When a company reports earnings per share (EPS) that miss analysts’ estimates, it’s usually not read by Wall Street as a “buy” signal. However, when that company also reports better-than-expected revenue of $7.78 billion in the period, it definitely warrants your attention. #-ad_banner-#That’s precisely what happened to consulting and outsourcing firm Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN). On Wednesday, the Dublin-based company reported fiscal fourth-quarter numbers that were mixed, with the aforementioned revenue up 10% year over year, coming in well ahead of top-line forecasts for $7.62 billion.  The bottom line, however, is where Accenture came up short, with the… Read More

When a company reports earnings per share (EPS) that miss analysts’ estimates, it’s usually not read by Wall Street as a “buy” signal. However, when that company also reports better-than-expected revenue of $7.78 billion in the period, it definitely warrants your attention. #-ad_banner-#That’s precisely what happened to consulting and outsourcing firm Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN). On Wednesday, the Dublin-based company reported fiscal fourth-quarter numbers that were mixed, with the aforementioned revenue up 10% year over year, coming in well ahead of top-line forecasts for $7.62 billion.  The bottom line, however, is where Accenture came up short, with the company reporting adjusted EPS of $1.08. That metric was up 7% from the same quarter a year ago, but it didn’t quite meet analyst expectations for EPS of $1.10. For the full year, it was much the same for Accenture. The company showed a 5% increase in revenue for fiscal 2014 to $30 billion, firmly above estimates for revenue of $29.8 billion. As for the bottom line, the final EPS for the year was $4.52, an 8% jump from the prior year, but a penny below forecasts.  For ACN shares, the mixed earnings come at a time when the shares… Read More

Bigger isn’t necessarily better, but over the past six months, the bigger the market capitalization, the better the investment results. For example, during that time, large-cap stocks in the broader S&P 500 index have scored a 7.4% gain. By comparison, small-cap stocks comprising the benchmark Russell 2000 index are actually down 4.2% since late March. #-ad_banner-#In Monday trade, the declines in the small-cap segment of the market got rather ugly, and the Russell 2000 sank 1.4% for its biggest one-day loss in seven weeks. The divergence between the large-cap and small-cap segments of the markets is a worrisome development for… Read More

Bigger isn’t necessarily better, but over the past six months, the bigger the market capitalization, the better the investment results. For example, during that time, large-cap stocks in the broader S&P 500 index have scored a 7.4% gain. By comparison, small-cap stocks comprising the benchmark Russell 2000 index are actually down 4.2% since late March. #-ad_banner-#In Monday trade, the declines in the small-cap segment of the market got rather ugly, and the Russell 2000 sank 1.4% for its biggest one-day loss in seven weeks. The divergence between the large-cap and small-cap segments of the markets is a worrisome development for a continuation of the bull market, as it signals a clear breakdown in market breadth. Moreover, the slumping small-cap segment usually is a precursor to a wider sell-off. Interestingly, during the beginning of a bull market, small-cap stocks tend to lead the charge higher. This is because the smart money is generally more willing to take a chance on smaller, less-proven and more speculative small caps at the onset of a bull. Unfortunately, the reverse effect is also true, and that means that toward the end of a bull market, the smart money tends to flow to bigger, battle-tested and… Read More

If you drove a car to work or turned up the thermostat in your home today, then it’s a safe bet that the fossil fuels used to power these tasks came to you via railway. And there’s also a good chance that if it was shale oil at the source of these fuels, then it came to you via Trinity Industries (NYSE: TRN). #-ad_banner-#Trinity supplies products and industry services for the energy, transportation, chemical and construction sectors in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It also has operations in the U.K., Singapore and Sweden. The company’s bread-and-butter operation is its… Read More

If you drove a car to work or turned up the thermostat in your home today, then it’s a safe bet that the fossil fuels used to power these tasks came to you via railway. And there’s also a good chance that if it was shale oil at the source of these fuels, then it came to you via Trinity Industries (NYSE: TRN). #-ad_banner-#Trinity supplies products and industry services for the energy, transportation, chemical and construction sectors in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It also has operations in the U.K., Singapore and Sweden. The company’s bread-and-butter operation is its railcar business. Trinity has a lease fleet of more than 73,500 railcars used in transporting shale oil from the northern United States and Canada to the rest of an energy hungry continent. Last year, Trinity’s railcar sales and leasing segment was responsible for more than 60% of the company’s operating profits.  This year, the company continues to deliver outstanding gains in revenue, earnings and share price. In late July, Trinity reported Q2 earnings that trounced Wall Street expectations, with a 95% increase in net income to $164.2 million. That translated into earnings of $1.01 per share, while estimates called for… Read More

