Stocks & Equities

6 Cannabis Market Predictions That Are Already Coming True

Posted by Scott McGovern

on Wednesday, 17 July 2019 9:09

What will legal weed look like in the next few years? These cannabis market predictions are already coming true.

With new products, untapped markets, and better access to research and capital than ever before, the cannabis market is in the midst of another record-breaking year of growth.

Overall, 2018 was a groundbreaking year of growth for the cannabis market. But expect the industry to expand through 2019 and into 2020 as a volatile market becomes more stable and mainstream, encouraging unprecedented investor and consumer confidence.

Here’s what investors and consumers should expect as the cannabis market matures….CLICK for complete article

Commodities Are Having A Stellar Year

Posted by Frank Holmes

on Wednesday, 17 July 2019 9:03

Commodities were on mostly sound footing in the first half of 2019. The S&P GSCI returned more than 13 percent as of June 30, one of the best first six months in recent memory. It was not without its challenges, though.

In a repeat of last year, crude oil was the top-performing commodity, up 28.76 percent as of June 30. Price action was driven mostly by tensions in the Middle East as well as extended supply cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies. Global growth concerns began to put pressure on oil in April, but prices surged following June’s attack on two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, for which the U.S. blamed Iran….CLICK for complete article

Waiting for the “Big Fish”

Posted by Andy Preikschat, CFA

on Tuesday, 16 July 2019 10:41

Andy Preikschat, manager of the private Edgebrook Fund, released his annual mid-year letter to shareholders. He has been kind enough to share it with us this year, at the halfway point of his 30 year plan. Find out about his investment strategy as well as some of his recent buys and sells of Canadian listed companies in the fund. ~ MT Editor

At Edgebrook, we sit on the edge of a brook, patiently waiting to seize that big fish. What does a “big fish” look like? To us microcap investors, a “big fish” is a microcap company with all three of the following necessary criteria: #1 Market Leader in a niche category, with Incentivized Fanatics who won’t bamboozle us, with the potential to Grow Earnings (and the stock price) at least 3-5x over 3-5 years… CLICK to read the complete letter

Bank Run: Deutsche Bank Clients Are Pulling $1 Billion A Day

Posted by ZeroHedge

on Tuesday, 16 July 2019 8:43

As a result of the modern version of this “bank run”, where it’s not depositors but counterparties that are pulling their liquid exposure from DB on fears another Lehman-style lock up could freeze their funds indefinitely, Deutsche Bank is considering how to transfer some €150 billion ($168 billion) of balances held in it prime-brokerage unit – along with technology and potentially hundreds of staff – to French banking giant BNP Paribas.

One problem, as Bloomberg notes, is that such a forced attempt to change prime-broker counterparties, would be like herding cats, as the clients had already decided they have no intention of sticking with Deutsche Bank, and would certainly prefer to pick their own PB counterparty than be assigned one by the Frankfurt-based bank. Alas, the problem for DB is that with the bank run accelerating, pressure on the bank to complete a deal soon is soaring.

Here are the dynamics in a nutshell, (via Bloomberg): Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing is pulling back from catering to risky hedge-fund clients, i.e. running a prime brokerage, as he attempts to radically overhaul the troubled German lender while BNP CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafe wants to expand in the industry. A deal of this magnitude would be a stark example of the German firm’s retreat from global investment banking while potentially transforming its French rival from a small player in the so-called prime-brokerage industry to one of Europe’s biggest.

Of course, publicly telegraphing that DB is in dire liquidity straits and needs an in-kind transfer of its prime brokerage book would spark an outright panic, and so instead the story has been spun far more palatably, i.e., “BNP is providing “continuity of service” to Deutsche Bank’s prime-brokerage and electronic-equity clients as the two companies discuss transferring over technology and staff”, according to a July 7 statement. The ultimate goal of the talks is for BNP to take over the vast majority of client balances, which are slightly less than $200 billion currently.

There is just one problem: nothing is preventing those clients who would be forcibly moved from a German banking giant to a French banking giant from redeeming their funds. And that’s just what they are doing. Or rather, nothing is preventing them from moving their exposure for now, which is why they are suddenly scrambling to do it before they are suddenly gated…CLICK for complete article

3 Technical Reasons Why the Bull Market May Be Over

Posted by Alan Farley

on Tuesday, 16 July 2019 8:36

Investors can find plenty of fundamental reasons to think the 10-year bull market is coming to an end, with retail fund outflows, crashing yields, and the destruction of globalization all perfectly capable of signaling the next recession. However, technical price structure may offer stronger clues to market direction as we near the end of a prosperous but turbulent decade. And right now, this arcane venue is flashing warning signs that could translate into much lower stock prices.

Let’s look at three technical elements that predict the S&P 500 has topped out or will top out in coming months. All revolve around perfectly placed 2019 price action and broad brush pattern readings asserting that the rally has reached a level that can’t be sustained in the second half. What these numbers don’t reveal is the ultimate downside if bears resume control of the ticker tape, especially after more than nine months of binary price swings….CLICK for complete article