Trader Talk

What does inflation do to stock prices?  Stocks are reacting negatively this week to modestly higher inflation figures, but it’s not at all clear that the current figures are a long-term negative for stocks.  Higher inflation is usually looked on as a negative for stocks, because it increases borrowing costs, increases input costs (materials, labor),

Traders on the NYSE, May 3, 2021. Source: NYSE It’s not just about earnings anymore: Dividends and huge inflows are helping stocks power forward. April trading data is in, and it shows two surprises: an increase in dividends, and huge inflows into equities that are even stronger than the first three months of the year.

Gary Gensler, then-chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images New Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler will testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday. This is the third House hearing focused on GameStop, but this is Gensler’s first appearance as chairman before the Committee.

In this article .DFII Traders working at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), today, Wednesday, April 21, 2021. Source: NYSE The NYSE is adjusting its Covid protocols and will allow more people on its trading floor. Beginning Monday, members of the floor community who have been fully vaccinated will be exempt from certain restrictions, including

President Joe Biden addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., April 28, 2021. Doug Mills | Reuters If the stock market is considered a barometer of success, Joe Biden’s first 100 days in office is starting off with a bang…a big bang. Since the election, the S&P 500 is

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Source: NYSE The reopening story is now getting very real, at least for Wall Street. Today’s crop of earnings reports are chock-full of companies reporting earnings above expectations and, most importantly, raising guidance. Take steel maker Nucor, which reported what CEO Leon Topalian called the

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Source: NYSE The market is showing some signs of exhaustion, and with good reason.  Most major parts of the market have run up significantly in the past month.  But there is a growing chorus warning that we are at “peak everything.” That is, peak earnings

Traders on the New York Stock Exchange. Source: NYSE This is a very powerful rally. The combination of surprisingly strong economic reports and even more surprisingly strong earnings reports is pushing broad swaths of the U.S. stock market to new highs. Even the technicians are impressed. “The vast majority of NYSE stocks are in intermediate-term

In this article PEP A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE Everyone knew earnings were going to be good, but this is really good. “There’s evidence every day that growth is clearly improving around the world, today from the US to Australia,” Ed Hyman, chairman and head of the

Gary Gensler, then-chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Senate is likely to confirm Gary Gensler as the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission either Wednesday or later this week, and crypto assets — including bitcoin — are likely high on his agenda.

In this article COIN Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018. Steve Jennings | Getty Images for TechCrunch The pending Coinbase direct listing, scheduled for April 14th on the Nasdaq under the symbol COIN, is exciting a broad base of the investment community outside the usual cryptocurrency crowd. “Coinbase is

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Source: NYSE Earnings season starts with a rare confluence of bullish factors: stocks at new highs, economic reports exceeding expectations, the vaccine rollout accelerating, an uber-dovish Fed, higher tax fears diminishing, and most importantly, expectations that CEOs will provide far more guidance than they did

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Source: NYSE Is this as good as it gets?  It seems like everything is working, and with good reason: the broad rally is supported by an accelerated vaccine rollout and recent economic reports which have been robust across the board. Nonfarm payrolls.  ISM Manufacturing. ISM

In this article VIAC GS MS The Viacom office in Hollywood, California. Lucy Nicholson | Reuters Chinese stocks listed in the U.S. fell sharply last week, after several weeks in correction mode. A trader who participated in some of the wild trading in Chinese internet stocks on Friday confirmed that the primary cause of the

In this article KWEB Chinese and U.S. flags outside the building of an American company in Beijing, China January 21, 2021. Tingshu Wang | Reuterss A new Securities and Exchange Commission rule that will require foreign companies to submit documentation about government affiliations and government influence is causing headaches for China investors. It’s one of

It was a bad day for Cathie Wood.  And it was a very strange trading day.  For weeks, stocks have been held hostage to Treasury yields, particularly the 10-year.  As yields moved up, stocks, particularly high-multiple megacap stocks, moved down.  If yields dropped, tech rallied. That relationship has broken down. Yields have been down three

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE It’s the anniversary of the big drop: What’s changed?  Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen are testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on the state of the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday. It’s the one-year anniversary

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE Are you confused about what is going on in the markets? Traders sure are. “We all got comfortable thinking Covid was done or manageable, and it may turn out to still be a wild card,” Peter Tchir from Academy Securities told me. ”Nobody wants another

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 16, 2020 in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images March 16, 2020 was the day when Covid got very real for market investors.  It was the week everyone realized that we would be in for a prolonged shutdown. When

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE Do you have Fear of Missing Out on all this wild trading going on this year? Would you buy a FOMO fund if someone offered it to you? Some investors are betting you will. Investing in the stock market these days is like