The equity markets are moving away from risk, and ever since traders turned their attention from the election to more significant unknowns, the de-risk trade has been in full effect. This is true of the equity markets at large, but it’s especially true of many stalwart “safe” high-yield sectors such as utilities.  But why have high-yield funds suffered the wrath of sellers?#-ad_banner-# Well, now that President Barack Obama has won a second term, there is very real fear that taxes on the wealthy, and particularly taxes on… Read More

The equity markets are moving away from risk, and ever since traders turned their attention from the election to more significant unknowns, the de-risk trade has been in full effect. This is true of the equity markets at large, but it’s especially true of many stalwart “safe” high-yield sectors such as utilities.  But why have high-yield funds suffered the wrath of sellers?#-ad_banner-# Well, now that President Barack Obama has won a second term, there is very real fear that taxes on the wealthy, and particularly taxes on dividend income, will go up. The so-called “fiscal cliff” negotiations have yet to begin, but the president already has said that a deal must include an increase on the wealthiest 2% of Americans. If you take out your “politico-speak” translator, what this really means is the likelihood of a jump in tax rates, including a big increase in the dividend tax rate from the current 15% to nearly 40%. The likelihood of such a tax surge is in part the driving force behind many a high-yield fund sell-off during the… Read More

At least once a day, I am asked what I think about the future of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) shares. Most of the time I decline to go into a detailed answer, as there are many folks out there who follow the shares a lot closer than I do. But when you follow stocks and the markets for a living, you simply cannot avoid having an opinion on the personal technology giant that’s been the most dominant single stock for the past couple of years.#-ad_banner-# Now, there’s been a whole lot of… Read More

At least once a day, I am asked what I think about the future of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) shares. Most of the time I decline to go into a detailed answer, as there are many folks out there who follow the shares a lot closer than I do. But when you follow stocks and the markets for a living, you simply cannot avoid having an opinion on the personal technology giant that’s been the most dominant single stock for the past couple of years.#-ad_banner-# Now, there’s been a whole lot of action in Apple shares during the past couple of months, and for cultish bulls of the stock, that action has been quite painful. Since reaching an all-time high of over $702 midway through September, shares of the mighty Apple have plummeted. In fact, from that September high through the mid-November low of $522.62, Apple fell more than 25%, putting it decisively in bear market territory. Since those November lows, traders have been returning to the stock, and shares have come back with a vengeance, surging nearly 13% in just the past seven trading… Read More

If you think about a powerful creature plowing through the streets of Tokyo, then you probably think of Godzilla. However, I suspect there’s about to be another type of powerful animal running through one of the world’s greatest cities — and that’s a raging bull. I’ve been watching Japan’s economy closely for the past two decades for a number of reasons, but the main one is to see the effects of deflation on a country. Recent… Read More

If you think about a powerful creature plowing through the streets of Tokyo, then you probably think of Godzilla. However, I suspect there’s about to be another type of powerful animal running through one of the world’s greatest cities — and that’s a raging bull. I’ve been watching Japan’s economy closely for the past two decades for a number of reasons, but the main one is to see the effects of deflation on a country. Recent developments, however, have drawn me into a new thesis for the third-largest economy in the world — and the equities pegged to its fate.#-ad_banner-# On Sunday, Dec. 16, the Japanese people elected Shinzo Abe as the new Prime Minister. Part of Abe’s economic policy, which he has openly lobbied for during the past several weeks, is to have the Bank of Japan (BOJ) increase its inflation target to 2% or 3% from its current 1%. Given the inflation targets here at home,… Read More

The “fiscal cliff” has dominated the trading landscape ever since Election Day, and that issue‘s primacy has continued throughout this week’s trading. On Monday, Dec. 17, stocks surged on news that Republican House Speaker John Boehner has softened his stance on taxing the most successful and wealthiest Americans. Reportedly, Rep. Boehner is willing to raise tax rates on individuals making more than a $1 million a year, in exchange for some concessions by President Obama on spending cuts.#-ad_banner-# Now, a lot of political pundits have… Read More

