Negative Interest Rates in the USA are Unlikely – Week of May 11 – 15, 2020

By Kuldip K. Ambastha Jerome Powell, the Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, issued detailed comments this week. The American economy continues to be ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. Additional fiscal support aid (e.g. another round of stimulus payments to Americans) will likely be needed for the American economy to recover. However, the Fed is …

What Caught Our Attention in the Investment World? – Week of May 4-8, 2020

By Kuldip K. Ambastha During this week, both J.Crew and Neiman Marcus announced their respective bankruptcy filings. The retail industry has been on fragile ground for many years now, and the coronavirus pandemic has pushed both of these companies into bankruptcy. Due to the public health issues around the coronavirus, brick-and-mortar retailers have had to …

GDP Contraction, the Fed, and the Dow Jones – Week of April 27 – May 1, 2020

By Kuldip K. Ambastha The Dow Jones had three down and two up days this week. The coronavirus pandemic has continued to wreak havoc all around the world, and the American capital markets were affected. During 1Q2020, the USA’s GDP (gross domestic product) annualized contraction rate was 4.8%. This figure was announced on Wednesday, April …

What Caught Our Attention in the Investment World? – Week of April 20-24, 2020

By Kuldip K. Ambastha Snap Inc. (SNAP) stood out this week for positive reasons. On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, the stock had an astounding 36.7% return for the day. This return was driven by the company’s strong 1Q2020 results. Wall Street’s quarterly revenue expectations were surpassed. Snapchat has 229 million average daily active users as …

Retail Sales and Factory Output – Week of April 13-17, 2020

By Kuldip K. Ambastha The coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc all around the world. In the USA, retail sales declined by 8.7%, making for a record decline. The previous record was 3.9% in November 2008, during the Great Recession / global financial crisis (GFC) era. Clothing and accessories sales declined 50.5%. Food services and …

What Caught Our Attention in the Investment World? – Week of April 6-10, 2020

By Kuldip K. Ambastha Carnival Corporation (CCL) is well-known as a cruise operator and as a prominent travel / leisure company. This British-American company has struggled recently due to the coronavirus pandemic seen worldwide. However, during this week, the company had strong days on Monday, April 6, 2020 and Tuesday, April 7, 2020, returning 20.3% …

Jobs, Unemployment, and the Dow Jones – Week of March 30 – April 3, 2020

By Kuldip K. Ambastha The Dow Jones was up and down this week day by day, similar to what has been seen in the past few weeks. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and its related public health concerns around the world, massive changes have been seen in the USA and these changes have been affecting …

Government Stimulus and the Dow Jones – Week of March 23-27, 2020

By Kuldip K. Ambastha Per the table seen above, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) took investors on a volatile ride this week. Down days were seen on Monday and Friday. Up days were seen on the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in between. This pattern in the DJIA was observed due to the federal government’s …