Monday, February 12, 2018

Barrons weekend summary

Barrons weekend summary: Cautious features on WFC, TWTR,SNAP 

Cover story: Since the election of Donald Trump as president, the stock market has steadily moved up, but the ride is now over; “A fast and vertiginous drop in February points to a material change in investor psychology,to cautious from enthusiastic.” 

Features (Markets in Turmoil): 1) To fully understand Monday’s market rout,investors must understand the difference between an ETN—a form of debt in whichthe underwriter must repay the note in the amount the index has returned—and anETF; Volatility exchange traded products such as XIV, SVXY, VXX, UVXY, TVIX aremeant for trading and should not be held for more than a day; 2) Positive on DHI, DAL, VZ, AEP, SBUX, AAPL,NEE: Barron’s looked for stocks that have fallen while estimates for theirearnings have risen, and the resulting seven companies are worthy ofconsideration for bargain hunters; 3) Cautiouson WFC: Bank’s shares look inexpensive relative to other large firms, butongoing regulatory challenges and the task of changing its aggressive culture could drag on the stock; 4) A recent slump in bitcoin is related less to unreliable exchanges and worries about manipulation and fraud, and more to governmen tregulation and enforcement.

Tech Trader: Cautious on TWTR, SNAP:Companies beat expectations last week, offering good news amid all the marketturmoil, but the thrill is likely to fade in coming weeks for the “priceyboutiques that aren’t growing very fast.” 

Trader: The S&P 500’s 200-day moving average may not hold again on Monday,but that doesn’t mean it’s time to call the end of the bull market justyet; Cautious on Celltrion, Samsung Biologics: Shares of Korean biotechsare way up, with sky-high multiples, but “when gravity finds them, the crashwill be epic.” 

Interview: Veteran emerging markets investor Mark Mobius, who retired at theend of January as executive chairman of the Templeton Emerging Markets Group,talks about how bitcoin could be tied to a market melt-up and the best way forinvestors to gain from emerging markets. 

European Trader: European market bulls aren’t giving up yet—Mark Haefele of UBSWealth Management says the market may have gone from being overdue for apullback to approaching overdone. 

Asian Trader: Asia still has a strong fundamental investment case, says AjayKapur of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, and “nothing has reallychanged in Asia over the past few months.” 

Commodities: Natural gas demand has been up in winter amid tight U.S. supplies,which would normally lead to higher prices, but an erratic season with severallarge demand events has spurred unusual price drops. 

Streetwise: Robo advisors “got their first look at volatility” last week, withBettermment and Wealthfront going offline briefly— though it’s probably a goodthing their customers weren’t able to make rash decisions.