CLIENT TALKING POINTS
Down With The KOSPI
Korea's KOSPI index dropped the most in five months as the Bank of Japan stimulus resonates throughout the country. 41% of the KOSPI is tech/industrial that competes head to head w/ Japanese Manufacturers and as the Yen continues to be debauched, the KOSPI continues to slip lower, down another -1.6% overnight.
Bear Oil
When crude oil drops in price, that's bullish for the economy. Americans hate high gas prices and an increase in consumption is a bullish catalyst for growth. Brent Crude oil is down -4.3% year-to-date and it's starting to look a lot like gold did three months ago as the US dollar continues to roar higher. Oil can still come down further from these current prices. Get the dollar right, you'll get oil right.
TOP LONG IDEAS
DRI
Darden stands to be a beneficiary from a housing recovery and an improved employment picture, which boosts casual dining trends. The company's net income declined on its recent earnings report but beat the Street's expectations
FDX
With FedEx Express margins at a 30+ year low and 4-7 percentage points behind competitors, the opportunity for effective cost reductions appears significant. FedEx Ground is using its structural advantages to take market share from UPS. FDX competes in a highly consolidated industry with rational pricing. Both the Ground and Express divisions could be separately worth more than FDX’s current market value, in our view.
HOLX
HOLX remains one of our favorite longer-term fundamental growth companies given growing penetration of its 3D Tomo platform and high leverage to the 2014 Insurance Expansion from the Affordable Care Act.
Asset Allocation
CASH | 18% | US EQUITIES | 30% | |
INTL EQUITIES | 25% | COMMODITIES | 0% | |
FIXED INCOME | 3% | INTL CURRENCIES | 24% |
THREE FOR THE ROAD
TWEET OF THE DAY
"@moorehn Well if recent history teaches us anything, basically no one in America gets how money works." -@KatherineMiller
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." -Dorothy Parker
STAT OF THE DAY
U.S. creates just 88,000 jobs in March; unemployment rate down to 7.6%.