Business

While many US companies, especially those in the Russell 2000, have seen their stocks surge in recent days on renewed hopes that Trump tax reform may pass in the coming months (Goldman assigned a 65% probability of Trump tax passing), the reality is that for a vast majority of US corporations a tax cut to 30% or even 25% will have little marginal impact: after all, while US companies may have some the highest statutory tax rate in the world...

... the effective tax rate of the median S&P 500 company is 12% below the statutory rate, or roughly 27%:

Authored by Vitality Katsenelson via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

We are having a hard time finding high-quality companies at attractive valuations.

In September of 2015, not long after Sweden followed the SNB and ECB in going "full NIRP", we warned that "Sweden Goes Full Krugman, Gets Massive Housing Bubble", in which we first showed the unprecedented surge in Swedish home prices, which have been the one asset class to "benefit" the most from the Riksbank's ultra loose monetary policy hoping to stimulate inflation, even as broader economic inflation failed to materialize.

Authored by Alberto Gallo via Bloomberg.com,

A number of markets show not only elevated valuations, but also irrational investor behavior...

Investors face a conundrum: The world is experiencing a record synchronous growth phase, but an increasing number of assets are becoming overvalued just as fundamental risks lurk in the background. Should investors continue to dance to the tune of central bank stimulus and low volatility, or prepare to exit?

By Kevin Muir via The Macro Tourist blog,

Think back six months. Do you remember all the warnings from the legendary hedge fund managers about the impending stock market doom?