A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading today on the Web
U.S. markets are jumping higher despite stretched valuation levels, but Ritholtz Wealth Management's Director of Research Michael Batnick warns that things could get even sillier,
"Since the February 2016 lows, the S&P 500 is up an incredible 56%. A 36% decline from here would certainly scare the heck out of a lot of investors, but that would only take us back to where we were two years ago. A 50% crash would take the index back to the beginning of 2013 … The biggest takeaway for the average investor who is trying to figure out what is going and what they should do with their money is this: nobody knows what's going on… If you think things are getting silly now or have been that way for a while, there is no law to prevent them from getting a whole lot sillier."
"A Few Charts and a Few Thoughts" – Irrelevant Investor
"Slowing Cash Flow Could Mean a 'Nasty Surprise' for U.S. Stocks" – Bloomberg
"@tbiesheuvel Not a great day for the miners bloomberg.com/news/articles/… " – (Table) Twitter
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U.S. President Donald Trump slapped sizeable tariffs on white goods and solar panels entering the United States,
"China's breathtaking expansion in making [solar panels] has been the primary reason their price has declined by 80 percent since 2010, crushing margins everywhere and helping to push many a manufacturer elsewhere into bankruptcy. Yet the tariffs Trump has imposed look unlikely to encourage solar-equipment factories to start sprouting across the U.S. .. To be clear, in an industry as competitive as this, anything that messes with the continued decline in costs will deter some sales. Given that manufacturing accounts for only about 15 percent of the U.S. solar-power workforce, this seems not super-helpful for job creation."
"Trump's Solar Tariffs: When the Levy Brakes" – Bloomberg
"Trump's Tariffs on Solar Mark Biggest Blow to Renewables Yet" – Bloomberg
"We're underestimating Trump's threat to withdraw from NAFTA: Former diplomat" – BNN
"@zerohedge Goldman on solar tariffs" – (research excerpt) Twitter
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Netflix Inc. stock is ramping higher after quarterly results showing stronger than expected subscriber growth. At the same time, however, management estimated cash flow would be negative $3-billion (U.S.) in the coming year, double the loss of the past twelve months,
"Netflix's Growth Is in the Eye of the Beholder" – Gadfly
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Tweet of the day: "@charliebilello Bond yields have been in a long-term downtrend for over 30 years. Slowly coming to an end? $TNX " – Twitter
Diversion: "Study: Being a Teen Sucks Now" – Gizmodo
Scott Barlow