The year is quite young, but things have not quite turned out the way bond bears were hoping they would. The 10-year T-yield last week pierced through trend-line support from last September. In due course, this likely opens the door … Continued
Small-business optimism continues to remain near all-time highs, although several sub-indexes are diverging, including profit trend, which the Russell 2000 closely tracks. The NFIB optimism index rose 1.4 points month-over-month in July to 104.7. This was the 32nd consecutive month … Continued
There is no shortage of divergences – be it in macro or other assets, including equities. Major equity indices peaked early this month but put foot down early last week. Medium term, building on it further can prove difficult. Overbought … Continued
Did U.S. small-caps lead or lag in the past four months? Depends on the timeframe. Post-November 8 election through the March 1 all-time high, the Russell 2000 small cap index rallied 18.4 percent. Year-to-date through that record high, it tacked … Continued
One of the ways the current U.S. economic recovery has seriously diverged from past recoveries is the lack of solid progress on the wage front. In May, year-over-year percent change in average hourly earnings of private-sector employees (seasonally adjusted) came … Continued