Stock Rally Adds Another Percent while Metals Fade: Week Ahead Worries-- Investor Thread Feb. 22

Weekly investment & finance thread ^ | February 22, 2015 | Freeper Investors

[expat_panama]

[excerpt from Yahoo Finance: What to watch next week: TGT, HD, M, HPQ, GDP and Greece] Next week will be a busy week on Wall Street with a raft of big earnings reports including Target (TGT), Macy’s (M), Home Depot (HD) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to name just a few. Investors will also have a lot of economic data and geopolitics to digest this coming week and in the weeks that follow. The Commerce Department will release the latest reading on third quarter Gross Domestic Product. Yahoo Finance’s Rick Newman thinks investors will be watching that report closely, as well as the situation in Greece. Newman predicts Greece will finally cave in its standoff with its European underwriters over the terms of its debt deal. “I think next week is going to be the week that Greece blinks,” says Newman. He believes Greek officials will “finally say ‘OK, we have to go along with the bailout terms.’” And Newman believes that will lead to a pop in European stocks. Yahoo Finance’s Aaron Task is looking to our nation’s capital and a couple of looming deadlines as the next potential trouble spots that could rankle financial markets. Funding for the Department of Homeland Security will run out at the end of February unless Congress can come to an agreement to extend funding. Task believes this is just the first in a series of contentious debates... [snip] ...The Treasury secretary can use a number of gimmicks to postpone the day of reckoning, and experts think such gimmicks can carry us through September or October. Then we’ll witness a serious confrontation of the sort we’ve seen before—a game of fiscal chicken between Congress and the White House. If Blinder is right and the United States does breach the debt ceiling, Task believes that will set off “all kinds of fireworks in the financial markets.” 5 Oil Stocks Analysts Want You To Buy Now The recent drop in oil prices has created a situation that is very complex for investors. Oil has become cheap again and the stocks tracking the oil and gas sector have tanked to the point that at least ...

Why Female Investors Outperform Men - Heather Long, CNNMoney Females typically save 8.3% of their income, while men only save 7.9%, Fidelity found after looking at over 12 million retirement accounts and adjusting for certain pay disparities between men and women. That may not sound like a big difference, but it adds up over time. Consider that the median household income in the U.S. is around $50,000. If you apply those savings rates to the median income, women save about $200 more a year. So if their returns are about the same, women would end up with more. ..[snip]     After tight trading, volatility set to return to stocks By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) - After a holiday-shortened trading week that pinned stocks in a tight trading range, equities are poised for a bout of renewed volatility as investors watch the economy and the Federal Reserve for signs of policy changes and economic strength. Through Thursday's close, the S&P 500 was held to its narrowest trading week since Thanksgiving as investors dealt with uncertainty regarding a forward path for the economy and a deal for Greek debt. Late on Friday, the European Union agreed to a four-month extension for Greece, and a late rally pushed the S&P 500 above technical resistance level of 2,100 after several failed attempts earlier in the week. The index was up modestly for the week, building on a 5-percent gain over the prior two weeks. "The market has done quite well this week holding things together," said Frank Cappelleri, technical market analyst and trader at ...

--and not only has all this been written by experts, but everything here's been posted on the internet so we can to believe every single word.

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This is the thread where folks swap ideas on savings and investment --here's a list of popular investing links that freepers have posted here and tomorrow morning we'll go on with our--

Open invitation continues always for idea-input for the thread, this being a joint effort works well.   Keywords: financial, WallStreet, stockmarket, economy.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Let me know what you find out. I’m interested too.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Americans get an ‘F’ in income tax quiz

“American adults appear to be confused — very confused — by the U.S. tax code.

The average U.S. adult scored just 51% on 10 multiple-choice personal finance questions about federal income tax returns as they relate to retirement, college savings and health care, based on a survey of 1,000 adults given by personal finance site NerdWallet. That is a fail by academic standards. Most respondents, for instance, didn’t know the tax implications of popular financial products such as Roth individual retirement accounts, flexible spending accounts and 529 education plans. “

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-get-an-f-in-income-tax-quiz-2015-02-24?mod=commentaryandpfnotradingdeck,http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-get-an-f-in-income-tax-quiz-2015-02-24?mod=commentaryandpfnotradingdeck

Scroll down for the questions. Answers at the end.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks that sounds like the Visa program, I’ve been invited to use.

