Israeli Shekel Turning Japanese?

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor - Forex


The Israeli Shekel has gained roughly 6% since mid-January. The Shekel has also been more resilient than other currencies when the dollar was gaining, and it has been performing well even when the dollar was weakening. All the while, Israel has been plagued with continual deflation, which is a classic case for unconventional measures. The Bank of Israel responded by slashing its benchmark interest rates to 0.1%. However, no “unconventional” measures were taken; no quantitative easing and no negative interest rates.

Investors, both local and foreign, reacted as they have in similar cases. That is by buying government bonds. Israeli government bonds yield 1.8% and in real terms, yield 2.5%, because Israel’s annual inflation rate is at a negative -0.7%. And with the demand for Israeli bonds high, the Israeli Shekel has strengthened as well, and so the cycle continues.

Demand for Israeli government bonds has been so high, in fact, that net foreign investment in Israeli government bonds over the past 3 months has been higher than it has been at any time in the past three years. Continue reading "Israeli Shekel Turning Japanese?"

Are Hasbro Results A Harbinger For Disney Earnings?

Noah Kiedrowski - INO.com Contributor - Biotech


I recently wrote a piece highlighting Disney as an inexpensive growth opportunity for long-term investors. My positive sentiment was rooted in many lucrative franchises such as Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, ESPN and the legacy Disney brand turning out original content such as Frozen and Zootopia. Disney offers a deep and well-diversified product portfolio that is set to provide growth and safety well into the future. This portfolio gives rise to a basket of entertainment income streams via movies, licensing deals, theme parks, TV programing, resorts and distribution rights. Disney stock has been under pressure as of late due to increasingly worrisome revenue declines from the ESPN franchise. I felt this decline in the stock is unwarranted, and analysts underestimate the ability of Disney to evolve to the consumer and monetize ESPN via other means. My views were recently echoed by analysts at Pivotal Research which upgraded the stock from a hold to a buy and raised its target price from $104 to $122. JPMorgan Chase also reiterated its buy rating and a $118 target price. Disney has witnessed fantastic growth over the last decade and considering future catalysts in the pipeline; Disney appears undervalued. Disney currently sits at a P/E of ~18 along with a PEG of ~1.5 and has seen its stock fall from $122 to a current price of ~$100 or alternatively a ~20% decline. This presents a great buying opportunity in an inexpensive, high-quality growth stock.

Are Hasbro Results A Harbinger for Upcoming Disney Earnings?

Disney and Hasbro have established a mutually beneficial partnership as Hasbro’s recent quarterly sales increased by 16%. This double-digit increase in sales was largely attributable to the sales of Disney’s Star Wars and Princess franchises. Overall, Hasbro’s revenue grew to $831.2 million from $713.5 million during a time that is typically slower for toy makers. Hasbro’s strong numbers benefited from the late 2015 release of the new Star Wars film. CEO Brian Goldner stated “Retail and consumer demand for Star Wars remained very high” and that Hasbro’s line of Disney Princess characters was “very positive.” The Disney and Hasbro relationship is being leveraged for future movies such as the upcoming Captain America Civil War film as well. Continue reading "Are Hasbro Results A Harbinger For Disney Earnings?"

Pendulum Experiment Snapshot: Promising Progress

Aibek Burabayev - INO.com Contributor - Metals


Last November I brought an experiment to your attention based purely on the laws of physics. I called it the "Pendulum experiment." The idea of it was to pick the strongest and the weakest asset by performance in 2015 and to check if they will move back like a pendulum and exchange their performance position relative to each other – the weakest will become stronger, the strongest will become weaker.

Just to refresh your memory: the Nikkei index was the top performer and Palladium was the weakest metal (YTD November 2015). I want to express my gratitude for the active participation in voting; the results are in the graph below.

Chart 1. Nikkei vs. Palladium Voting Results:

Poll Results INO.com
Poll results courtesy of INO.com

The odds were in favor of Palladium with a margin of 5 votes (8%). It was almost a split even bet and we have another couple of months to see the final results. Now let us check the current progress of the assets as we passed the halftime period. Continue reading "Pendulum Experiment Snapshot: Promising Progress"

A Value Stock That's Out Of This World

Daniel Cross - INO.com Contributor - Equities


Value investors know that the long game is important when picking a stock. Short term gains fluctuate, but solid fundamentals mean that a company will outperform over the long-term regardless of temporary ups and downs in the market.

