Finance  /  December 7, 2020

By Tom Burnett CFA Our most recent look at earnings estimates for the S/P 500 Index is based on the FACTSET report for December 4, 2020.   While the earnings estimate consensus has improved dramatically from the July estimates, fourth quarter earnings are now expected to decline by 10.1% from the year…

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Finance  /  December 4, 2020

By Tom Burnett CFA   On December 4, 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Employment Report for November.  The Report indicated that the economy added 245,000 new jobs for the month.  Seasonally adjusted employment now stands at 142.6 million, down 9.8 million from the pre-Covid employment…

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Finance  /  November 18, 2020

By Tom Burnett CFA   In its October 2 and November 3 press releases, the Options Clearing Corporation in Chicago announced that trading  volume through September 30, 2020, had surpassed previous annual record volumes.  Total volume of cleared listed options trades reached 5.34 billion contracts through…

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Finance  /  November 11, 2020

By Tom Burnett CFA   In the FACTSET report from November 6, 2020, the S/P 500 earnings forecast picture continues to improve.  The consensus estimate for 2020 is now $137.15, much improved from the July  10 forecast of $126.79.  The latest figure represents a decline of 15.9% from the $163.02 reported…

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Finance  /  November 6, 2020

By Tom Burnett CFA On November 6, 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued another upbeat report on the employment status of the U.S. economy. The total jobs number rose by 638,000 from the prior month. October is the sixth consecutive month to report an increase in the overall employment number.…

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