This morning I woke up to a foreign computer. Well, “foreign” is not exactly the right word; rather the screen lacked a number of items normally on my screen, such as my Think or Swim trading platform. A quick reboot fixed the problem, but a couple of other issues arose with my Carbonite backup system. An hour later, after hearing the Carbonite tech voice at the other end say, “I have never seen that symbol before,” I am left with no resolution and I have little time to write this morning, as I have a series of appointments coming right at me.
So, without further delay, here is TE today. The first part is reassurance that the US economy and the market are on pace to avoid a -1.6% real return for the next seven year (See yesterday’s article about a prediction for the market.).
- The Conference Board reported that their Leading Economic Index rose +0.8% in March, which was above the consensus for a reading of +0.7% and above last month’s revised reading of +0.5% (Jan: +0.1%, Dec: 0.0, Nov: +0.9%).
- The S&P 500 is on pace to post per-share income of $27.50 for the first quarter. That’s just a tad under the estimate of $27.60 we were working with as of the end of calendar Q1. Not bad, especially considering Google (GOOG), IBM (IBM), and Bank of America (BAC) all missed estimates for the first quarter.
Now, as to the future and the market …
As traders, we are always looking for the next trade. As for me, I look for up and comers, stocks that are either a) just starting out in life or b) stocks that have been hit hard and driven down for reasons other than fundamentals and then show promise to rise again.
There are always stocks to find in the latter category, and it is easy to find them, but the former category is a bit trickier. Stocks just starting out in life that will work for my style of trading should be in a sector that is moving on both fundamentals and speculation. Technology is a sector, as is energy and both are now delivering a number of watch list stocks for potential trades, and here is why.
- There’s little consensus among developed and emerging nations on how to effectively deal with climate change and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases, but there is agreement on one aspect of this global threat: Trillions of needed dollars will continue to pour into renewable and clean sources of energy, transportation, building and manufacturing.
As to the knocked down stocks, well, Nokia is one that I have been watching for some time, and the time is getting close when we might see a change in its rather settled price.
- Nokia said on Monday it expects the sale of its handset business to Microsoft to be finalized on April 25.
As well, and I have written about this before, media streaming is rapidly becoming the primary source for delivery of TV and movies.
- Netflix reported higher profit for the quarter that ended in March, boosted by the addition of 2.25 million customers to its movie and TV streaming service in the United States.
- A new report from Experian Marketing Services says there is a growing number of people who have high-speed Internet, but no cable or satellite television subscription. These “cord-cutters” have jumped in number from 5.1 million households in 2010 to 7.6 million in 2013 — an increase of 44 percent in just three years.
Netflix is not my cup of tea, but all the small companies that support the media streaming industry are, and there are plenty.
I will pick this up tomorrow when I have more time. Gotta go.
Trade in the day; Invest in your life …