A few decades ago the field of technology was in its infancy and the computer space was considered highly risky and volatile. Of course, anyone who bought into companies like Apple or Intel back then are certainly reaping the rewards today.

Technology is still an investor's best bet for finding the next breakout industry. Right now IoT (Internet of Things) is the frontrunner with advances being made in data storage, infrastructure, and other forms of "smart" tech. Big data stocks and chipmakers have already seen big gains in the past couple of years and should continue to thrive. But there's another industry that looks very much like computers did back in the late 70's and early 80's – spaceflight.

The introduction of commercial space agencies is brand new. Richard Branson helped kick off the new space race with his Virgin Galactic company and now Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have joined in with their SpaceX and Blue Horizons companies.

While still privately owned entities, there are still ways for investors to hop aboard this exciting new enterprise. Satellite telecommunications hasn't been an industry in focus for Wall Street analysts, but rapidly growing interest in spaceflight and space-related technology means that these companies may be about to enter a new bullish environment that could last decades. Continue reading "A Value Stock That's Out Of This World"

Topping Euro Signals New Highs For Precious Metals

Aibek Burabayev - INO.com Contributor - Metals


This past January I wrote about European gold discussing two possible scenarios as the market was at the crossroads. The upside scenario played out. It is good to act once we know the direction as it gives us more confidence. Today I will review gold vs. euro and add silver to the pack. But the very first chart I will dedicate to the peaking euro as the price of the metals is quoted in a single currency.

Chart 1. Euro/$ Weekly: Price Is At The Top

Weekly Chart of Euro/Dollar
Chart courtesy of tradingview.com

The EURUSD is the most liquid currency pair in the world and it shows the strength of the US dollar, which is the measure of everything in the financial world. The global trend for the pair is down. The Euro hit a multi-decade bottom in 2015 and since then we have been stuck in a wide consolidation with a price range of 10 big figures within $1.0462-1.1467. I didn't take the 2015 high at $1.1714 as you can see that it was just a false break above the horizontal resistance. The price quickly fell back below resistance and closed a dip below it.

Last week shaped a reversal Doji candle, which, of course, needs further confirmation on the chart. We should see a quick drop below the middle of the channel (black dashed line) at the $1.1240 level.

The euro should break below $1.0462 to confirm the continuation of the global trend; it will certainly add to the bullishness of precious metals against this currency. If we get a weekly/monthly close above $1.1467, then we should watch closely after the reversal which will undermine the metals market in Europe. The third path is a prolonged consolidation as a result of the price reversal from the lower margin at $1.0462.

Chart 2. Gold vs. Euro Monthly: Break Up & Correction, Ready For Action!

Monthly Chart of Gold vs. Euro
Chart courtesy of tradingview.com

Gold was nimble enough to penetrate the upside of the downtrend at EUR 1065 in February. It is a good trigger for buyers. Patient traders prefer to wait for a good pullback to enter with safe stop (just below the trend) for a low-risk trade. And we can see this classic price action on the chart. It looks like the pullback has finished at the low of EUR 1065 (same price for the breakup) as the price rapidly advanced higher. Once the price passes the high at EUR 1165, we can move the stop to breakeven and enjoy the lossless bet.

The target is located on the upside of the trend at EUR 1270, if you read the earlier gold-euro post, you can see that the AB/CD concept also points to that level (EUR 1272). It's not a coincidence as both the trend model and the AB/CD concept use simple mathematical calculations.

Chart 3. Silver vs. Euro Monthly: Wait for Breakout!

Monthly Chart of Silver vs. Euro
Chart courtesy of tradingview.com

Silver didn't follow gold yet. Indeed, the price penetrated the dashed red trendline last October, but we didn't see the follow-through upside price action so far. Instead, the metal has been squeezed with a decreasing apex of the symmetrical triangle (highlighted in blue), one of the typical visual forms of consolidation.

It's good to trade on the breakout. The most expected action is upside penetration of the triangle amid rising a gold price. The target for the upside move is located at the EUR 18.75 level, calculated as a distance of the base (EUR 4.9, the widest part of the triangle) added to the break point. This is the area of the 2013 August high. In a less probable downside scenario the target is set at EUR 7.73 level.

Intelligent trades!

Aibek Burabayev
INO.com Contributor, Metals

Disclosure: This contributor has no positions in any stocks mentioned in this article. This article is the opinion of the contributor themselves. The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. This contributor is not receiving compensation (other than from INO.com) for their opinion.