Countries & Regions Archives - Page 17 of 358

October 12, 2021

Recent breakouts

Our recent breakout scan returned a number of promising stocks for review.

Australia

Orica (ORI) – rising Trend Index indicates buying pressure. Follow-through above 14.50 would complete a double bottom reversal.

Orica (ORI)

Canada

Precision Drilling (PD) – Trend Index trough above zero indicates strong buying pressure.

Precision Drilling (PD)

UK

Metro Bank (MTRO) – not a conventional breakout but rising Trend Index indicates buying pressure.

Metro Bank (MTRO)

USA

Marathon Petroleum (MPC) – Trend Index troughs above zero indicate strong buying pressure.

Marathon Petroleum (MPC)

More Breakouts

Spirit of Texas Bancshares (STXB) – shallow trough is a bullish sign. Trend Index holding above zero indicates strong buying pressure. Breakout above 25.00 would signal a fresh advance.

Spirit of Texas Bancshares (STXB)

CURO Group Holdings (CURO) – Trend Index trough above zero indicates strong buying pressure.

CURO Group Holdings (CURO)

Curtiss-Wright (CW) – Trend Index trough above zero indicates strong buying pressure.

Curtiss-Wright (CW)

Acuity Brands (AYI) – Trend Index troughs above zero indicate strong buying pressure. Follow-through above 200 is bullish.

Acuity Brands (AYI)

Apollo Gloabl Management (APO) – Trend Index trough above zero indicates strong buying pressure.

Apollo Global Management (APO)

Williams Companies (WMB) – Trend Index trough above zero indicates strong buying pressure.

Williams Companies (WMB)

Home Bancorp (HBCP) – shallow trough is a bullish sign. Trend Index trough above zero indicates strong buying pressure.

Home Bancorp (HBCP)

APA Corp (APA) – Breakout above 24.00.

APA Corp (APA)

Occidental Petroleum (OXY) – Breakout above 33.00.

Occidental Petroleum (OXY)

Shallow corrections and Trend Index troughs above zero indicate healthy buying pressure.

A word of caution: the above stocks are selected on the basis of technical analysis and do not consider fundamentals like sales, earnings, debt, etc.
Please do your own research. They are not a recommendation to buy or sell.

October 7, 2021

End game for the Dollar

The end game for the Dollar: China vs the US, with Grant Williams and Luke Gromen:

October 7, 2021October 7, 2021

Facebook (FB) spin

Facebook are hoping they can weather the public outcry regarding whistleblower Frances Haugen’s revelations.

Steve Schmidt on FB’s attempt to “spin” the revelations:

And more on how to conduct interviews:

October 5, 2021

Facebook (FB) in trouble over hate speech

“It’s easier to inspire people to anger than other emotions…..Facebook has realized that if they change the algorithm to be safer, people will spend less time on the site, they’ll click on less ads, they’ll make less money……It’s one of these unfortunate consequences, right? No one at Facebook is malevolent, but the incentives are misaligned, right? Like, Facebook makes more money when you consume more content. People enjoy engaging with things that elicit an emotional reaction. And the more anger that they get exposed to, the more they interact and the more they consume…” ~ Frances Haugen, Facebook whistleblower

September 25, 2021September 25, 2021

Recent Breakouts

Our latest scan for breakouts turned up only one candidate in the ASX 300:

Computershare (CPU)

Computershare (CPU) jumped after release of its annual report on Monday. CPU has grown via global acquisition to become the world’s leading provider of share registry services, which constitutes around 60% of group EBITDA. The remaining 40% largely comprises mortgage administration services in the United States and United Kingdom.

Russell 3000

The Russell 3000 yielded a few more promising candidates, concentrated in a few sectors:

Entertainment/Recreation/Gambling

Sea World (SEAS)

MGM International (MGM)

Caesars (CZR)

Vail Resorts (MTN)

Banking

Zions Bancorp (ZION)

First Foundation (FFWM)

Level One Bancorp (LEVL)

Semiconductors

Microchip (MCHP)

Brooks Automation (BRKS)

Others

Evolution Petroleum (EPM)

Progress Software (PRGS)

Arthur J Gallagher & Company (AJG)

Nexstar Media (NXST)

Look for a strong Trend Index (or Twiggs Money Flow), holding above zero, and shallow corrections.

Please note: no evaluation has been done of fundamentals like sales, earnings, debt, etc.

Quote for the Week

The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.

