shake off concern around climbing U.S. COVID-19 cases. But pandemic worries may return on Thursday, as the daily deaths show signs of rising in the U.S., alongside a record jump in cases and the highest testing rate . . . → Read More: Need to Know: After that 41% ‘moonshot’ for stocks, here’s what one strategist is telling investors to do next

U.S. stock-index futures on Thursday were seeing muted action—though the tech sector looked to be perking up—as investors awaited a report on weekly jobless claims that is likely to show that more than one million Americans submitted claims for unemployment benefits amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, cases of coronavirus exceeded 12 million . . . → Read More: Market Snapshot: Dow futures point to lackluster stock-market open as investors await weekly jobs data

Last week, I published “Retire Rich With REITs, Even During Covid-19.” The article included Forbes‘ list of “the best places to retire that offer both affordability and a high quality of life.”

(Source)

An interesting read, both for professional and personal reasons, it prompted me . . . → Read More: Retire Rich With REITs: Location, Location, Location

(This report was produced by Landlord Investor for the Yield Hunting marketplace service on June 18.)

After a lull in March and April, the preferred stock IPO market has come roaring back. A number of companies have issued preferreds, mainly in the banking and insurance sectors.

You may . . . → Read More: Recent Preferred Stock IPOs That Look Interesting

To answer a question that is on many investors minds these days, David Baskin outlines 4 key reasons for why there has been such a contrast between stock market performance and the overall economy so far this year.

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Original Post

Editor’s Note: The . . . → Read More: Why The Stock Market Is Going Up When The Economy Is Still So Bad

By Christopher Hogbin

Global equities rebounded sharply in the second quarter, driven by massive stimulus efforts and progress in the fight against the coronavirus. But investors face new risks in the third quarter as companies and countries count the costs of the pandemic and cope with the threat of a . . . → Read More: Lopsided Equity Rally Highlights Growing Market Risks

The market gyration in March this year offers a good opportunity to stress test various instruments such as ETFs and mutual funds. In this article, we take a closer look at how bond ETFs behaved.

Broad-based stock index ETFs

The good news is that most broad-based stock index ETFs did . . . → Read More: Bond ETFs Vs. Bond Mutual Funds

Each month, we issue The Mike’s Buy List for our DSR members. They get our best ideas for both U.S. and Canadian dividend stocks. The first Friday of each month, they receive our top 10 growth and top 10 retirement (yield over 4%+) investment ideas.

We are still following the . . . → Read More: Add Magic To Your Portfolio: 2 Dividend Growth Stocks To Buy

By Jason Ye

The quality factor has been outperforming the S&P 500 YTD, an accelerating trend in place since 2019.[i] In the small-cap space, however, quality underperformed the S&P SmallCap 600 in 2019 (see Exhibit 1). Despite this short-term divergence, quality has exhibited consistent premium in large caps and more . . . → Read More: Quality Premium Needs Long-Term Investment Horizon

China’s stock market is enjoying a banner year in 2020, partly due to a surge in prices in recent days. Using a set of US exchange-listed funds as proxies for the world’s major equity regions also shows that Chinese shares have pulled far ahead of the rest of the field, based on . . . → Read More: China’s Equity Market Surges, Leaving Rest Of World Far Behind

Tuesday broke a remarkable run of five straight gains of at least 0.5% by the S&P 500.

How remarkable? Michael Batnick, director of research at Ritholtz Wealth Management, calculates that it is a roughly once-in-2,000 days likelihood, given that the S&P 500 SPX, -1.08% has gained at least 0.5% about 28% of the time, . . . → Read More: Need to Know: The surge from the March lows masks how volatile stock markets still are

Airline investors must be shaking with excitement – or maybe fear. Second-quarter earnings season for major US-based airlines, most definitely the worst in the sector’s history, is only a few days away from kicking off.

I would not dare make predictions on whether carriers, as a group, will beat or . . . → Read More: U.S. Global Jets ETF: Ugly Earnings Season Ahead, But Winners Could Emerge

The US economy is growing again. The growth to date is largely due to the snap-back effect that followed a sudden, sharp decline in output, but recent data clearly show that the coronavirus recession has bottomed and a recovery is unfolding. The mystery is whether the recovery will persist. The primary reason . . . → Read More: Will The U.S. Economic Rebound Continue?

