Weekly Update: May 20, 2013
Making Money in May Goes Against the Fray
I continue to be impressed by the growing appetite for equities even as the market climbs higher into what is historically a tough period of seasonality for having heavy long-side exposure. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke continues to assure the investment community that plenty of liquidity will be flowing into capital markets for months to come -- while some of his governors are using the now-popular term 'tapering' in their selected interviews regarding the eventual unwinding of quantitative easing.
Literally every dip of selling is being pounced on like a cat on tuna, and at this point, no one sitting on cash cares about what the Fed may do, when they do it and how the market will react to it. We are in period best described as 'damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead,' in which waves of underinvested professional fund managers are now chasing performance as any garden-variety 3%-5% short-term correction remains elusive.
In this week's issue of Cash Machine, I'll discuss how the market is reacting to speculation of the actions of the Fed, I'll review several of our current holdings and update my Top Buys for the week, and I'll answer some of your questions in this week's Ask Bryan section.
ReadMr. Market Throws Sell in May Crowd Under the Bus
Weekly Update: May 6, 2013
Following the S&P's second run up to 1,600, echoes of 'sell in May and go away' could be heard from market pundits everywhere. I too was wondering if the trading range of 1,550 - 1,600 for the S&P 500 was going to be a campground for investors for several months ahead, given the spotty macroeconomic data that has been showing uneven global growth.
However, Mr. Market is seeing bluer skies for the economy in the second half of 2013. The upward revisions to the jobs data were the catalyst to Friday's key breakout for the S&P 500 that sparked fresh capital to come off the sidelines and a big dose of professional short covering. The ball is now squarely in the court of the bulls, with more converts from the bear camp climbing aboard in hopes that a new leg up is in the making.
In this week's issue of Cash Machine, I'll explain why we're well positioned with our high-income strategy, I'll review some good news for the exportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and what that means for our energy plays and I answer some of your questions in the Ask Bryan section.
ReadStocks Hold Firm Against Softer Data
Weekly Update: April 29, 2013
Without sounding like a broken record, the stock market once again shrugged off a key economic report that came in light of forecasts -- one that in most other market backdrops would have incited a steep sell-off for equities. In the case of the lower first-quarter GDP figure of 2.5%, the positive spin on the report is that the shortfall in growth is due to less government spending, while the private sector showed firm progress from the fourth quarter.
The most impressive piece of tape action is the bounce-back moves from widely-held stocks that have posted disappointing Q1 numbers. Global capital wants to own U.S. assets, regardless of whether the headlines are negative. Any pullbacks have been viewed as an opportunity to buy a brand name at a discount in an up market. In this week's issue of Cash Machine, I'll take a closer look at the Q1 earnings picture, including the latest news in our portfolio, and I'll answer several of your question in this week's Ask Bryan section.
ReadSome Thorns Among a Garden of Earnings
Weekly Update: April 22, 2013
Spring is officially here, but like the current earnings season, there are some threats of frost damage to the crop of earnings that are beginning to unfold. Of the limited number of S&P 500 companies that have reported first-quarter numbers, half of them have missed revenue estimates.
Market leadership remains tightly woven around the consumer staples, with the biggest bio-pharmaceutical names leading all sectors. The other positive takeaway from last week, the worst week for the markets thus far in 2013, was the S&P 500 holding onto technical support at 1,540 after two aggressive attempts to break that key level.
In today's weekly issue of Cash Machine, I'll go into more detail about the market sentiment surrounding earnings season and Fed policy statements, I've updated my Top Buys for the week and I'll answer some of your questions in this week's Ask Bryan.
ReadRally Tripped Up by Slower Growth in China
Weekly Update: April 15, 2013
The Teflon rally of 2013 ran into a trip wire this morning following the release of a lower-than-expected rate of GDP growth for China, which showed growth of 7.7% for the first quarter versus economists' forecast of 8.0%. The unexpected decline in the rate of growth for the Chinese economy has the commodity sector slumping across the board with gold prices leading the way lower, and crude oil is also under pressure, trading down over $2.00 to $89.20 per barrel. Natural gas is holding steady at $4.24 per mcf, as cold weather continues to hamper parts of the Midwest.
Most of the weakness today is being attributed to losses in the deep cyclical sectors that rely on improving GDP growth. With the exception of the banks, which are displaying very good relative strength upon the release this morning of monthly metrics for March, capital flows are moving aggressively back into defensive sectors on Monday in reaction to the headlines. Now the market is in for another test -- and with a full calendar of high-profile earnings reports due out, we're in for an interesting week ahead. In this week's Cash Machine, I'll take a closer look at these issues and also review the latest developments in our portfolio, including one that I'm changing to a Hold recommendation. I'll also answer several subscriber questions in this week's Ask Bryan.
ReadMeasuring the "Trend is Your Friend" Market
Weekly Update: April 1, 2013
I've been trying to put how I feel about the current bull market run into words this past week and, looking at the uptrend, came up with my best shot at reading big investors' perceptions of the business climate over the next six to nine months.
On Thursday, the Commerce Department reported Q4 GDP, which it revised higher with its third estimate. Fourth-quarter real GDP was revised up in this third estimate to 0.4% growth; that compared favorably to both the consensus estimate of 0.3% growth and to the first estimate, which showed a 0.1% contraction. The GDP deflator was bumped up to 1% from 0.9%.
In today's weekly issue of Cash Machine, I have more market news and analysis for you, I've updated my Top Buys for the week and I answer some of your questions in this week's Ask Bryan.
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For more than five years, Bryan has brought his expertise on high-yielding investments to the Cash Machine service. His main goal is to help income investors craft a portfolio that will pay a reliable income even during the worst of times. Read
Today's Market
| DJIA | 15322.69  |
15.52 | 0.1% |
| NASDAQ | 3462.31  |
-0.99 | -0.03% |
| S&P 500 | 1652.70 |
-2.65 | -0.16% |
| Global DOW | 2210.44 |
-32.38 | -1.44% |
Appearances
Income Plays for Every Speed
Bryan Perry explains which sectors are going to perform best in 2013. Business Development Companies (BDCs) should be a hot sector this year, especially because banks have slowed down in lending practices.
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