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A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading today on the Web

Warren Buffett once called Jeff Bezos the best business person he's ever seen in light of how well Amazon.com has been run. Personally, I'm a big fan of Amazon Echo devices and shop online frequently.

Amazon stock is a different matter. I'm entirely impressed with the company, but I'm not about to pay 317 times trailing earnings to own anything.

Which brings us to marijuana stocks.

Pessimism on marijuana stocks is often treated in a "what are you, Nancy Reagan?" way.

However, investors should remember that they can be impressed by a product and still believe the stock prices are out of line, like Queen's University economics professor Allan Gregory does,

"These [marijuana] companies, some valued in the billions of dollars despite generating no profits, continue to attract starry-eyed investors, it's worth examining what kind of opportunities will exist for these firms when provinces regulate retail pot sales. It is not difficult to predict profit margins will fall under regulation and that current market cap valuations are predicated on unrealistic expectations."

"Investors are delusional when it comes to Canadian marijuana companies" – Maclean's

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Chinese authorities voiced their opinion that U.S. Treasury bonds are not great investments and this caused bond markets and equity futures to fall Wednesday morning. The Financial Times reports,

"Jeffrey Gundlach, the founder of DoubleLine Capital, said on Tuesday that central bank policy was shifting to an "era of quantitative tightening", following the disclosure that the BOJ had bought fewer bonds… [Bill] Gross, who was nicknamed the "bond king" while chief investment officer at Pimco and is now a fund manager at Janus Henderson, tweeted: "Bond bear market confirmed today. 25 year long-term trendlines broken in 5yr and 10yr maturity Treasuries.""

"US government bond sell-off gathers pace" – Financial Times

"Treasuries Slide as China Said to View Them as `Less Attractive'" – Bloomberg

"DoubleLine's Gundlach predicts S&P will post negative return in 2018" – Reuters

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Macquarie strategist Viktor Shvets, however, believes that the bull market in fixed income (and dividend investing, by extension) remains intact. Mr. Shvets is concerned that global central banks are withdrawing stimulus too early,

"If CBs misconstrue the strength and resilience of the recent recovery and China misinterprets its role in global sustainability, the 'goldilocks' for asset classes could end quickly and violently. The 'canary in the coalmine' would be high-yield and currency markets"

" @SBarlow_ROB Macquarie: Goldilocks [market conditions] could end quickly and violently" – (research excerpt) Twitter

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Plenty of news from the oil patch as crude prices continue to climb,

"Citi Says Trump and War Could Help Drive Oil to $80" – Bloomberg

"Oil prices hit fresh highs, but worries grow of overheated market" – Reuters

"Overshooting? Oil hits highest level in almost three years, with Brent nearing $70" – Financial Times

"'Drunken Sailor' Oilfield Spending May Stir Investor Merger Push" – Bloomberg

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Tweet of the Day: "@AlexUsherHESA This graph you need today (part 1). Humanities & Education enrolments way down, Engineering and Health way up. Biggest enrolment shift in Canadian history? higheredstrategy.com/field-study-oh… " – (Chart) Twitter

Diversion: Health care spending is an underrated means of generational wealth transfer,

"Health Care Just Became the U.S.'s Largest Employer" – The Atlantic

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