News
CNN Money | Stock experts say the bull isn't dead yet
The 26 investment strategists surveyed in the past week by CNNMoney have an average year-end target for the S&P 500 of 1,968. That would work out to a 6.5% gain for the year and is slightly higher than what experts in our exclusive survey predicted back in January. Of course, this still pales in comparison to last year's gain of nearly 30% for the benchmark index.
WSJ | Lawmakers Worried About Fate of Pacific Trade Pact
Lawmakers who shape U.S. trade policy expressed fears Thursday that a multiyear bid to create a trans-Pacific trade pact may go the way of other moribund trade negotiations.
Bloomberg | Capital Spending in U.S. Seen From Macy’s to Berkshire
The oldest capital stock in decades, more clarity on fiscal policy, improving growth prospects and companies awash in cash mean the stars have aligned to boost spending on commercial structures and equipment, according to economists such as David Rosenberg and investors such as Brian Jacobsen. Companies from Macy’s Inc. to Warren Buffett’s railroad are planning on increasing capital outlays to enhance competiveness.
CNN Money | Brace yourself for ugly corporate earnings
Earnings for the companies in the S&P 500 are expected to be down 1.2% in the first quarter, according to estimates from FactSet Research. That would mark the first overall decline since the third quarter of 2012, when earnings fell 1%.
Market Watch | Here’s what’s killing China’s economic growth
Central to China’s economic growth is a shift from debt-driven investment to consumption.
WSJ | Nigeria's Economy Surpasses South Africa's in Size
Nigeria on Sunday took a big step past South Africa as the continent's biggest economy, a pivotal moment for two aspiring global players and one that validates foreign companies' moves into Africa's riskier markets.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | Envying the U.S. mortgage system?
Moscow officials hoping to boost the Russian housing market have been visiting the United States for more than a year to learn how the American mortgage machine works.
Real Clear Markets | Why Has Consumer Confidence Been So Slow to Recover?
Consumer confidence is one of the most reliable and useful economic indicators. If you had paid attention to it back in 2007 and 2008, you could have safely sold your stocks well before the market plummeted. As reported by Floyd Norris recently in the New York Times, consumer confidence has finally returned to a level above where it was at the start of the recession.
AEI | High-frequency trading: We need more data
Government shouldn’t rush to judgment on Wall Street’s high-speed traders. Granted, this whole business probably looks dodgy to Main Street’s 401(k) owners and stock pickers. Financial brainiacs are employing sophisticated computer programs called algorithmic robots to quickly scan financial data streams for subtle stock-market patterns.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | How Average Americans Are the Victims of Excessive Regulation
In his State of the Union address earlier this year, President Obama vowed to wield his executive powers when faced with congressional resistance to his legislative agenda: “America does not stand still – and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation … that’s what I am going to do.”
Washington Post | More on the competitive consequences of Dodd-Frank’s regulatory burden
I’ve written on several occasions of my hypothesis that the eventual legacy of Dodd-Frank will be to promote consolidation of the banking industry, driving out small banks and entrenching too big to fail. One reason for this is the well-recognized theory that the costs of regulatory compliance often fall relatively more heavily on small than large businesses because not all types of regulatory compliance scale with size (the other is the possible entrenchment of a TBTF subsidy in capital markets, for which as an empirical matter the jury still seems to be out).
