D
    David Nelson

    David Nelson

  • Value stocks are killing your performance

    Any fund that uses valuation as a component of its investment style has likely struggled year to date.

  • Why we're trapped in stock market purgatory

    As simple as it sounds, heaven is defined as the S&P 500 breaking above the downtrend drawn from the all-time high of 2873. With rates rising, valuations may not be compelling but nor are they alarming either. (Read last week’s post” The Wall”) We’re on the tail end of one of the best earning’s seasons in 7 years so it raises the question, “What will it take to put the SPX (S&P 500) back on I-95 North? 409 of the S&P 500 have reported, so the bulk of the season is over.

  • Tech stocks didn't get the memo on market-friendly conditions

    On the heels of a market friendly tax cut, record corporate earnings and a chorus of talking heads including yours truly predicting another year of rising stock prices, only one thing is missing. Every bull market has its wall of worry and this year is no different. The usual market killing suspects are all doing their best to keep investors off balance.

  • March Madness hits the equity markets

    The roller coaster ride on and off the courts kept investors on edge wondering if the market would fold like the No. 1 seed Virginia. 

  • Facebook, China weigh on market sentiment

    Last week was a miserable one for equity investors with the S&P 500 (SPY) posting its worst weekly return in two years. Futures are up sharply this morning following news that U.S. Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin is meeting with Chinese officials discussing ways to reduce the trade deficit between our two nations. The Facebook (FB) fiasco, the Fed post meeting press conference, China tariffs and another change in the national security adviser all weighed on sentiment. Add a Mueller investigation that continues to march toward the Oval office and it’s understandable why investors are quick to pull the rip cord.

  • Will the Fed add another brick in the 'Wall of Worry'?

    All eyes will be on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as he delivers his first post meeting press conference.

  • Trump meeting Kim may not be such a bad thing for the markets

    The U.S. has a lot to gain from President Donald Trump's meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

  • The US is already in a trade war

    Whatever your position on global trade and the use of tariffs, the communication of this executive order should have been handled with better coordination.

  • Powell hints at 4 rate hikes. Here's why I say 3

    One look at the yield curve tells me four interest rate hikes aren't likely unless there’s a dramatic change on the long end of the spectrum.

  • Most traders feel punched in the jaw

    A punch square in the jaw from Mike Tyson is probably how most traders felt when they rang the closing bell Friday. Down at the open after a better than expected jobs number, good news became bad news as investors feared the Fed might accelerate their tightening policy.

  • Trump's America first should not mean America is alone

    America first is not America alone. That seems to be the latest from Davos and frankly I think that’s what it’s always been. President Donald Trump made that point today in his speech before world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

  • The bull market goes way beyond tax reform

    With just nine trading days into the year, 2018 is one of the best starts I’ve seen in my career. The strong start is welcome news but this goes way beyond corporate taxes being slashed to 21%.

  • I'm getting worried about 2018

    Right out of the gate stocks went into risk on mode with all but one sector finishing the first week of 2018 in the green. Rate sensitive utilities were the lone loser, down almost as much as the S&P 500 (SPY)* was up. It’s easy to get excited when you start off the year this strong but there’s a lot of blocking and tackling ahead not to mention an earnings season that kicks off Friday.

  • Weighing the risks of cryptocurrencies

    2018 will likely be a defining year for cryptocurrencies. Since the introduction of bitcoin in 2009 by a seemingly mythical Satoshi Nakamoto the debate has raged between bulls and bears armed with both fact and fiction. Was blockchain technology and the cryptocurrencies it spawned a modern day alternative to sovereign fiat currencies or a digital fad whose mania would eventually bankrupt believers except for those quick enough to get out in time?

  • The good, bad, and most indefensible parts of the tax overhaul

    David Nelson walks through the highlights of the new GOP tax bill, admittedly through the lens of an investment strategist and portfolio manager.

  • Here's what you can expect from the stock market in 2018

    Markets are driven by all sorts of factors but in the long run they follow earnings.

  • Net neutrality is on death row — Why we should let it die

    Net Neutrality is on death row. With a 3 to 2 vote all but certain don’t expect a call from the governor saving the Obama administration’s utility style approach to broadband.

  • Four challenges facing investors before Santa comes to town: trader

    With just 28 trading days left in 2017, investors have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. Each news cycle presents an additional challenge for tax reform legislation as it makes its way to the president’s desk. Politics aside, some measure of a tax reform package is priced into the market, and a complete failure would force a reset.

  • Politicians are ducking Wall Street's most important tax loophole

    Carried interest is one of those Wall Street terms that forces a yawn. Your lack of interest is just what the industry is hoping for.

  • What the purge at the House of Saud means for crude oil

    In a stunning sequence of events, heir apparent to the Saudi throne, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, seems to have consolidated power as authorities detained dozens, including Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, one of the richest men in the world. Along with Al-Waleed were 16 other princes as well as former ministers in an apparent purge to remove any opposition to the sweeping changes the young prince and son to King Salman envisions for the oil rich nation. Despite the U.S. push to be one of the leading energy producers in the world, Saudi Arabia is still in control of a vast amount of the world’s proven oil reserves.