|
| Home | About Us | Resources | Archive | Free Reports | Market Window |
Emerging market equity funds lost $1.6 billion in weekly withdrawals [last week], the biggest outflows in 24 weeks, as earnings and Greece's debt woes raised concerns that the global recovery may falter, EPFR Global said.
Investors removed almost $1 billion from global emerging market stock funds in the week ended Feb. 3, the most in more than a year, and withdrew $516 million from Asian equities outside of Japan, the research company said in a statement.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 2.6 percent to 902.12 as of 5 p.m. in Hong Kong, the lowest since Oct. 2.
Investors removed almost $1 billion from global emerging market stock funds in the week ended Feb. 3, the most in more than a year, and withdrew $516 million from Asian equities outside of Japan, the research company said in a statement.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 2.6 percent to 902.12 as of 5 p.m. in Hong Kong, the lowest since Oct. 2.
- Bloomberg
The recession has battered the U.S. economy, but the lobbying industry is humming along in the nation's capital, even for companies that have shed thousands of jobs in the past year.
The 20 trade associations and companies that spent the most on lobbying increased their spending by more than 20% in 2009 to $507.7 million, up from $418.2 million a year earlier, according to a USA TODAY analysis of reports compiled by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.
The top 20 include oil giant ConocoPhillips, which announced nearly 1,300 layoffs in January 2009, and drugmaker Pfizer, which shed 4,200 jobs since completing its merger with drug company Wyeth last fall.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce led spending, pumping $144.5 million into lobbying last year, according to the center's tally. That's a nearly 60% increase over 2008 and came as the business federation battled Congress and the White House over legislation dealing with health care and financial regulation.
The 20 trade associations and companies that spent the most on lobbying increased their spending by more than 20% in 2009 to $507.7 million, up from $418.2 million a year earlier, according to a USA TODAY analysis of reports compiled by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.
The top 20 include oil giant ConocoPhillips, which announced nearly 1,300 layoffs in January 2009, and drugmaker Pfizer, which shed 4,200 jobs since completing its merger with drug company Wyeth last fall.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce led spending, pumping $144.5 million into lobbying last year, according to the center's tally. That's a nearly 60% increase over 2008 and came as the business federation battled Congress and the White House over legislation dealing with health care and financial regulation.
- USA Today
-
Rick Rule's Favorite Resource Sector
By Chris Mayer Saturday, February 6, 2010 Rick Rule's Favorite Resource Sector -
Even the Best Investors Make This Huge Mistake... Make Sure You Don't!
By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud Friday, February 5, 2010 Even the Best Investors Make This Huge Mistake... Make Sure You Don't! -
How You Can Get Paid by a "Gold Bank" Today
By Matt Badiali Thursday, February 4, 2010 How You Can Get Paid by a "Gold Bank" Today -
When This Crisis Will End
By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud Wednesday, February 3, 2010 When This Crisis Will End -
The Great American Liquidation Sale
By Tom Dyson Tuesday, February 2, 2010 The Great American Liquidation Sale
This Commodity Has Risen 39% in the Last Four Weeks
By Tom DysonMonday, February 8, 2010
So far this year, the S&P 500 has fallen around 7%. European markets are down, too. The Germans are down 9%. And in Spain, they've lost almost 16%. The latest news is, Greece is about to default on its debt and plunge the European Union into a new debt crisis...
It's even worse in commodities. Copper is down 16%, oil is down 10%, and silver is down over 20% from its peak in December.
But there's one commodity that's absolutely soaring right now. It's lumber. Lumber trades on Chicago's commodity exchange. This chart shows spot lumber prices. Lumber rose 50% last year. And so far this year, it's up another 39%...
I've said before that lumber is my favorite economic indicator...
Lumber is the raw material of the homebuilding industry. Lumber prices rise when America builds houses and it falls when America stops building houses. So lumber is a great leading indicator of economic expansion or contraction.
You can measure economic activity with other commodities, like oil and copper. But lumber has an advantage over other commodities: No one pays attention to it. Oil and copper prices get distorted by millions of investors and their crazy mood swings. Lumber's price is set entirely by professionals dealing with other professionals. It's a "pure" reflection of economic fundamentals, in other words.
Take the last cycle as an example. If you had been watching lumber prices, you would have had three years advance warning that a collapse was coming in real estate, the stock market, and ultimately the economy. (Lumber prices peaked in May 2004.)
Here's the thing, normally, I'd tell you this big recent spike in lumber prices is a signal the economy is going to start improving and stocks are going to start rising again.
