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Tuesday December 9, 2014

// December 9th, 2014 // Comments Off on Tuesday December 9, 2014 // Daily News

Jeremy Siegel predicts stock correction in 2015

Longtime stock bull Jeremy Siegel told CNBC on Tuesday that he expects a correction—defined by a 10 percent drop from record highs—in 2015, but advised investors not to wait and try to time the market. Overall, he said, he’s still bullish on stocks.
“We’ve gone so long. I think in 2015 we’ll have our ‘first’ correction,” The Wharton School finance professor said in a “Squawk Box” interview. “People say, ‘Doesn’t that mean I should wait for that?’ The answer is, ‘No,’ because if it’s up 15 percent and then goes down 10 [percent], you’re still better off buying today. You don’t know when that’s going to come.”
Global stocks were under intense pressure Tuesday, after more than 5 percent drop in Chinese equities and an 11 percent plunge in Greece. On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped triple-digits in its worst session since October as oil prices fell sharply in New York trading.
Ahead of Monday’s selloff, James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management, said he’s going “underweight” the U.S. for 2015 after being bullish for years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday had been less than 9 points from the key 18,000 level before trimming some gains to close at 17,958. Siegel has been predicting 18,000 before year-end.
Three weeks ago, he told CNBC that he saw favorable market trends—including the prospect for solid economic growth with low inflation—that could push the Dow past the 20,000 mark by the end of 2015.
The Wharton professor’s optimism last month followed a bit of doubt during the October selloff about whether his prediction of Dow 18,000 by year-end would come to pass.

Today’s Inspiration

Believe in Prayer

by Joyce Meyer – posted December 09, 2014

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
—Philippians 4:6 NLT

How many problems have you solved by worrying? How much time have you spent worrying about things that didn’t end up happening? Has anything ever gotten better as a result of your worrying about it? Of course not!

The instant you begin to worry or feel anxious, give your concern to God in prayer. Release the weight of it and totally trust Him to either show you what to do or take care of it Himself.

Prayer is the blueprint for a successful life. During His time on Earth, Jesus prayed. He entrusted everything to God—even His reputation and life. We can do the same. Don’t complicate your communication with God. Believe in Him and ask Him for what you need through simple, confident prayers.

Power Thought: Worry accomplishes nothing. I trust in the Lord.

Thursday December 4, 2014

// December 4th, 2014 // Comments Off on Thursday December 4, 2014 // Daily News

What the dollar may be saying about Europe

The dollar has been riding high and is looking for another boost Thursday from a dovish European Central Bank.
The greenback made new multiyear highs against the yen and euro Wednesday, ahead of the ECB meeting. The dollar has been rising as U.S. monetary policy diverges from that of Japan and the euro zone. The U.S. economy is also stronger, and that is expected to show up in another 200,000 plus jobs report Friday.
Traders have been anticipating a dovish ECB President Mario Draghi, who holds a briefing after the meeting.
“The gist of it is I think Draghi will leave the door wide open for sovereign QE in the first quarter,” said Alan Ruskin, head of G-10 foreign exchange strategy at Deutsche Bank. “I think you’ve heard a number of comments from ECB officials suggesting December is too early, and they want to let some of their past decisions work their way through.”
The ECB has embarked on asset purchases as the Fed ended its quantitative easing bond buying, or QE, in October. The ECB is now expected to expand its asset buying with a program to buy sovereign debt. The dollar index, at 89.005 was at the highest level since March, 2009 and the dollar was at a seven-year high against the yen.
“There’s this kind of fear that the dollar’s traded very, very well going into this meeting, and that maybe there’s some expectation he will deliver more than he actually will,” said Ruskin. He said even though Draghi is expected to be dovish, if nothing more is announced there’s a chance the dollar could selloff.
“The dollar will be bought on the dips,” he said. The euro was trading at 1.23 late Wednesday, the lowest level since August, 2012.
The dollar is also being helped by comments from Fed officials this week, including New York Fed President William Dudley who said the Fed could start to raise rates midyear.

Today’s Inspiration

All Things Work for Good

by Joyce Meyer – posted December 04, 2014

We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.
—Romans 8:28

After John 3:16, Romans 8:28 is probably the most quoted Bible verse among Christians. Paul’s words bring comfort and peace to many of us in our difficulties and hardships. They give us hope that no matter what hurts and disappointments come in our lives, everything will eventually work out for our good.

The two verses preceding Romans 8:28 talk about prayer. They say that when we don’t know how to pray as we ought to, the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and prays through us. It is through these Holy Spirit-filled prayers that all things work together for good, no matter what they are. Not all things that happen to us are good in and of themselves, but God is good and He can cause them to work toward our good if we trust Him.

Continuing to trust God is the key to victory in painful and seemingly unjust situations. Faith and prayer move the hand of God. If we continue believing, He promises to continue moving in our behalf to work everything out for good. God makes this promise to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. We must love God with all of our hearts, and we must want His will. We must be willing to submit to His plan at all times.

The plan that God has for us eventually changes us into His image. We are destined to be molded into His image. That may sound spiritual, but in reality, it usually hurts. I often think of clay being pressed into a mold, and wonder how the clay would feel if it had feelings. Being changed into an entirely different shape would probably be painful. If we take a lump of clay and press it into a mold, there is always too much clay to fit, and some pieces must be discarded. I found that there was more of me than would fit into the mold of Jesus Christ, so many of my thoughts, words, and actions had to be discarded.

We must go through things that are difficult and learn how to respond to them the way Jesus would. We must not give way to the fearful thoughts and feelings that attack us. We must learn to remain steadfast, knowing that no matter how things appear now, God will work them out for our good, ¬and in the process, He will use them to make us better people.

God’s purpose in everything that happens is to make us more like Jesus Christ. Jesus was the totally obedient one. Although He was a Son, He learned [active, special] obedience through what He suffered (Hebrews 5:8).

We also learn through what we suffer. We learn from God’s Word and life’s experiences. Because of our sinful nature, we tend to fight God at every point, but this only makes the process longer and more painful. Learn to surrender quickly, and save yourself a lot of agony. I’ve learned that God gets His way in the end, so why prolong the process?

Where the mind goes the man follows. Keep your mind going in the right direction, and your life will catch up with it. A person who has their faith firmly planted in God cannot be defeated. The Bible says that Joseph’s brothers hated him, but God was with him. God gave him favor and promoted him, so we see that his faith in God lifted him above his circumstances.

Some terrible things happened to Joseph. His brothers sold him to slave traders and told his father a wild animal had killed him. He was betrayed by those whom he served and tried to help, but God was watching him all the time. God had a good plan for Joseph, and it came to pass. He ultimately said that although the things that happened to him were originally meant for harm, God intended it for good.

This same thing is true for all of us. Satan cannot defeat us if we keep believing that God is working for our good, and that we are being continually transformed into His image.

All wise and loving God, make me more like Jesus. I don’t like to suffer, and I hate to fail, but through Jesus Christ, I ask You to teach me and enable me to understand that, because of You, everything truly works together for my good. Amen.