U.S. equities were mixed again last week with the S&P 500 (-0.82%) and NASDAQ lower (- 2.08%) and the small cap Russell 2000 (+1.77%). Big tech/momentum were the biggest decliners. Best sectors were utilities (+1.47%), healthcare (+1.41%), and materials (+1.37%); underperformers included communication services (-3.76%), technology (-2.44%), and consumer discretionary (-2.31%). The preliminary release of Q2 2024 U.S. GDP surprised to the upside (+2.8%) with the two largest drivers of t… View More
U.S. equity indexes were mixed last week with the market largely rotating out of big tech/momentum/growth into value/cyclicals/small caps. The S&P 500 Index was down (-1.95%); the NASDAQ fell (-3.65%); and the Russell 2000 Index was up (+2.33%). Themes included soft-landing hopes, expectations for a Fed rate pivot, and a surge in the “Trump trade.” Best sectors were energy (+2.06%), real estate (+1.32%), and financials (+1.19%); worst sectors were technology (-5.14%), communication servi… View More
Stocks ended higher last week (S&P 500 +0.87%), with small caps and equal-weight S&P 500 strongly outperforming the other major indexes following the post-CPI rotation out of big tech. The best performers were real estate (+4.37%) and utilities (+3.90%); the only negative sector was communication services (-3.57%). Headline June CPI declined 0.1% m/m (versus consensus of +0.1%) (up 3.0% y/y). It was the first monthly drop since July 2022. Core CPI was +0.1% m/m (+0.2% consensus) a… View More
In 1852, Karl Marx said "Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered and transmitted from the past." He, obviously knew about the Magna Carta (1215) and the English Parliament’s Bill of Rights (1689), which created a separation of powers between the King and elected representatives. What he didn’t pay much attention to was how the United States had improved upon… View More
1. An AI search uses 10x the amount of electricity than that of a Google search. 2. The EIA expects global electricity usage from data centers to increase by 540 terawatts from 2022 to 2026. “This is roughly the equivalent of the electricity usage of Japan” in one year. 3. Despite government subsidies, natural gas provides 10x the amount of electricity to the American power grid than does solar. 4. Coal still provides 16% of America’s electricity generation, according to the EIA. 5. Th… View More