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It is easy conclude that a socially conscious investor should simply avoid holding shares of any oil producer or even any company perceived to be contributing to global warming. But many ESG money managers believe advocacy may be a better approach than divestiture, as Debbie Carlson explains.
Netflix Inc. NFLX is close to hitting an important financial milestone, as Therese Poletti explains.
Courtesy Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge
Silvia Ascarelli helps two disabled military veterans who wish to retire in a rural area on at least 10 acres of land. They have a limited budget, but no debt. Here are three possible destinations.
Holiday sales rose stronger-than-expected 8.3% as consumers bought gifts to lighten mood during pandemic (SPY -0.7%). Bitcoin ends a choppy week of trading with prices below $40,000.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
North and South American markets are lower today with shares in U.S. off the most. The S&P 500 is down 0.60% while Brazil s Bovespa is off 0.52% and Mexico s IPC is lower by 0.45%.
What Is Moving the Markets
Here are the headlines moving the markets.
Oil Prices Under Fire As Traders Cite Demand Concerns Oil prices dropped early on Friday, as expanding lockdowns in China weighed on market sentiment about immediate global oil demand, while a stronger U.S. dollar also dragged crude futures down. As of 9:47 a.m. ET on Friday, WTI Crude prices were down by 1.34 percent at $52.89 and Brent Crude was trading down 1.49 percent at $55.58. Brent prices were headed for their first weekly loss in three weeks, while the U.S. benchmark was poised for a tin
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By Mark Hulbert Contrary to reports in recent years that the small-cap effect has disappeared, it s actually alive and well. We ve just been looking for it in all the wrong places. The small-cap effect refers to the long-term tendency of small-capitalization stocks to outperform the large-caps. Since the mid-1920s, according to data from Dartmouth finance professor Kenneth French, the 10% of stocks with the smallest market caps have beaten the largest 10% of stocks by an annualized margin of 2.4 percentage points. Much of the past two decades have been an exception to this long-term pattern, however. Over the past 15 years, for example, the Russell Microcap Index (containing 2,000 of the tiniest exchange-listed stocks) lagged behind the Russell Top 50 Mega Cap Index (containing the 50 largest-cap stocks) by 2.5 annualized percentage points.
Weekend reads: The streaming services worth paying for in 2021 MarketWatch 1/2/2021
TOP TEN
As you bring in the new year, it may help you to think along these lines: “Things will be better tomorrow.” It may take longer than that, but after so much personal loss during a pandemic that has affected nearly everyone, there is hope that during 2021 the crisis will end.
With so much on your mind, reconsidering your streaming services may be overlooked. But money saved is money in your pocket. Mike Murphy continually monitors the competing streaming services for cost and quality. Here are his tips for saving as much as possible on streaming services in 2021 while watching everything you want.
‘Santa Claus’ rally has begun. Why few 7-session stretches are better for the stock market. MarketWatch 12/28/2020
THE TELL
Santa Claus may not be coming to town due to the pandemic, but he will pay a socially distant visit to Wall Street equity traders if history is any guide.
Stocks have performed exceedingly well during a seasonal period that includes the year’s last five trading days and the first two sessions of the new year, in what’s come to be known as the “Santa Claus” rally.
That period, which started lastThursday this year, is considered one of the best seven-day stretches for equities in any point in a year, boasting an average return of 1.3%, the second best performance among any seven-day period in a year. The span has also finished positive in nearly 78% of some 250 trading sessions, according to Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist for LPL Financial, in a Wednesday research note (table below).