Morning News: January 12, 2018
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 12th, 2018 at 7:03 am

South Korea is Talking Down the Idea a Cryptocurrency Trading Ban Is Imminent

For Ripple Coin, MoneyGram Deal Trumps Talks Of South Korea’s Crypto Ban

A Guide to the Giant Foreign Buyers of U.S. Debt

U.S. Oil Production Run

Walmart’s Bumpy Day: From Wage Increase to Store Closings

Fiat Chrysler to Spend $1 Billion to Modernize Michigan Plant

GM Drops the Steering Wheel and Gives the Robot Driver Control

Delta, Zara and Medtronic Join Marriott in Beijing’s Doghouse After Location Gaffes

These Shoes Don’t Fit: Gucci Parent Returns Puma to Shareholders

Dropbox Is Said to Be Planning to Go Public This Year

Infosys Profit Rises on Client Wins, One-Time Tax Benefit

BMW Hits 2017 Sales Record But Mercedes Keeps Lead

Jeff Carter: Different Looks At Bitcoin/Blockchain

Josh Brown: When Did Rates Bottom?

Mark Hines: Stock Exchange: Will Sentiment Turn Bearish Soon?

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Morning News: January 11, 2018
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 11th, 2018 at 7:04 am

Nafta’s Dead. Long Live Nafta. A Look at Most Likely Outcomes

South Korea Plans to Ban Cryptocurrency Trading, Rattles Market

Chinese Dragon Still Needs U.S.Treasurys for Its Hoard

Investors Spooked at the Specter of Central Banks Halting Bond-Buying Spree

Senate Democrats Propose Fines for Credit Reporting Agency Hacks

Judge Again Backs White House in CFPB Leadership Fight

States Push Back After Net Neutrality Repeal

Big Apple Sues Big Oil Over Climate Change

This Is the Controversial Ingredient Inside the New Diet Coke Flavors

Berkshire Hathaway Names Abel And Jain As Vice Chairmen As Buffett Succession Plans Sharpen

Goldman Sachs Caves: Bitcoin Is Money

Xerox Should Look to Copy Fujifilm’s Success

Cullen Roche: Please Millennials, No Do Not Save in Bitcoin

Michael Batnick: Animal Spirits: Meltup

Roger Nusbaum: Can The S&P 500 Really Go to 3700?

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Warren Buffett on CNBC
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 10th, 2018 at 1:43 pm

Morning News: January 10, 2018
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 10th, 2018 at 6:48 am

World Bank Raises Outlook as Growth Hits Fastest Pace Since 2011

Bond Yields Hit Multi-Month Highs on BOJ Tweak, Heavy Supply

Saudi Aramco Working to Raise Cheap Loans Before IPO

Kodak Surges After Announcing Plans to Launch Cryptocurrency Called ‘Kodakcoin’

No, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon Has Not Changed His Stance on Bitcoin

Ripple Countersues in $12 Billion Fight Over XRP Options

Bill Gross Calls a Bond Bear Market After Treasury Yield Surges

Democrats Vow to Force Vote on Net Neutrality

Toyota and Mazda Are Said to Pick Alabama for $1.6 Billion Plant

Tesla’s New York Gigafactory Kicks Off Solar Roof Production

How a Coal Baron’s Wish List Became the President’s To-Do List

Here’s Why Jeff Bezos Is Not Truly The Richest Person In History

Ben Carlson: How the U.S. Stock Market is Unique

Jeff Carter: Things That Make You Go Hmmmmmm

Josh Brown: Hard to Tell

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89 Years of Stocks, Bonds and Bills
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 9th, 2018 at 11:38 am

From Aswath Damodaran’s website, here’s the latest update on how stocks, Treasury bonds and Treasury bills have performed over the last 89 years.

Annualized, stocks have gained 9.77%. Bonds are up 4.94% and Treasury bills are up 3.43%.