So you want to analyze preferred shares better? You’re in the right place. Strap in for some quick lessons in preferred share analysis.

Which Preferred Shares Do You Cover?

I’ve put together a table showing the various preferred shares we have under coverage, though we plan to add a very . . . → Read More: Quick Tips And Tricks For Preferred Shares

(This report was issued to members of Yield Hunting on June 18.)

The monthly update on PIMCO CEFs came out this week without much changes to the figures. Overall, we think the report was relatively benign and continues to signal the same result: Nothing to be afraid of here.

. . . → Read More: PIMCO CEF Coverage And Leverage Update For May

I recently became the president of my homeowner’s association, where I now oversee around 40 houses. Between that and what I do for a living… it’s safe to say I follow local real estate.

We moved here around seven years ago, appreciating its growth prospects. And apparently we chose well. . . . → Read More: Broadmark Realty: If There’s A Crisis, It Won’t Be A Housing Crisis

I wrote about Broadcom (AVGO) a few months back in this article. While in retrospect it could have been timed better, excellent things have happened with the stock – and also with my own stake, much of which was bought during the depths of the crisis and after the article was published. . . . → Read More: Broadcom: Valuation Indicates To Take Care

It’s not an uncommon opinion that the combination of superlow interest rates and bond buying by central banks with aggressive fiscal spending will lead to a surge in inflation.

Barry Bannister, head of institutional equity strategy at Stifel, won’t disagree but thinks it will take decades to play out. He expects the combination to . . . → Read More: In One Chart: This fascinating chart shows the link between commodity prices and populism

In my previous article on CMC Markets (OTC:CCMMF), I outlined my bullish stance on the company and its prospects with the belief that volatility would continue at high levels into the future. CMC Markets would benefit from this fuelling further reinvestment into their own platform. The company just updated the market with . . . → Read More: CMC Markets: It Keeps Getting Better

Mr. Market has yet to learn that nothing succeeds like low financial leverage when midstream operations are analyzed. Antero Midstream (AM) consistently keeps its debt leverage under 4. Not many midstream companies are even close to that conservative ratio. Management has also managed to keep the ratio low without issuing preferred stock.

. . . → Read More: Antero Midstream: It’s The Leverage, The Leverage, And The Leverage

This is the forum for daily political discussion on Seeking Alpha.

Please don’t leave political comments on other articles or news on the site.

The comments below are not regulated with the same rigor as the rest of the site, and this is an ‘enter at your . . . → Read More: Politics And The Markets 7/8/20

The public offering of Lemonade (LMND) has been a truly astonishing success with shares up 140% on their opening day, having risen from $29 to $70, a mind-blowing move higher of course for a period of just a day. The reason for that is somewhat understandable, yet at the same time . . . → Read More: Lemonade – Sweet Or Sour, Time Will Tell

Introduction

The very high distribution yield of Crestwood Equity Partners (CEQP) is certainly alluring to many income investors, as a yield of 21% is certainly eye-catching. Whilst they have not taken the same path as many of their peers by reducing their distributions already in the first half of 2020, this could . . . → Read More: Crestwood Equity Partners: The Distribution Could Go Either Way When Results Land

In the 276 days since I wrote my bearish piece about Kirby Corporation (KEX), the shares are down about 37% against a gain of ~7% for the S&P 500. While this is gratifying on some level, I must admit that a company that was too risky to buy at $80 may be . . . → Read More: Kirby Is A Buy

What a whirlwind first half of 2020 it was. A 35% drop in a few weeks, only to see one of the biggest and broadest rallies ever from late March through June. Ironically, stocks finished not far from unchanged during the first half of the year. If you emerged from under a . . . → Read More: Global Check-Up: Earnings Breadth So Bad It’s Good

As stated, this article is mainly for “fund” investors who like to keep things simple. By this I mean that you meet these three basic criteria:

1. You are a “fund” investor. You don’t like picking individual stocks because you’re either not good at it or you don’t wish to . . . → Read More: Keeping Investing As Simple As Possible