Stock markets are surging and billionaires are benefitting. The world’s 500 richest people saw their combined net worth jump 31% in 2020. The $1.8 trillion annual gain was the largest in the eight year history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Source: Bloomberg When billionaires do well, so do prices of things they like to buy. That includes professional sports franchises...
December 12, 2020 Apart from the two blockbuster IPOs we cover below, it was a fairly quiet week on Wall Street. The S&P 500 edged down about 1% while bonds saw modest gains. Initial jobless claims in the U.S. rose 853,000 last week, the highest level since September. The latest monthly survey of economists showed falling growth projections for Q1...
December 5, 2020 The S&P 500 gained 1.7% this week led by the Energy sector (+4.5%). The November jobs report showed the weakest growth since April, confirming our expectation that the economic recovery would hit a soft patch to finish the year. Seven months were needed to recover 60% of the 21 million private-sector jobs lost, and at the current...
When Tesla (TSLA) joins the S&P 500 next month, it will be the biggest debut ever in the world’s most important stock index. Traders are expecting huge volume on December 18, the final day before Tesla is added. Many are also front-running the move. Tesla shares are up 600% year-to-date and over 50% this month. The electric car company pulled...
November 22, 2020 The S&P 500 finished this week a few ticks lower, down 0.7%. It was a relatively quiet week on Wall Street. The market wobbled a bit on Friday as the federal government pulled some backstop emergency funding from the Federal Reserve, a rare break between the two institutions in their otherwise unified efforts to support the economic...
Joel Greenblatt, legendary investor and New York Times bestselling author, has written a new book that is light in pages but full of great ideas. In Common Sense: The Investor’s Guide to Equality Opportunity and Growth, Joel offers a fresh take on some of today’s most vexing public policy challenges. Topics range from elevating educational opportunity in America, to stimulating...
November 15, 2020 Equities rallied on positive vaccine news and the S&P 500 finished this week +2.2%. News broke Monday that an early analysis of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine proved 90% effective in protecting people from COVID-19. A widely distributed and effective vaccine is the key catalyst many investors are looking for to ignite a post-pandemic economic recovery. Monday’s news...
Elections have consequences and tax policy is ever-evolving. Here’s what investors need to know about potential tax changes after the November election. Election Momentum Joe Biden’s chances of becoming the 46th president of the United States have risen to 87%, according to FiveThirtyEight’s latest projection. Meanwhile, PredictIt has the odds of Democrats sweeping the White House and Congress at 58%...
What do you get when you combine: alluring apps, extra free time, and zero trading commissions? A retail trading boom, of course. Citadel Securities estimates around 25% of stock trading this year is linked to retail investors, up from about 10% in 2019. Many of the trades occur in Robinhood accounts. Robinhood recently made news when it stopped openly sharing...
October 10, 2020 Apart from a sharp pullback the day President Trump (briefly) ended negotiations for a stimulus deal, U.S. stocks spent the week largely in positive territory. The S&P 500 rose 3%. This week’s positive momentum may reflect the fading odds of a contested election outcome. Biden's lead in national and swing state polls has been increasing in recent...
October 3, 2020 In what can only be described as a wild and emotionally-charged week, the S&P 500 still managed to advance +1.5%. The S&P 500 finished Q3 with a +8.5% gain. News of President Trump testing positive for coronavirus reverberated around the world Friday, shaking markets and casting more uncertainty on the election. The president reportedly has mild symptoms...
September 25, 2020 The S&P 500 declined 0.6% this week, with eight out of eleven sectors retreating. Computer and software stocks were a bright spot, rallying 2.2%, as money flowed back into equities considered ‘stay-at-home’ trades. Meanwhile, a Bloomberg basket of stocks geared to economic re-openings fell 5.3% in the week. The housing market continues to exhibit positive momentum. On...