The U.S. Dollar (NYSEARCA:UUP) Index has finally given us a powerful breakout from its contracting range. The dollar index ended the week with gains of more than 1.6 percent after the latest Fed minutes revealed that “a rate hike could be expected relatively soon.” The Fed officials, who next meet on November 1-2, before the U.S. election on November 8, are contemplating raising the interest rate in December.
But with the greenback already strengthening, will the central bank really go for a hike? Let us see how the U.S. dollar index is expected to react going forward, and what the implications will be for stocks, crude oil and precious metals such as silver.
What Is The U.S. Dollar Index, and Why Does It Matter?
The U.S. Dollar Index measures the value of each U.S. dollar against six major currencies belonging to U.S.’s leading trading nations. This basket of currencies includes (according to their weights in their index):
Euro (EUR) – 57.6% Japanese yen (JPY) – 13.6% Pound sterling (GBP) – 11.9% Canadian dollar (CAD) – 9.1% Swedish krona (SEK) – 4.2% Swiss franc (CHF) – 3.6%
Now, it is important to understand this very clearly. A rising dollar index does not necessarily mean the dollar is strengthening; it could simply also mean that other currencies are weakening, which is lifting the index. Currencies often weaken when the central banks of those countries embark on aggressive monetary easing, directly or indirectly. Lowering interest rates is an indirect way of monetary easing, while helicopter money is a perfect example of direct capital infusion.
Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Nu Skin Enterprises Inc.(NUS)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Scott Rubin]
Stock gainers included Mercadolibre Inc (NASDAQ: MELI), up almost 14 percent, and Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: NUS), which added 12 percent. The positive gains in both stocks were due to strong earnings reports. Shares of Liberty Interactive Group (NASDAQ: QVCA) plunged almost 22 percent on Friday due to disappointing sales growth in its fiscal second quarter. Pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE: BMY) lost 16 percent after a disappointing study involving its Opdivo drug.
- [By Roberto Pedone]
Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) is a direct selling company, which develops and distributes personal care products and nutritional supplements that are sold under the Nu Skin and Pharmanex brands. This stock closed up 5.4% at $92.96 in Monday’s trading session.
Monday’s Volume: 2 million
Three-Month Average Volume: 900,802
Volume % Change: 85%
From a technical perspective, NUS ripped higher here right above some near-term support at $85 with heavy upside volume. This move pushed shares of NUS into breakout and new 52-week-high territory, since the stock took out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $88.20 to $89.69. This move also pushed shares of NUS above the upper-end of its recent range that saw the stock trend between $82 to just above $89.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in NUS as long as it’s trending above support at $85 and then once it sustains a move or close above Monday’s high of $93.33 with volume that this near or above 900,802 shares. If we get that move soon, then NUS will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $100 to $105.
- [By Craig Jones]
Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: NUS) is trading sharply higher on Friday, but options traders are buying puts in the name, said Jon Najarian. Traders were buying the June 50 puts and they paid around 6 percent for them, so they don't see much upside in Nu Skin Enterprises, explained Najarian. He followed the trade and he is planning to hold the position for a month.
Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Talisman Energy Inc.(TLM)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Jayson Derrick]
On the other hand, the analysts are Underweight on Eni SpA (ADR) (NYSE: E), Repsol Oil & Gas Canada Inc (USA) (NYSE: TLM) and OMV AG given their asset bases, which offer an inferior risk to reward profile and limited differentiation in cost reductions.
Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Canadian National Railway Company(CNI)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Brett Hershman]
The Swiss bank said it was raising first-quarter estimates on four of the six rails it covers, with updated estimates above consensus on Canadian National Railway (USA) (NYSE: CNI), CSX Corporation (NASDAQ: CSX) and Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU), which is seen to show upside against low expectations.
- [By Monica Gerson]
Canadian National Railway (USA) (NYSE: CNI) is estimated to post its quarterly earnings at $0.92 per share on revenue of $3.08 billion.
Container Store Group Inc (NYSE: TCS) is expected to post its quarterly earnings at $0.21 per share on revenue of $230.53 million.
Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: ConocoPhillips(COP)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Zacks]
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE: CNQ): Free Stock Analysis Report
Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE: CVE): Free Stock Analysis Report
Bill Barrett Corporation (NYSE: BBG): Free Stock Analysis Report
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research - [By Dustin Parrett]
Specifically, the oil supermajors are ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), BP Plc. (NYSE: BP), Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (NYSE ADR: RDS.A), Conoco Phillips (NYSE: COP), Eni SpA (NYSE ADR: E), and Total SA (NYSE ADR: TOT).
- [By Matthew DiLallo]
Meanwhile, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) also abandoned its leases in the Chukchi Sea earlier this year. It paid $506 million for the 98 leases off Alaska’s northern coast in 2008 and had plans to drill its first exploratory well in 2014 but dropped those ambitions due to regulatory uncertainty. It has also since decided to exit deepwater exploration altogether after drilling a string of dry holes in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Angola, and the Canadian Atlantic, Instead, ConocoPhillips plans to focus its future development efforts on lower-risk onshore shale development.
- [By Benzinga News Desk]
Last year was brutal for hedge fund investors — but you wouldn’t know it from the fund managers’ paychecks: Link
ECONOMIC DATA
The MBA’s index of mortgage application activity for the latest week is schedule for release at 7:00 a.m. ET.
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.
ANALYST RATINGS
Jefferies Upgraded ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) from Hold to Buy
JPMorgan Upgraded Clovis Oncology (NASDAQ: CLVS) From Neutral to Overweight
Morgan Stanley Upgrades TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) From Equal-Weight to Overweight
Macquarie Downgraded Disney (NYSE: DIS) from Outperform to Neutral
Deutsche Bank Downgraded AvalonBay (NYSE: AVB) from Buy to Hold
Wells Fargo Downgrades Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR) From Outperform To Market Perform
This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here or email minutes@benzinga.com.
Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.(CMG)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Peter Graham]
A long term performance chart shows El Pollo LoCo Holdings stabilizing over thepast two yearswhile potentialpeers like large cap Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc (NYSE: CMG) andsmall capsFiesta Restaurant Group Inc (NASDAQ: FRGI) and Chuy’s Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: CHUY)have performed better in the past and appear to be in downtrends for the past 1 1/2 years:
- [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]
In his “Executive Decision” segment, Cramer checked in with Jack Hartung, CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) , which delivered strong quarterly results when the company reported two weeks ago.
- [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]
As for individual stocks, Chipotle Mexican Grill(NYSE:CMG) and iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) both enjoyed market-beating gains as investors reacted to fresh quarterly earnings reports.
- [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]
Sometimes it’s a little subtle. Take Chipotle (CMG) . The numbers looked terrible, but if you had followed the company’s numbers trajectory, you would have realized that the company is seeing the beginning of the turn in business that we’ve been forecasting.
Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Rhino Resource Partners LP(RNO)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Alexis Xydias]
Investors are regaining confidence, squeezing pessimists who say the economy remains sluggish outside of Germany and point to record-low trading volume as a lack of conviction in the Euro Stoxxs 61 percent rally of the past two years. Besides gains in stocks from Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA to Renault SA (RNO), yields on Spanish and Italian bonds have declined to a two-year low compared with German bunds and the euro has strengthened 4.6 percent to $1.35 in the past six months.
Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Wells Fargo & Company(WFC)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Chris Lange]
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) has consensus estimates of$1.00 in EPS and revenue of $22.47 billion. The fourth quarter of last year reportedly EPS of had $1.03 and $21.59 billion in revenue.
- [By John Maxfield]
What’s the deal? The answer is that not all of the bank stocks selected by Warren Buffett for Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio performed equally well this year. One in particular dragged down its returns: Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC).
- [By Jim Cramer]
WELLS FARGO & CO’s earnings per share improvement from the most recent quarter was slightly positive. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, WELLS FARGO & CO increased its bottom line by earning $4.10 versus $3.89 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($4.16 versus $4.10).
- [By Casey Wilson]
It looks like investors are hating the company, too. Shares of CMG are down 23% year to date (YTD).
Most-Hated Companies 2016 No. 4: Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC)
Wells Fargo became the target of nationwide fury in September after it was revealed account executives opened up over 2 million fraudulent accounts without customer consent.
Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Safeway Inc.(SWY)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Peter Graham]
A long term performance chart shows shares of SUPERVALU underperforming the underperformance ofmid caps Whole Foods Market, Inc (NASDAQ: WFM) and Safeway Inc (NYSE: SWY). while large capKroger Co (NYSE: KR)had outperformed up until the last two years when performance has been more mixed:
- [By Peter Graham]
A long term performance chart shows shares of small cap SUPERVALU now underperforming large cap Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) while shares of large cap Whole Foods Market, Inc (NASDAQ: WFM) and mid cap Safeway Inc (NYSE: SWY) appear to be back to where they started at:
Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Credit Suisse Group(CS)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By David Zeiler]
The federal government’s largesse isn’t restricted to U.S.-based companies, either. Foreign companies, including foreign banks, are also welcome. Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE ADR: CS) got $225.1 billion, and UBS Group AG (NYSE: UBS) got $249.1 billion.
- [By Wayne Duggan] Related DB Deutsche Bank In The Tank Mike Khouw Sees Unusual Options Activity In Deutsche Bank 33 Large Banks On The Federal Reserve's Radar In 2016 (Seeking Alpha)
Related CS Earnings Scheduled For February 4, 2016 Blockchain Moves Forward In The Financial Industry Credit Suisse Group AG (CS) Tidjane Thiam on Q4 2015 Results – Earnings Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
The latest credit default swap (CDS) data from BMO Capital Markets indicate a number of investors are growing increasingly concerned about the one-year outlook for capital markets. In a new report, analyst Mark Steele discussed the recent surge in one-year CDS activity, and what it means for the market.
- [By Money Morning News Team]
That’s why Krauth predicts the price of gold will hit $1,400 by the end of the year. Many analysts from banks likeCredit SuisseGroup AG (NYSE ADR: CS) even see gold going as high as $1,500.
- [By Paul R. La Monica]
European banks worse off than 2008? Lamensdorf is concerned about the exposure to bad loans (especially energy company debt) held by big banks such as Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Credit Suisse (CS) and Deutsche Bank (DB). He’s shorting all three.
- [By Diane Alter]
The head underwriters for the ZTO IPO are Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS). Also working on the deal are China Renaissance, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE ADR: CS), and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM).
Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: NRG Energy Inc.(NRG)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Craig Jones]
Pete Najarian said that there was a big options activity in NRG Energy Inc (NYSE: NRG). Traders were aggressively buying the October 26 calls. Around 6,000 contracts were traded in the first half of the session and they were paying 65 cents for them. The trade breaks even at $26.65 or more than 11 percent above the current market price.
- [By Lisa Levin]
In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell 0.25 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included NRG Energy Inc (NYSE: NRG), down 3 percent, and Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) down 1 percent.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
NRG Energy (NRG) has gained 2.1% to $18.49 after getting raise to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Skechers USA (SKX) has tumbled 5.4% to$28.35 after getting cut to Negative from Positive at Susquehanna.
- [By Chris Lange]
The stock posting the largest daily percentage gain in the S&P 500 ahead of the close Thursday was NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) which rose over 5% to $22.20. The stocks 52-week range is $9.84 to $23.36. Volume was over 35 million compared to its average volume of 5.8 million.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
NRG Energy (NRG) soared to the top of the S&P 500 today.
Getty Images
NRG Energygained 4.5% to $12.85 today, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.2% to 2,262.53.
In a note released on Dec. 15, Morgan Stanley’sStephen Byrd and team summarized the reasoning behind their overweight rating on NRG:
NRG Energy (NRG, Overweight, $21 PT) FCF/Equity yield of ~35% and balanced upside from diversified market exposure, higher PJM capacity prices, fleet optimization, and debt reduction. NRG’s generation plus retail matching strategy is an underappreciated source of value, and provides stable cash flow despite current depressed power prices in Texas.
NRG Energy’s market capitalization rose to $4.1 billion today from $3.8 billion yesterday. It reported a net loss of $6.4 billion on sales of $15 billion in 2015.
NRG Energy was the Biggest Loser on Nov. 10, and the Hot Stock on Nov. 4.
- [By Elizabeth Balboa]
Clarity on the GenOn Energy Inc settlement and PJM Interconnection auction led UBS analyst Julien Dumoulin-Smith to upgrade NRG Energy Inc (NYSE: NRG) Thursday to Buy with a $20 price target.