The “fiscal cliff” has dominated the trading landscape ever since Election Day, and that issue‘s primacy has continued throughout this week’s trading. On Monday, Dec. 17, stocks surged on news that Republican House Speaker John Boehner has softened his stance on taxing the most successful and wealthiest Americans. Reportedly, Rep. Boehner is willing to raise tax rates on individuals making more than a $1 million a year, in exchange for some concessions by President Obama on spending cuts.#-ad_banner-# Now, a lot of political pundits have read Boehner’s move as the first of many concessions he’s willing to make to get a deal done that avoids the automatic kicking in of spending cuts and tax increases adding up to about a $600 billion bite out of 2013 GDP. I suspect that a deal is going to get done soon, and that deal will likely be a political win for the president. Of course, Wall Street wants a deal, because the newfound certainty on this… Read More

The concept of buying when there is “blood in the streets” is well-known to most investors, particularly as a figurative expression that calls for moving into beaten-down sectors when they’re really out of favor. Yet when there’s literally blood in the streets, it’s probably wise to steer clear of stocks in the hot zone. #-ad_banner-# Traders certainly steered clear of the hot zone between Russia and Eastern Ukraine at the beginning of the year. The Market Vectors Russia ETF (NYSE: RSX) tumbled roughly 25% in the first 11 weeks as the tensions between the former Soviet Union and … Read More

The concept of buying when there is “blood in the streets” is well-known to most investors, particularly as a figurative expression that calls for moving into beaten-down sectors when they’re really out of favor. Yet when there’s literally blood in the streets, it’s probably wise to steer clear of stocks in the hot zone. #-ad_banner-# Traders certainly steered clear of the hot zone between Russia and Eastern Ukraine at the beginning of the year. The Market Vectors Russia ETF (NYSE: RSX) tumbled roughly 25% in the first 11 weeks as the tensions between the former Soviet Union and Ukraine culminated with Russia annexing the Crimea region in strong-arm style. However, following the multiyear low in RSX in mid-March, Russian stocks have been strong performers. RSX is up 20% since its March 13 low, more than double the gains in the S&P 500 over the same time period. Renewed tensions in the region in July sparked by the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet by pro-Russian separatists caused another big sell-off. This quickly took RSX below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, as once again the… Read More

There are big changes afoot in the high-yielding energy master-limited partnership (MLP) space. On Monday, we got news of the biggest energy sector merger since the mega Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) deal that took place last century. This week’s deal is a bit more complex than we’ve seen in the past, but I suspect it also will be much more of a game changer for income investors and traders than any deal in recent memory.  Energy giant Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) announced it will wholly… Read More

There are big changes afoot in the high-yielding energy master-limited partnership (MLP) space. On Monday, we got news of the biggest energy sector merger since the mega Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) deal that took place last century. This week’s deal is a bit more complex than we’ve seen in the past, but I suspect it also will be much more of a game changer for income investors and traders than any deal in recent memory.  Energy giant Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) announced it will wholly acquire its two MLP structured interests — Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (NYSE: KMP) and El Paso Pipeline Partners LP (NYSE: EPB). The company also will acquire the non-MLP structured Kinder Morgan Management (NYSE: KMR). This deal means the surrender of its MLP status, which ironically, is an asset class the energy partnership helped put on the investment map. Kinder was one of the first MLPs to become widely owned back in the 1990s.  The company, and the MLP… Read More

Investors saw some bullish fireworks as the Dow exploded past 17,000 for the first time last week just before they checked out to celebrate the Fourth of July. #-ad_banner-#The breaching of this psychologically significant threshold is quite a feat for a market that just five years ago was knocked silly by the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. In fact, the Dow closed at 8,280.74 before Independence Day in 2009. That means that the Dow has more than doubled in five years. So far in 2014, the bull market has not only been in stocks, it’s also been in… Read More

Investors saw some bullish fireworks as the Dow exploded past 17,000 for the first time last week just before they checked out to celebrate the Fourth of July. #-ad_banner-#The breaching of this psychologically significant threshold is quite a feat for a market that just five years ago was knocked silly by the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. In fact, the Dow closed at 8,280.74 before Independence Day in 2009. That means that the Dow has more than doubled in five years. So far in 2014, the bull market has not only been in stocks, it’s also been in bonds and commodities. This is an unusual situation, because usually when stock prices rise, bond prices falter, and/or commodity prices fall. Sure, stocks, bonds and commodities can move up together for short periods of time, but through the first half of 2014, all three asset classes are higher, which hasn’t occurred since 1993. In the first six months of 2014, the S&P 500 index rose 6.1%. Commodities, as measured by the PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking (NYSE: DBC), saw a year-to-date gain of 3.4%. And bonds, as measured by the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (NYSE: TLT), spiked 11.5%.  The… Read More