~ Leo Tolstoy

September 17, 2021

Recent breakouts

Our latest scan for breakouts turned up only one candidate on the ASX:

Premier Investments (PMV)

Premier Investments is an Australian company that operates six specialty retail fashion chains in the specialty retail fashion markets in Australia & New Zealand and also operates the unique Smiggle brand, retailing children’s stationery in Australia and overseas markets.

Not your normal candidate for a growth stock but PMV has been appreciating steadily, with shallow troughs and regular breakouts since March last year. Trend Index is declining; so we would want to see an upswing, respecting the zero line.

Russell 3000

The Russell 3000 yielded a few more promising candidates:

Inspire Medical systems (INSP)

Penske Group (PAG)

SVB Financial Group (SIVB)

Texas Instruments (TXN)

Walker Dunlop (WD)

Look for a strong Trend Index, holding above zero, and shallow corrections.

Quote for the Week

No amount of sophistication is going to allay the fact that all your knowledge is about the past and all your decisions are about the future.

~ Ian Wilson, former GE Chairman

August 16, 2021August 16, 2021

Afghanistan: The worst kind of cowardice

I would have expected the former Swedish prime minister to have a better appreciation of the challenges political leaders face when confronted with a choice like Afghanistan:

Carl Bildt

Colin Twiggs

The media focuses on the 12,000 casualties and more than $1 trillion spent over the past 20 years. A complete waste. Especially when you consider the end result. But the alternative is even worse: to continue spending good money after bad, wasting more lives unnecessarily in the process. Your first duty as a leader is to avoid another young soldier returning home with his/her legs blown off or with brain trauma from an IED.

Sacrifice is necessary when there is a clear and attainable end goal in mind. But the worst kind of sacrifice is the kind politicians make because they don’t want to take a hit in the ratings. That isn’t courage, it’s cowardice.

A long, long time ago I served in a counterinsurgency operation where one of my fellow 18-year olds had his legs blown off above the knee when his horse stepped on a landmine. He died several years later. I often think of him in times like this because the conflict has long since been forgotten, the outcome was inevitable and time has marched on.

No one has the right to ask young men and women to serve in those kind of circumstances. Not you, not me, nor Joe Biden.

August 11, 2021August 11, 2021

The error of a Dollar reserve currency

The era¹ of US Dollar reserve currency status started in 1971, when Richard Nixon ended convertibility to gold. The present issues have taken a long time to evolve but are a consequence of that decision.

Yesterday we showed how GDP had declined against the M2 money supply² since the global financial crisis in 2008-09. Liquidity soared but GDP growth failed to respond to quantitative easing and ultra-low interest rates.

GDP/M2

Even when we adjust M2 money supply for recent actions that remove liquidity — commercial bank investment in Treasury & Agency securities and overnight reverse repo from the Fed — there is a sharp fall in money velocity.

GDP/M2 Adjusted for Commercial Bank Treasury Investments & Fed Reverse Repo

With the 2020 pandemic, the Fed doubled down, boosting liquidity and cutting interest rates even further. Bank credit has slowly started to recover.

Commercial Bank: Loans & Leases

But results are miniscule compared to the Fed’s $3.9 trillion liquidity injection.

M2 Money Stock

Declining bank credit relative to M2 over the past two decades tells a similar story.

Commercial Bank: Loans & Leases/M2 Adjusted for Commercial Bank Treasury Investments & Fed Reverse Repo

With GDP also declining relative to bank credit.

GDP/Commercial Bank: Loans & Leases

And unlikely to recover in the foreseeable future.

Conclusion

Fed monetary policy — with quantitative easing and record low interest rates — has not achieved a recovery in GDP growth over the past two decades. It was never designed to do that. Its primary purpose is to fund the federal deficit.

Federal Deficit

The only way to achieve a true economic recovery, with robust GDP growth, is to end the Dollar’s reserve status. The US has been forced to run massive current account deficits to support the Dollar’s reserve status, eroding the competitiveness of domestic industry in export markets and against imports in domestic markets.

Current Account

Eliminate the current account deficits and you will eliminate the primary need to run federal deficits — and for the Fed to expand its balance sheet to support them. You will also enhance the competitiveness of US industry.

The longer the Dollar continues as global reserve currency, the higher federal debt will rise, while GDP growth falls.

Notes

Intentional (era >> error).
In economics jargon the ratio GDP/M2 is referred to as the velocity of money.

August 6, 2021August 6, 2021

Australian economy: Gold medal or wooden spoon?

