Today, the market sold off as much as a full percent before recovering to a slight loss at the close. At midday, it was off more than 10% from its high in April despite the solid quarterly earnings added in Q1. Factory Orders (-0.6%) were well below the expected number (+0.1%), continuing a worrisome trend that began last week when every major economic number disappointed: Consumer Confidence, Initial Jobless Claims, GDP 1st qtr.Read more about What the Market Wants: June Gloom
For U.S. equities, ETFs offer a higher percentage (10%) of attractive investment options than mutual funds (1%) at a lower cost. The radically higher number of US equity mutual funds (4,700+) versus ETFs (380+) is not indicative of better stock selection from active management. On the contrary, the vast majority of actively-managed funds do not justify the higher fees they charge. Read more about ETF vs Mutual Funds: The Winner Is…
As one financial scandal follows another, it seems the good guys are having a tougher time catching the bad guys. Recent revelations about MF Global’s ponzi scheme are another reminder of how our regulatory and oversight systems seem to let whales pass through their nets.
The issue is not what directors ignore. You cannot ignore something about which you are unaware.
The real issue is that most directors and investors are simply unaware of the many one-time items because they are buried deep in the annals of footnotes in annual reports or 10-K filings.
If the bulls had been paying attention to the economic indicators reported last week, you’d assume the market would be down substantially by now. The fact is, however, that the S&P 500 is just down about -0.4% for the past calendar week, and today it’s up over a full percent. Obviously, the bulls didn’t see the surprising drop in Consumer Confidence, which fell to 46.0 from 56.6 in January, its lowest reading since early last year. Read more about WHAT THE MARKET WANTS: Seems Bulls Don't Read The Wall Street Journal
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