For the past five years, investing in agricultural commodities has not been for the faint of heart. After rebounding quickly from the Great Recession on heavy demand from emerging markets, record harvests and slowing Chinese demand led to a general downtrend in prices, with volatile spikes in 2012 and 2014. Read More
Call & Put Option Sells
After nearly three years of extremely weak economic growth, the European Central Bank is finally delivering on Mario Draghi’s pledge to do “whatever it takes” to get the region back on track. The central bank is set to pump $64 billion into the economy through monthly bond purchases through September… Read More
No one seems to know what is causing the market volatility of late. Interest rate jitters have been limiting gains for months, but recent economic news doesn’t seem to point to an imminent increase by the Federal Reserve. Geopolitical worries surrounding Greece have not really hit asset values significantly either,… Read More
One of the best ways to lose money in the markets is to be a perma-bear. We all know that there will be another bear market in stocks one day — nothing goes up forever — but we have no way of knowing when that decline will begin. So while… Read More
Trying to perfectly time a bottom in the market, a sector or a stock can make a fool of any of us. Even investing gurus like Warren Buffett rarely try to call one. But that doesn’t mean investors can’t uncover opportunities on the way down. Short-term panic often… Read More
No matter how well run a company is, sometimes there is nothing management can do to avoid steep losses. Sometimes these outside forces are so strong that investors write a stock off altogether and wonder if the industry will ever be profitable again. Few industries were hit as hard by… Read More
“This is what competitive devaluation looks like.” That’s what Bloomberg anchor Olivia Sterns said Wednesday morning, referring to news that China’s central bank was cutting rates. In an effort to revive slowing economic growth, the People’s Bank of China decided to cut its reserve requirement ratio (RRR) — the amount… Read More
Above all the earnings and geopolitical news last week, the big headline was a turnover in the executive suite of the Golden Arches. Under the oversight of Don Thompson, the $90 billion fast-food behemoth posted declining sales. And the stock price languished in 2014 as the S&P 500… Read More