After delivering robust returns in 2013, stocks are off to a much rockier start in 2014. Friday’s decline capped the biggest monthly selloff in stocks in more than a year. The Dow dropped 149.76 points (0.9%) and closed at its lowest level since November 7th. The S&P 500 declined 11.6 points, marking that Index’s third […]
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The Rise of Shareholder Activism
Over the last two years, shareholder activism has been on the rise. This is not unexpected as the market has delivered strong gains. On average, activists are good for current shareholders as their involvement usually leads to a higher share price. Often when a stock under-performs a broader market rally, activists look for ways to […]
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Will Profit Margins Continue to Move Higher?
Will corporate profit margins continue to set new highs, will they remain above long-term averages, will they revert to the long-term norm, or will they fall even lower? For some time, experts covering the markets and the economy have been debating this issue; it has yet to be resolved. Of course, no one can be […]
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Weak Jobs Report May Cloud Fed’s View
December’s job report, which was released on Friday, fell well short of expectations. Businesses added only 74,000 jobs during the month, well short of expectations of nearly 200,000. The weak result was far short of many other reports about job market activity, including those from the consumer confidence survey, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) […]
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Thoughts about 2014
In 2013, it was a great year to be invested in stocks. The S&P 500 surged more than 30%, closing at 1,848.36, representing the index’s best year since 1997. These robust gains were achieved in a year where earnings rose an estimated 4%-5% and revenues are on pace for about 2% growth. (The actual figures […]