[Repeal The 17th]

Well, I’ll be damned.
I missed one.
-
6. If you foster a pet from a nonprofit charitable organization, can you claim a tax deduction?
A) Yes, but you can only write off certain items like food, shelter and medical expenses.
B) Yes, you can write off all expenses.
C) No, you can’t write this off.
-

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Same one I missed. Who knew? I may open a dog kennel.

[Grampa Dave]

Very interesting post. Brings up a question:

Which companies on the right column had secret blessings from NSA/CIA/FBI for certain favors given by those companies?

Which companies said no to the 3 letter agencies?

[Grampa Dave]

Very interesting post. Brings up a question:

Which companies on the right column had secret blessings from NSA/CIA/FBI for certain favors given by those companies?

Which companies said no to the 3 letter agencies?

[expat_panama]

companies on the right column had secret blessings

It's true that Apple, Facebook, and Google are a bunch of loopy leftwingers but while I don't want to ignore the power of Central Command let's not forget that supply and demand wins every time.  Businesses get big when they meet a need, not because they know the right people.

[expat_panama]

	Markets		Yesterday		Today
	metals		Still holding to prices going back to November's bases --> $1,204.15 and $16.57		now @ $1,220.50  & $16.92; futures very strong +1.67%
	stocks		Off slightly in mixed volume; NASDAQ ending its streak;  IBD: "Market Takes Breather"		futures now trading up just barely --> +0.13%

While yesterday's econ reports were mixed/tepid, today we'll be slammed w/ both claims day and CPI:

Initial Claims
Continuing Claims
CPI
Core CPI
Durable Orders
Durable Goods -ex transportation
FHFA Housing Price Index
Natural Gas Inventories

Forget the press, the FR has it all here:

• The Hyperinflation Hype: Why the U.S. Can Never Be Weimar
• Is the Star Trek Economy a Welfare State?
• Many Americans Still Struggling In Dismal Obama Economy
• Why Obama Is So Autocratic About Environmental Policy [that's what dictators do]
• How an Undocumented Immigrant From Mexico Became a Star at Goldman Sachs
• Christie and Walker take different paths on union issues
• There's a new mortgage crisis brewing [Richard Bove] (h/t Lurkina.n.Learnin)
• Germany sells five-year debt at negative yield (h/t Lurkina.n.Learnin)

[abb]

Ike was scared of the “military/industrial complex.” He should have been afraid of the bureaucrats who create problems and the private companies who then get paid the tribute to fix them.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

I always see the part about the “military/industrial complex” highlighted but he also had something else to say that nobody talks about much.

“We . . . must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.”

[abb]

Over the past 5 years as a citizen journalist for my own newsblog, I’ve had occasion to spend more time in courtrooms than the rest of my 65 years put together.

It’s been quite a lesson. Everyone should go and see for themselves.

Judges, lawyers, probation officers, clerks, deputies, investigators - dozens in court every day. It’s quite a revolving door that feeds off lawbreaking, alleged and real.

A judicial version of the “military industrial complex.”

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

And you have the “Environmental Industrial Complex” also. AKA Lawyers full employment at the taxpayers expense.

[Aquamarine]

Checked into Visa Checkout at Visa.com and they only have a few select retailers that are participating so far. None on the list were stores that I normally shop at so won't be signing up for Visa Checkout at this time. The site said they will be adding new stores in the future so will check back on it one day. List of participating retailers

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Thanks. Not much there that I’m interested in either.

[expat_panama]

Right now futures are going with metals -0.41% and stock indexes -0.14% --this after yesterday's mixed results in mixed volume all around.  After yesterday's deflation announcement we'll get these today:

GDP - Second Estimate
GDP Deflator - Second Estimate
Chicago PMI
Michigan Sentiment - Final
Pending Home Sales
Pending Home Sales
 

[Wyatt's Torch]

FactSet Consensus Estimates:

GDP - +2.1%
GDP Deflator - UNCH
PMI - 58.2
Michigan - 94.0

[Wyatt's Torch]

GDP +2.2% but Personal Consumption revised lower.

[1010RD]

Excellent and true. They’ll fleece any way they can. It’s a hidden tax on life and living.

[expat_panama]

http://biz.yahoo.com/c/e.html says the deflator was up 0.1%. I check the BEA...