Leading Independent Investment Research, Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar

Leading Independent Investment Research

Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. We offer an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. 

Morningstar provides data on more than 500,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 16 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $180 billion in assets under advisement or management as of June 30, 2015. We have operations in 27 countries.

Download the Morningstar Fact Sheet : http://corporate.morningstar.com/US/documents/MarketingFactSheets/AboutMorningstarFactsheet.pdf

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul><li class="p1">Based on the early read we've had of the buying and selling activity of our top managers during the fourth quarter, it appears that the ongoing trend of high-conviction purchases of firms with wide economic moats continued during the most recent period.</li><li class="p1">Even so, four of the top 10 high-conviction purchases—non-rated Ally Financial (ALLY) and wide-moat Microsoft (MSFT), VF Corp. (VFC), and Stryker (SYK)—made during the fourth quarter were also new-money buys for our top managers.</li><li class="p1">And much as we've seen during past periods, there were a fair number of outright sales in the quarter—most of which was driven by valuation as opposed to changes in opinion.</li></ul><p><em>Analysts: Greggory Warren &amp; Eric Compton</em></p>

Based on the early read we've had of the buying and selling activity of our top managers during the fourth quarter, it appears that the ongoing trend of high-conviction purchases of firms with wide economic moats continued during the most recent period.Even so, four of the top 10 high-conviction purchases—non-rated Ally Financial (ALLY) and wide-moat Microsoft (MSFT), VF Corp. (VFC), and Stryker (SYK)—made during the fourth quarter were also new-money buys for our top managers.And much as we've seen during past periods, there were a fair number of outright sales in the quarter—most of which was driven by valuation as opposed to changes in opinion.Analysts: Greggory Warren &amp; Eric Compton

Our Ultimate Stock-Pickers Top 10 High-Conviction Purchases

FX Strategist

Greg Gibbs

Fundamental analysis of topical themes in FX

Amplifying Global FX Capital

Amplifying Global FX Capital was founded in 2015 and is fully owned by Greg Gibbs. It is a registered company both in Australia and Colorado, USA and is a licensed in Australia to provide financial services.

We are producing a regular trading view orientated macroeconomic analysis of topical themes in global financial markets, with a particular focus on foreign exchange. We invite you to view an “executive summary” of these reports in “AmpGFX Reports” under our “Research” menu.

These reports are drawn from the analysis of Greg Gibbs and inform the capital management he undertakes on behalf of the company. The trading performance is posted periodically on our website. We aim to build our company into both a research and capital management business. We are currently in the planning phase for managing capital for wholesale customers.

Greg Gibbs has spent his working life of more than 26 years in financial markets, beginning in 1989 at the Reserve Bank of Australia, after completing a Bachelor of Economics Degree (Honours) at the Australian National University. He has been a CFA Charterholder since 2005. He has worked in Sydney, Singapore, New York and London for major global banks and presented on foreign exchange markets to major financial institutions and companies around the world, and maintained a high profile in the financial media.

Before Amplifying Global FX Capital, Greg was the Head of Asia Pacific Market Strategy at the Royal Bank of Scotland based Singapore. He now resides in Breckenridge Colorado.

Macroeconomics

<p>All major equities are again below the lows in 2015 after a dead-cat bounce sending another body-blow to global investor confidence.  Bottom fishers will be tentative and choppy bearish markets are likely to persist.  Financials (led by Europe) are leading the falls in equities; regulatory pressure implemented in the wake of the global and Eurozone financial crises and litigation and compliance costs since the LIBOR and FX fixing scandals are coming home to roost and creating an echo of the financial stress that undermined global economic confidence in the crises of the last decade.  EUR is whippy as investors cope with Euro-centric financial sector stress, but this is only likely to embolden the ECB to adopt more aggressive policy easing measures.  It is possible they emulate the BoJ and adopt a tiered cash rate policy resplendent with a much lower more negative marginal cash rate.  The outcome would be much lower yields across the EUR curve and a weaker EUR (we much prefer to sell EUR against Gold; as discussed in our previous two reports). Australia has proven resilient to global economic and financial stress, but its banks are being infected by global pressures, and we see a significant risk that RBA scope to cut rates turns into an obligation before long.  We see a fallback in the AUD (again we prefer to sell against gold).</p>

All major equities are again below the lows in 2015 after a dead-cat bounce sending another body-blow to global investor confidence.  Bottom fishers will be tentative and choppy bearish markets are likely to persist.  Financials (led by Europe) are leading the falls in equities; regulatory pressure implemented in the wake of the global and Eurozone financial crises and litigation and compliance costs since the LIBOR and FX fixing scandals are coming home to roost and creating an echo of the financial stress that undermined global economic confidence in the crises of the last decade.  EUR is whippy as investors cope with Euro-centric financial sector stress, but this is only likely to embolden the ECB to adopt more aggressive policy easing measures.  It is possible they emulate the BoJ and adopt a tiered cash rate policy resplendent with a much lower more negative marginal cash rate.  The outcome would be much lower yields across the EUR curve and a weaker EUR (we much prefer to sell EUR against Gold; as discussed in our previous two reports). Australia has proven resilient to global economic and financial stress, but its banks are being infected by global pressures, and we see a significant risk that RBA scope to cut rates turns into an obligation before long.  We see a fallback in the AUD (again we prefer to sell against gold).

