A view of the Casper mattresses during Casper’s LA celebration at Blind Dragon on July 9, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. Rachel Murray | Getty Images Mattress firm Casper priced its initial public stock offering at $12 a share on Wednesday evening, Dow Jones reported, a significant haircut to its prior price talk. The firm
Trader Talk
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, January 24, 2020. Lucas Jackson | Reuters Halfway through earnings season for the fourth quarter of 2019, and it’s been a tale of haves and have-nots. The haves include megacap tech names like Netflix, Intel, Microsoft,
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., January 10, 2020. Brendan McDermid | Reuters The Inside ETF conference is underway in Hollywood, Florida. 2,000 investment professionals have gathered to talk what’s hot, and what’s not, in investing in 2020. At a dinner last night with ETF
On the surface, the growth story for exchange traded funds continues: The U.S. ETF business ended 2019 with $4.4 trillion in assets under management, a 30% increase from 2018, according to etf.com. The number of ETFs also increased 8%, to 2,302. Thanks to the continuing growth of two hot trends — environmental, social and governance,
Despite a roller-coaster ride in 2019, IPO investors made money, and they are starting off 2020 in the green as well. The Renaissance Capital IPO ETF, a basket of the most recent 60 or so larger IPOs, is at a historic high. It has dramatically outperformed the S&P 500 year-to-date, up nearly 9% versus a
The good news is that stocks are continuing to rally because the market is assuming the magic combination of continuing job growth, a trade truce, a friendly Federal Reserve, and a bottom on declining global growth will produce an expansion of earnings in 2020. The bad news is that stock prices keep going up, but
What a difference a year makes. On Jan. 1 of last year, the market was pricing in an earnings recession — an expectation that earnings would fall dramatically in 2019. Stocks were cheap. When the market realized a recession was not imminent, stocks took off. Fast forward one year and the opposite is happening. “The
A man dressed as Santa Claus, walks on the floor during the traditional bring-your-kids-to-work day at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., November 24, 2017. Brendan McDermid | Reuters We are in the middle of a classic Santa Claus rally, but when the adults return in January, there likely will be
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, December 9, 2019. Brendan McDermid | Reuters What a decade it has been. The year 2010 began with fear that the financial crisis might continue for years. The year 2019 has ended with a 10-year stock market rally. Along the way, one factor has
We sat down with Art Cashin, managing director of UBS Financial Services who’s patrolled the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for more than fifty years, at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse to chat about what’s ahead in 2020. Here are three predictions the veteran Wall Street trader offered for 2020: Prediction one: Despite a still
The headline on the trade deal — no new tariffs, some existing tariffs reduced — is positive, but something the market has long anticipated. Traders are now arguing over the impact on 2020 earnings. Bulls say several thorny issues may be on the verge of resolution and will be enough to push markets to new highs.
Scammers, fraudsters, insider traders, Ponzi schemers, stock spoofers — the Securities and Exchange Commission has seen it all. I spent a day at SEC headquarters with the regulators Chairman Jay Clayton and the co-directors of the Division of Enforcement, Stephanie Avakian and Steven Peikin. The highlight was a visit to the Forensics Lab, a copper-lined
I spent a day at the Security and Exchange Commission’s headquarters with SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and the co-directors of the Division of Enforcement, Stephanie Avakian and Steven Peikin. The highlight was a visit to the Forensics Lab, a copper-lined room where the SEC extracts data from cell phones and computers that are part of
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Brendan McDermid | Reuters President Trump’s comment that he had no deadline on a China deal has predictably thrown markets into a tizzy, as the self-imposed deadline of Dec. 15 for additional tariffs is now less than two weeks away. The market is now
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, November 4, 2019. Brendan McDermid | Reuters It’s not very exciting, but the market keeps advancing almost every day. The S&P has been up 10 of the 13 trading days this month, yet market technicians do not seem concerned the market is getting too
A trader blows bubble gum during the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on August 1, 2019, in New York City. Johannes Eisele | AFP | Getty Images As the S&P 500 has broken out of its trading range into record highs, euphoria has been growing — fast. Technicians like Stephen Suttmeier
An investor watches the electronic board at a stock exchange hall on Feb. 11, 2019 in China. Visual China Group | Getty Images One of the largest indexers in the world is set to announce a new round of increases in the weighting of mainland China stocks, and the addition is generating an unusual amount
A much broader breakout in the markets may be very near. The markets have started the month with a powerful, largely-cyclical, rally. What’s missing is a significant breakout: Only 10% of the S&P are at new highs, despite a historic high for that index. Part of the reason is a big move-up in the largest
The market is breaking out as global economic data is taking the edge off the slowdown narrative. The marginal mover of stocks this year has been the Federal Reserve, trade, and the global economic slowdown, led by weakness in Europe and China. The global economic slowdown has even encompassed worries about a slowdown in the
Traders work, as a screen shows Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s news conference after the U.S. Federal Reserve interest rates announcement, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, October 30, 2019. Brendan McDermid | Reuters October is ending strong. Here’s what’s next. The market is closing out October from a position of considerable