Image Source:   We observe that key China proxies like AUD have erased their risk premium on the back of a consensus view that Beijing will secure a deal with the US and prevent an escalation in trade tensions. We suspect markets might have moved a bit too aggressively on the optimistic side, as Trump is arguably in less of a rush to halt tariffs compared to Canada and Mexico.  USD: Some data to watch amid tariff newsThe dollar has continued to lose ground since the US border deal with Mexico and Canada was agreed on Monday. The focus is now on China, and a relatively measured response by Beijing to Trump’s tariffs is keeping markets optimistic that some deal can be struck before China’s retaliatory tariffs kick in on 10 January. We note that AUD/USD – a key proxy for China sentiment – has entirely erased its short-term risk premium (i.e. undervaluation).A consensus US-China deal does seem the most likely scenario, but we sense markets are under-pricing the risk of a more prolonged trade spat. Tariffs on China aren’t as impactful on US consumers/producers as those on Canada and Mexico, and that allows Trump to take his time to discuss a deal. Indeed, Trump has indicated he is in no rush to speak to China’s President Xi Jinping. We suspect the balance of risks for the likes of AUD and NZD – which are pricing in a deal – is skewed to the downside.In other news, markets are treating Trump’s […]

Image Source: We had originally looked into as Watch List stock, given its strong leadership and opportunities in AI. But there are just too many things I don’t like about this CPU and GPU maker after reviewing Q4 results.The Xilinx deal was clearly a massive over-pay, hurting AMD’s return on capital for years to come. I’m also not seeing cash flow through like it needs to, to justify anything close to the current valuation.Finally, this is a hardware maker prone to the wild cyclical swings of the semiconductor industry. There are just too many “dings” on the stock to continue watching it, so it moves to the “reject” pile.AMD: A Strong Contender In The AI Boom, But Is It A Buy?VTEX Is An Interesting E-Commerce Platform PlayStock Picks 2024 Year In Review

Image Source: Investing formulas are simple, easy-to-implement, systematic, stock screeners that provide instructions on how to outperform the total stock market. Marcel Schwartz and Matthias Hanauer, authors of the December 2024 study, “,” evaluated the effectiveness of four such popular investing formulas over the period 1963-2022: The Piotroski F-Score: The sum of nine binary (+ or 0) signals measuring the financial strength of a firm in order to distinguish financially weak from financially strong firms among value stocks. The Magic Formula: Ranks companies by return on capital (ROC) and earnings yield, investing in companies with the highest combined score. The Acquirer’s Multiple: A valuation ratio, calculated as enterprise value divided by operating earnings. The Conservative Formula—An investment formula that selects 100 stocks based on three criteria: low return volatility, high net payout yield, and strong price momentum.   Their analysis was based on the comprehensive CRSP/Compustat universe, but excluded microcaps to dismiss concerns that tiny stocks, often illiquid and hard to trade, drive the results. Their sample consisted of companies with a minimum market capitalization of $450 million and an average of almost  $31 billion as of December 2022. The average number of stocks was 921, ranging from a low of 298 firms in July 1963 to a high of 1,163 in April 2002.Schwartz and Hanauer sorted stocks into decile portfolios and computed their raw and risk-adjusted performance. Portfolios were updated at the end of each quarter, using the latest price and stock data at formation and yearly accounting data with a reporting lag of at […]

Image Source:  EUR/USD consolidates in a range near the weekly high touched earlier this Wednesday. The USD struggles to lure buyers amid Fed rate cut bets and lends support to the major.  Concerns about Trump’s trade tariffs and dovish ECB weigh on the Euro and cap the pair. The EUR/USD pair struggles to capitalize on this week’s solid recovery from the 1.0200 neighborhood, or the lowest level since January 13, and oscillates in a range near the weekly top touched earlier this Wednesday. Spot prices currently trade around the 1.0375-1.0380 region, nearly unchanged for the day amid mixed fundamental cues.The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) published on Tuesday pointed to a slowdown in the US labor market and supports prospects for further policy easing by the Federal Reserve (Fed). In fact, the markets are pricing in the possibility that the US central bank will lower borrowing costs twice this year. Apart from this, the risk-on mood keeps the safe-haven US Dollar (USD) depressed near the weekly low, which, in turn, is seen acting as a tailwind for the EUR/USD pair. Traders, however, seem reluctant to place aggressive bullish bets in the wake of concerns that US President Donald Trump would slap tariffs on goods from the European Union. Adding to this, the European Central Bank’s (ECB) dovish stance, which overshadowed a rise in the Eurozone Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) at an annual rate of 2.5% in January, is seen undermining the Euro and contributing to keeping a lid on […]

Image Source:  AMD stock tanks as quarterly data centre sales disappoint. Rosenblatt analyst reveals several reasons to buy the dip. Hans Mosesman continues to see upside in AMD stock to $250. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. () is taking a hit in after-hours on Tuesday despite  for its fiscal fourth quarter.Investors are responding primarily to a 69% year-on-year increase in the company’s data centre sales to $3.86 billion, which fell short of $4.14 billion that analysts had forecast.But the post-earnings weakness in AMD stock may have created an exciting opportunity for investors interested in buying and holding this AI name for the long-term, as per Rosenblatt analyst Hans Mosesmann. AMD stock remains competitive vs Nvidia (NVDA)  AMD shares are worth owning after the company’s management guided for “strong double-digit percentage growth” in its top and bottom line this year.Hans Mosesmann remains bullish on the semiconductor giant as he disagrees with the broader narrative that Advanced Micro Devices is losing momentum.“AMD’s roadmap remains quite competitive, if not incrementally more competitive vs. Nvidia Blackwell,” he argued in a recent report, adding the “ROCm compiler technology and continued chiplet advantage helps offset the CUDA Nvidia moat.”Other notable names that are currently bullish on AMD stock include famed investor and Mad Money host Jim Cramer who sees the chipmaker as the only one that could catch up to Nvidia.Shares of Advanced Micro Devices are now down about 18% versus their year-to-date high. AMD is not losing share to custom ASICs  In his research note, the Rosenblatt […]