Stocks & Equities

 World shares slumped to a near four-month low after signs that the U.S. economy was stuttering compounded already frayed nerves following a sharp sell-off in emerging markets.  Full Article

The ‘New Normal’ For High-Yield Stocks – And What It Means For You

Posted by Nathan Slaughter - Dividend Opportunities

on Tuesday, 4 February 2014 12:35

UnknownI would love to be able to showcase high-quality, low-risk stocks and bonds with robust yields of 9% or better to my High-Yield Investing readers week in and week out. If I did, I would likely be writing to you from my own private island somewhere in a tropical paradise — because it would mean that I had access to a secret asset class that had eluded even the sharpest hedge fund managers.

Even assuming these 9% yielders had zero capital appreciation, we would still be whipping the market, which has delivered an average total return of 6.8% per year over the past decade. It’s not easy to beat the market, period, but it’s next to impossible to do so with income alone.

The fact is securities with 9% yields were commonplace after the 2008 crash. But today they are exceedingly rare.

….continue reading HERE

 

Ending Long S&P Stretch Without a 5% Slide

U.S. stocks fell, ending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s longest stretch without a 5 percent slide since 2006, as a gauge of manufacturing in the world’s largest economy declined more than estimated.

Telephone stocks plunged after AT&T Inc. introduced new service plans, the latest in an escalating price war among wireless carriers. Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. fell at least 2.2 percent after reporting declines in January auto sales that were greater than analysts had estimated. Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. slid 3.7 percent after management told Men’s Wearhouse Inc. it will not enter takeover talks. Pfizer Inc. rose 2 percent after saying a treatment for women with advanced breast cancer showed “positive” results in a trial.

The S&P 500 fell 1.8 percent to 1,751.45 at 1:16 p.m. in New York, poised for the lowest close since Nov. 8. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 234.02 points, or 1.5 percent, to 15,464.83. The gauge has fallen 6.7 percent this year to the lowest since October. Trading in S&P 500 stocks was 48 percent above the 30-day averaging during this time of the day.

“Everyone walked in this year expecting a continuation of at least growing economic activity and the latest data we’ve been seeing throw a bit of cold water on that theory,” Bill Schultz, chief investment officer who oversees about $1.1 billion at McQueen Ball & Associates in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, said by phone. “Economic activity was not as strong as people expected. People are taking a pause, reassessing where they stand.”

….more HERE

Initial Sell Signal Issued

Posted by Lance Roberts: The X Factor Report

on Monday, 3 February 2014 18:09

xfactor logoThis week’s newsletter is going to be a bit condensed and focusing solely on the “initial sell signal” and how to react to the current market conditions.

Let’s jump right into the analysis.

…..this Weeks Issue HERE

 

Japanese shares fell, with the Nikkei 225 Stock Average entering a correction, as investors weighed corporate earnings and slowing Chinese manufacturing growth increased concern the global economic recovery is faltering.

Hokkaido Electric Power Co. led a decline by utilities after forecasting a 77 billion yen ($754 million) net loss. Daiwa Securities Group Inc., Japan’s second-largest brokerage, lost 4.9 percent even after its third-quarter profit tripled. NGK Insulators Ltd. (5333) jumped 12 percent on raising its operating-income outlook by 24 percent.

The Nikkei 225 slid 2 percent today to 14,619.13, extending its slide from a six-year high reached Dec. 30 to 10 percent and entering a correction. The Topix index sank 2 percent to 1,196.32, its lowest close since Nov. 11. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index capped a third week of losses Jan. 31 after the Federal Reserve cut stimulus even amid a rout in emerging-market currencies. An official gauge showed on Feb. 1 that growth in Chinese factory output slowed to the least in six months.

“The risk-off mood is pretty strong,” said Naoki Fujiwara, Tokyo-based chief fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management Co., which oversees about 600 billion yen. “Individuals and hedge funds are wanting to take money off the table. Emerging-market currencies are still facing problems that started with the Fed’s tapering and falling into a negative cycle. The positivity we saw at the start of the year is being corrected.”

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