Daily State of the Markets

Apple a Distraction, But Still All About the Fed

With Apple's big event out of the way, investors can return their attention to the more mundane issues such as economics, the Fed, and earnings. Today, there are a couple deals to focus on as well as industrial production numbers out of Europe, which, weren't a disaster. Overnight markets…

The VIX Is Cheap - Is It Time To Buy?

In our search for value among various asset classes, we concluded that - generally speaking - stocks are fairly to slightly overvalued, bonds are extremely and historically overvalued, commodities in general and gold in particular, while not cheap by historical standards, could be ripe fo…

Searching For Value (And Finding It In the VIX)

There has been an awful lot of discussion lately on the topic of stock market valuations. Yale's Robert Shiller, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2013, has been quite vocal with his view that stocks are extremely overvalued at this time and that investors should be worried.

Fed Remains The Focus

Although there is some good news on the geopolitical front (Ukraine says they have laid the groundwork for a ceasefire) all eyes are on the jobs report and what it means for Fed policy. Yesterday's reversal in stocks was triggered in part by the stronger-than expected economic data. The c…

The Bears May Get It Right Eventually

It is said that differing opinions is what makes a market. If there is one thing we know for sure about the current market, it is that the disparity between the opinions of what "should" be happening in the market versus what is actually happening in the market is about a mile wide. …

The Current Key: Breakout or Fake-Out?

The primary focus of the market at this stage appears to be on both the geopolitical hotspots in Ukraine/Russia, Syria and Iraq and the 2,000 level on the S&P 500. The big, round numbers on the major indices (especially the Dow and S&P 500) always seem to bring the debate of valua…

No Professor Shiller, Stocks Are Not Dangerously Overvalued

With the S&P moving back to new all-time highs, the debate over valuation levels in the stock market is heating up again. Therefore, this would appear to be a good time to continue our in-depth look at a multitude of valuation indicators. Much of the attention last week was fo…

All Eyes on Jackson Hole

If it's Friday then there must be new developments in the Russia/Ukraine situation for traders to worry about. Sure enough, this morning there is word that Russia has ordered a convoy of between 70 and 90 aid trucks to cross over the border into eastern Ukraine without approval from Ukrai…

"No Soup For You" (Yet)

While geopolitical issues remain (China closed 4 high profile McDonalds restaurants in retaliation for the West's economic sanctions and a rescue attempt of an American journalist in Iraq failed) traders appear to be focused on the flash PMI data out of China and Europe as well as the out…

And Now It Gets Interesting...

The focus of the market is back on geopolitics today. Video of Islamic Militants apparently beheading American journalist James Foley and threatening to do the same to another journalist has refocused attention on the situation in Iraq. According to the video released, the killing of the …