A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading this morning on the Web
Oil prices initially climbed Monday on news that Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the U.A.E. and Egypt had cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, but eventually markets realized that Qatar is predominantly a natural gas producing nation. WTI crude is trading lower by about 0.9 per cent at time of writing.
"Why Tiny Qatar Angers Saudi Arabia and Its Allies: QuickTake Q&A" – Bloomberg
"Saudi Arabia And Arab Neighbors Punish Qatar Over Terrorism. Will US Follow?" – Reuters
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Goldman Sachs writes that "the trends are all wrong-way for corporate profit margins" in the U.S.,
"With productivity stagnant, inflation contained, wages rising, and the US economy already past full employment, the trends are all wrong-way for corporate profits margins. Based on National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA), nonfinancial corporate profit margins have already declined to 12.5% in 2017Q1 from their recent peak of 15.5% in 2014Q3 (the highest level since 1968), and if real wages were to grow 0.5%-1.0% faster than productivity over the next three years, then profit margins would see a further decline to between 9.9-11.2%."
"@SBarlow_ROB GS: "the trends are all wrong-way for corporate profit margins " – (research excerpt) Twitter
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The Acquirer's Multiple blog lists their picks for the top 50 investing blogs on the internet,
" 50 Of The Best Investing Blogs On The Planet (2017)" – Acquirer's Multiple
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The FinExtra website is trying to screw up everyone's favourite buzzwords by asking "Did someone cancel the fintech revolution?,"
"Over the last few years, the fintech hype machine has been in overdrive, with a digital revolution promising to change market structure, radically improve products and services, and save the high street veterans from sliding into invisible utilities. The Accenture report says that these promises have yet to come to pass; old fashioned banks are still standing, and perhaps standing still, while startups have yet to gain real traction in customer acquisition and seen their VC investment decline by more than a third in the last year."
"Did someone cancel the fintech revolution?" – FinExtra
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I wrote about technology guru Mary Meeker and her recent report detailing the shocking (to me at least) developments in digital medical technology field for Friday's Globe Investor Newsletter . Merrill Lynch contributed to the story by outlining their top stocks picks in the sector. U.S. Intersect ENT is the small cap choice and Edwards Life Science Corp. is the large cap selection
"Despite the move in the stock recently, EW remains our top large cap idea. EW has already raised 2017 guidance from ~$3.37 to $3.49 (midpoints of EPS guidance) after a strong Q1 beat, but we see the potential for up to $4.00 in 2017E EPS because we see the potential for another $100m+ in upside to US [Transcatheter aortic valve replacement or TAVR] numbers for EW in 2017, which, as we know from last year, is worth almost 30c in earnings for EW. We think the Street underestimates the strength of the US TAVR market, as growth has accelerated to 55% in Q1 on a 3-yr average trend growth, the highest trend growth in years for the US TAVR market."
"@SBarlow_ROB ML's top picks in medical technology" – (research excerpt) Twitter
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Tweet of the Day: "Jake @EconomPic I guarantee you see this photo at multiple investment conferences before year end " – Twitter
Diversion: "50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive" – Farnam Street
Scott Barlow