Not this time.
The current spike in lumber is a result of a one-off event, caused by the earthquake in Haiti on January 12 and the sudden massive demand for lumber. This demand shock – coupled with extremely low inventory of wood, logs, and lumbers in the American lumber industry – created a massive spike in the lumber price.
In sum, while lumber is usually a fantastic economic indicator, don't be fooled by the recent activity in the lumber markets. The earthquake in Haiti created a one-time distortion. So I'm not reading anything further into this. I'm advising my paying subscribers to maintain a maximum defensive position in their portfolios, and I suggest you do the same.
Good investing,
Tom
P.S. If you want to take advantage of lumber's price spike, I wouldn't do it with lumber producers. As I explained last week, most of them are bloated with debt and pension liabilities and will crash if we see a big market correction. A much better, safer play is timberland. In my latest 12% Letterissue, I told my readers about the best timberland opportunity in North America. Click here to learn more...
It's even worse in commodities. Copper is down 16%, oil is down 10%, and silver is down over 20% from its peak in December.
But there's one commodity that's absolutely soaring right now. It's lumber. Lumber trades on Chicago's commodity exchange. This chart shows spot lumber prices. Lumber rose 50% last year. And so far this year, it's up another 39%...
I've said before that lumber is my favorite economic indicator...
Lumber is the raw material of the homebuilding industry. Lumber prices rise when America builds houses and it falls when America stops building houses. So lumber is a great leading indicator of economic expansion or contraction.
You can measure economic activity with other commodities, like oil and copper. But lumber has an advantage over other commodities: No one pays attention to it. Oil and copper prices get distorted by millions of investors and their crazy mood swings. Lumber's price is set entirely by professionals dealing with other professionals. It's a "pure" reflection of economic fundamentals, in other words.
Take the last cycle as an example. If you had been watching lumber prices, you would have had three years advance warning that a collapse was coming in real estate, the stock market, and ultimately the economy. (Lumber prices peaked in May 2004.)
Here's the thing, normally, I'd tell you this big recent spike in lumber prices is a signal the economy is going to start improving and stocks are going to start rising again.
Not this time.
The current spike in lumber is a result of a one-off event, caused by the earthquake in Haiti on January 12 and the sudden massive demand for lumber. This demand shock – coupled with extremely low inventory of wood, logs, and lumbers in the American lumber industry – created a massive spike in the lumber price.
In sum, while lumber is usually a fantastic economic indicator, don't be fooled by the recent activity in the lumber markets. The earthquake in Haiti created a one-time distortion. So I'm not reading anything further into this. I'm advising my paying subscribers to maintain a maximum defensive position in their portfolios, and I suggest you do the same.
Good investing,
Tom
P.S. If you want to take advantage of lumber's price spike, I wouldn't do it with lumber producers. As I explained last week, most of them are bloated with debt and pension liabilities and will crash if we see a big market correction. A much better, safer play is timberland. In my latest 12% Letterissue, I told my readers about the best timberland opportunity in North America. Click here to learn more...
Raytheon (RTN)... defense
Lexmark (LXK)... printers
McDonald's (MCD)... fast food
Estee Lauder (EL)... cosmetics
Equifax (EFX)... credit checks
Sherwin-Williams (SHW)... paint
Knoll (KNL)... business furniture
Belo Corp (BLC)... television stations
Panera Bread (PNRA)... restaurants
DeVry (DV)... for profit education
American Italian Pasta (AIPC)... pasta
Bridgford Foods (BRID)... frozen food
Kinetic Concepts (KCI)... medical devices
Thor Industries (THO)... recreational vehicles
MOCON (MOCO)... chemical & gas monitoring
Special "3 month lows" edition...
iShares Italy (EWI)... Italian stocks
iShares China (FXI)... Chinese stocks
iShares Brazil (EWZ)... Brazilian stocks
iShares France (EWQ)... French stocks
iShares Austria (EWO)... Austrian stocks
iShares Canada (EWC)... Canadian stocks
iShares Germany (EWG)... German stocks
iShares Malaysia (EWM)... Malaysian stocks
iShares Australia (EWA)... Australian stocks
iShares Financial (IYF)... financial stocks
iShares Software (IGV)... software stocks
iShares Basic Materials (IYM)... resource stocks
Lead ETF (LD)... lead
Gold ETF (GLD)... gold
Copper ETF (JJC)... copper
Silver ETF (SLV)... silver
Coffee ETF (JOB)... coffee