Morning News: January 9, 2018
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 9th, 2018 at 7:03 am

How China’s Stifling Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies: QuickTake Q&A

Ether Tops Ripple to Reclaim Second Spot in Crypto Rankings

India Proposes 70% Duty on China, Malaysia Solar Imports

Regulators Reject Perry’s Plan to Help Coal and Nuclear Plants

Alibaba’s Return Home Would Carry a Sting

Samsung Disappoints as iPhone Screens Prove No Match for Strong Won

GoPro’s Recovery Flops As Customers Shun High-Priced Cameras

Toyota Joins With Uber and Amazon to Find Its Self-Driving Future

Pfizer to Exit Neuro Research, May Create Finance Arm

Berkshire May Get $37 Billion Book Value Boost From U.S. Tax Cuts

Intel Faces Scrutiny as Questions Swirl Over Chip Security

Toymaker VTech Settles Charges of Violating Child Privacy Law

Cullen Roche: Waiting for The Market to Boom is a Terrible Strategy

Howard Lindzon: STFR – Sell The F’ing Rip

Ben Carlson: 10 Things Investors Can Expect in 2018

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Hingham Institution for Savings
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 8th, 2018 at 2:47 pm

Here’s my latest entry in my list of great stocks that no one knows about. It’s surprising how many of them are out there.

This stock is the Hingham Institution for Savings (HIFS). Here’s the stock in red against the S&P 500 in blue.

Here’s how they describe themselves:

Hingham Institution for Savings is a Massachusetts-chartered savings bank located in Hingham, Massachusetts. Incorporated in 1834, it is one of America’s oldest banks. The Bank’s Main Office is located in Hingham and the Bank maintains offices on the South Shore, in Boston (South End and Beacon Hill), and on the island of Nantucket. The Bank is also an active commercial real estate lender in the Greater Washington D.C. metropolitan area.

I can’t say the company has raised its dividend every year. I believe they’ve skipped a couple. I think they’re currently on 10 straight years, but that understates HIFS’s return because the company often issues special dividends.

HIFS’s market cap is currently $420 million. There are about 2.1 million shares outstanding, and an average of 4,000 shares trade each day. That’s very low. It’s about one-third the rate of trading that you’ll see in shares of Citigroup.

Given the red line in the chart above, you’d think that HIFS is widely followed on Wall Street. Think again. It’s not followed by a single Wall Street analyst.

Morning News: January 8, 2018
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 8th, 2018 at 7:02 am

Euro-Area Economic Confidence Soars to Nearly Two-Decade High

India Clings to Cash Even as Tech Firms Push Digital Money

Oil Rises as U.S. Drillers Cut Rigs for First Time in 3 Weeks

U.S. Bank Gains From Tax Law Start With Red Ink

Bitcoin’s Biggest Competitor: What You Need To Know About Ripple

Telegram Plans Multi-Billion Dollar ICO For Chat Cryptocurrency

Consumer Tech To Hit Record $351 Billion In 2018

How Many Hipsters Does It Take to Change a Lightbulb Industry?

Celgene to Buy Cancer-Drug Maker Impact for $1.1 Billion

Blockchain Saves the Day for Iced-Tea Company Facing Nasdaq Boot

Nvidia Expands Its Drive For Robocar Tech Supremacy With VW, Uber Alliances

Pfizer to Cut 300 Jobs as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s Research Ends

Josh Brown: The Fatal Mistake Crypto Investors Are Making Now

Jeff Carter: Taking A Break From Seed?

Cullen Roche: Let the Paramedics Sort Them Out & Why I Hate Leveraged ETFs

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Continental Building Products Jumps 8%
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 5th, 2018 at 11:47 am

Shares of Continental Building Products (CBPX) are up around 8% today thanks to an upgrade from Barclays.

December NFP = +148K
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 5th, 2018 at 11:33 am

The December jobs report showed an increase of 148,000 net new jobs. The unemployment rate stayed at 4.1%.

According to the WSJ, the consensus was for 180,000. The number for October was revised to 211,000, and for November, it’s now 252,000.

Average hourly earnings rose by nine cents to $26.63. For the year, wages rose by 2.5%.