A quick health check from the RBA chart pack:

Our trade balance is in robust good health.

Australia: Current Account

Boosted by record high iron ore prices. Sadly, this is nearing an end.

Australia: Exports

On the domestic front, we have a decent chance of a bronze medal placing for the biggest housing bubble. But Canada, UK and NZ are vying for gold.

Australia: Housing

While on the business front, we are competing for the wooden spoon, with the lowest investment rate since the early ’90s.

Australia: Current Account

Conclusion

Economic policy is completely cock-eyed. We are driving up prices in an already over-heated housing market — in an attempt to generate short-term jobs — a ponzi scheme that puts the entire financial system at risk. And starving the one sector that has the potential to generate jobs and grow GDP, ensuring long-term stability.

August 4, 2021August 4, 2021

Nasdaq & NYSE breakouts

Our breakout of the week, Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (CDNS), is testing resistance at 150. Repeated Money Flow troughs above zero signal exceptional buying pressure. Breakout above 150 would signal an advance with a target of 180¹.

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS)

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. provides software, hardware, services, and reusable integrated circuit design blocks worldwide. The company offers functional verification services, including emulation and prototyping hardware. Its functional verification offering consists of JasperGold, a formal verification platform; Xcelium, a parallel logic simulation platform; Palladium, an enterprise emulation platform; and Protium, a prototyping platform for chip verification.

Another, CDW Corporation (CDW), is testing resistance at 185. Rising Money Flow troughs again signal growing buying pressure. Breakout above 185 would signal an advance with a target of 205².

CDW Corporation (CDW)

CDW Corporation provides integrated information technology (IT) solutions to business, government, education, and healthcare customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It operates through three segments: Corporate, Small Business, and Public. The company offers discrete hardware and software products, as well as integrated IT solutions, including on-premise, hybrid and cloud capabilities across data center and networking, digital workspace, security, and virtualization.

Used car retailer CarMax, Inc. (KMX), broke through resistance at 135. Rising Money Flow troughs indicate growing buyer interest. Breakout would signal an advance with a target of 155³.

CarMax Inc. (KMX)

CarMax, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer of used vehicles in the United States. The company operates in two segments, CarMax Sales Operations and CarMax Auto Finance. It offers customers a range of makes and models of used vehicles, including domestic, imported, and luxury vehicles; and extended protection plans to customers at the time of sale, as well as sells vehicles that are approximately 10 years old and has more than 100,000 miles through whole auctions.

A smaller breakout pattern is Medtronic plc (MDT) which is testing resistance at 132. Money Flow troughs respecting zero signal strong buying pressure. Breakout above 132 would offer a target of 144⁴.

Medtronic plc (MDT)

Medtronic plc develops, manufactures, distributes, and sells device-based medical therapies to hospitals, physicians, clinicians, and patients worldwide. It operates through four segments: Cardiovascular Portfolio, Neuroscience Portfolio, Medical Surgical Portfolio, and Diabetes Operating Unit. The Cardiovascular Portfolio segment offers implantable cardiac pacemakers, cardioverter defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices; AF ablation products; insertable cardiac monitor systems; mechanical circulatory support; TYRX products; and remote monitoring and patient-centered software.

Wingstop Inc. (WING) broke long-term resistance at 170, signaling an advance with a target of 225⁵. Rising Money Flow troughs signal growing buyer interest.

Wingstop Inc. (WING)

Wingstop Inc., together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates restaurants under the Wingstop brand name. Its restaurants offer classic wings, boneless wings, and tenders that are cooked-to-order, and hand-sauced-and-tossed in various flavors. As of December 26, 2020, the company had 1,506 franchised restaurants and 32 company-owned restaurants in 44 states and 10 countries worldwide. Wingstop Inc. was founded in 1994 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

Reminder

The above is only a technical view and does not take into account fundamental data like sales, operating margins, cash flows and debt levels. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell.

Notes

1. Target of $180 for CDNS is calculated as the trough at 120 projected above resistance at 150.
2. Target of $205 for CDW is calculated as the trough at 165 projected above resistance at 185.
3. Target of $155 for KMX is calculated as the trough at 115 projected above resistance at 135.
4. Target of $144 for MDT is calculated as the trough at 120 projected above resistance at 132.
5. Target of $225 for WING is calculated as support at 115 projected above resistance at 170.

Acknowledgement

Hat tip to SeekingAlpha.com for the company profiles.