Equity markets have taken a wild ride this past year as everything from an unimaginable earthquake in Japan to a looming debt crisis in Europe has taken its toll on investors’ confidence. As 2011 draws to a close, many are left scratching their heads in confusion and uncertainty, given the predominantly gloomy economic outlook that many are expecting for the new year. Financial behemoth UBS has issued its economic outlook for 2012 along with a set of conservative investment principles that are sure to please the defensive-minded crowd worrisome of continuing economic turmoil.
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Stocks drifted lower on Wednesday after euro zone debt-woes resurfaced and investors at home were disappointed with Apple’s rare earnings miss. Despite slightly worse-than-expected third quarter performance results, analysts at Deutsche Bank are maintaining their “Buy” rating on shares of Apple, with a price target of $530. Beige Book data was also released yesterday, showing [...]
The month of May was a generally disappointing stretch for investors, as both international and domestic equity markets struggled to overcome obstacles new and old. Commodities, which had been a nice source of absolute returns for much of the last year, fell on hard times as well; precious metals went into a brief freefall, and [...]
ETFs may have been designed with the long-term, buy-and-hold investor in mind, but as the industry has evolved the potential benefits of the exchange-traded structure have been acknowledged and embraced by other types of investors as well. Several ETFs are designed primarily as trading instruments for those who measure holding periods in hours and minutes, [...]
Thanks to the loss of AT&T’s exclusive hold over the iPhone in the U.S. the country’s telecom market appears to be shaken up at least in the near term. While many are still debating the merits of Verizon’s deal with Apple to carry the phone the impact of the news on AT&T certaintly looks to [...]
After a weak session in Monday trading, American equity markets managed to march higher today as investors scooped up shares on solid earnings in the industrial sector and hope for a resolution in the European debt crisis. Both the Dow and Nasdaq rose by 0.3% on the day while the S&P 500 managed to edge [...]
Last year was a good year for most asset classes, as investor portfolios continued to recover from the recent recession. The difference in performance between many comparable funds was significant, and many of the best performers of 2010 are relatively small funds that maintain considerably smaller asset bases than their more popular competitors. Below, we [...]
Once again, U.S. equity markets surged in early trading only to suffer a setback in the final hours of the day. However, today’s session saw markets come back in the final fifteen minutes to power back to gains across the board. The Dow finished the day up by close to 50 points while the Nasdaq [...]
Perhaps now more than at any point in recent memory, Wall Street is keeping a close eye on Washington. In the wake of the recent recession, government regulation and interaction has become a relatively frequent and significant source of risk to various corners of the U.S. economy. First a wave of uncertainty washed over the [...]
In the ongoing battle between phone and cable companies and the FCC, it appears as if Comcast and its allies have won the latest round. The U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia ruled in a 3-0 vote that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lacks the authority to determine how Comcast and other Internet [...]
“Net neutrality” sounds like the latest brainless Nic Cage movie, but is actually a rather complex issue that could have a major impact on the telecommunications sector in coming months. In the latest battle between phone and cable companies and the FCC, the stakes are high, and the ultimate resolution could have affect the daily [...]