AmpGFX - Dead-Cats and Body Blows, Financial Crisis Echo, RBA Scope to Become Obligation

<p>We've taken a close look at banks' energy exposures and potential losses, and see both good news and bad news for investors.</p><p>First, the good news--for most banks, we think the losses will be manageable. And now the bad news-- nearly all banks are under-reserved and several could be facing capital shortfalls in a worst-case scenario.</p><p><em>Analyst: Erin Davis</em></p>

We've taken a close look at banks' energy exposures and potential losses, and see both good news and bad news for investors.First, the good news--for most banks, we think the losses will be manageable. And now the bad news-- nearly all banks are under-reserved and several could be facing capital shortfalls in a worst-case scenario.Analyst: Erin Davis

Banks Look Under-Reserved for Energy Losses

Chart based progressive global trading strategies, Chart Partners

Thomas Schroeder

Chart based progressive global trading strategies

Chart Partners

Chart Partners objective is to discover medium-term cycle turns and profit opportunities before they unfold, within structural trends while preserving capital with clear degrees of risk. We have real return ideas. 

Markets are dynamic and trading systems must reflect this. It is crucial to determine underlying correlations and lead-lag relationships within global markets and the impact on linked instruments. Our weekly Chartonics product gives you short-term trading strategies that can be applied within the medium and longer term macro trends that are mapped out in our strategy updates. 

Our methodology fuses global market variables and isolates drivers in trends. We specialize in FX, index trade in NY and Asia with a focus on Asian stocks. 

Technical Analysis

<div>
<strong>Our S&amp;P buy limit at 1,875 was spot on per our dip/rally call, and we are seeing gains back to the touted 1,910-20 area where we are exiting this ST long</strong> ahead of the NFP Friday. A weak NFP number would boost the S&amp;P marginally into ideal short territory at 1,938 with risk to 1,950. Weaker sector links still look ugly with a focus on shorting small caps and financials. Our macro bear view stands - Short this rally for a slide to 1,720 and ultimately 1,620 by the summer.</div><div>Much like the BOJ induced…</div>


Our S&amp;P buy limit at 1,875 was spot on per our dip/rally call, and we are seeing gains back to the touted 1,910-20 area where we are exiting this ST long ahead of the NFP Friday. A weak NFP number would boost the S&amp;P marginally into ideal short territory at 1,938 with risk to 1,950. Weaker sector links still look ugly with a focus on shorting small caps and financials. Our macro bear view stands - Short this rally for a slide to 1,720 and ultimately 1,620 by the summer.Much like the BOJ induced…

<p>Our sell out of Asian longs yesterday was timely. S&amp;P top is in place at 1,940 (futures) after hitting our base case level of 1,938 with risk to 1,950. We failed to short the S&amp;P but now calibrating levels on a bounce to short financials, small caps and the S&amp;P. The fact that we broke below 1,910 implies a top is in place. Weak sector links telegraphing further weakness. Our macro bear targets remains at S&amp;P 1,720 (tactical rise) and then 1,620.</p><div>S&amp;P 1,875 is a level to stage a recovery back to…</div>

Our sell out of Asian longs yesterday was timely. S&amp;P top is in place at 1,940 (futures) after hitting our base case level of 1,938 with risk to 1,950. We failed to short the S&amp;P but now calibrating levels on a bounce to short financials, small caps and the S&amp;P. The fact that we broke below 1,910 implies a top is in place. Weak sector links telegraphing further weakness. Our macro bear targets remains at S&amp;P 1,720 (tactical rise) and then 1,620.S&amp;P 1,875 is a level to stage a recovery back to…

United States

U.S. Bancorp is a diversified financial services company that provides lending and depository services, cash management, foreign exchange and trust and investment management services.  The Company also provides credit card services, mortgage banking, insurance, brokerage, and leasing.  U.S Bancorp operates in the Midwest and Western United States.

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US Bancorp (USB US)

Our Ultimate Stock-Pickers Top 10 High-Conviction Purchases

Based on the early read we've had of the buying and selling activity of our top managers during the fourth quarter, it appears that the ongoing...

Morningstar, Inc.

AmpGFX - Dead-Cats and Body Blows, Financial Crisis Echo, RBA Scope to Become Obligation

All major equities are again below the lows in 2015 after a dead-cat bounce sending another body-blow to global investor confidence. Bottom...

Greg Gibbs

Banks Look Under-Reserved for Energy Losses

We've taken a close look at banks' energy exposures and potential losses, and see both good news and bad news for investors.First, the good...

Morningstar, Inc.

S&P Cap, DXY in Line, WTI and Copper

Our S&P buy limit at 1,875 was spot on per our dip/rally call, and we are seeing gains back to the touted 1,910-20 area where we are exiting...

Thomas Schroeder

Increasing Shorts on Strength

Our sell out of Asian longs yesterday was timely. S&P top is in place at 1,940 (futures) after hitting our base case level of 1,938 with risk...

Thomas Schroeder

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