Tag Archives: apple

Forget The Apple iPhone SE, The Samsung S7 Is A Big-Screen Hit

Samsung Electronics reported better-than-expected preliminary first-quarter earnings as its latest flagship smartphone proved much more successful than its predecessor, even as  Apple ( AAPL ) is expected to report its first iPhone sales decline ever. The South Korean electronics giant had operating income of 6.6 trillion won ($5.7 billion), far above analyst estimates for about 5.5 trillion won. Revenue was 49 trillion won, up 4% and slightly above estimates. Samsung released its S7 smartphones in March, a month earlier than its S6 line in 2015. Nine million S7 phones were sold in their first month, triple what the S6 did in its first month. The S7 has a better camera and microSD storage support. Samsung also didn’t run into supply shortages of curved-glass screens for the jumbo S7 Edge, unlike last year’s Edge. Due to the S7 and an improved, streamlined phone product lineup overall, the smartphone business was likely the company’s best division in several quarters. Meanwhile chip operating profit likely fell about 15%. A cheaper won vs. the dollar also bolstered results. Meanwhile, the Apple iPhone 6S has not been a blockbuster, despite technical improvements vs. the 6 line. Apple revenue and iPhone unit sales likely fell in the first three months of the year vs. early 2015. Late last month, Apple began selling the iPhone SE, a new 4-inch phone. It fills out Apple’s product line, especially in emerging markets, but it early sales don’t appear to be huge and its margins are likely smaller than the flagship smartphone. Apple rose 1.05% to 110.96 on the stock market today, just below its 200-day line. Apple hasn’t closed above that level since Nov. 4.

3 Mutual Funds To Buy On A Resurgent Chinese Economy

The Chinese economy has been at the root of the broader market malaise since the start of 2016. But, the world’s second largest economy showed signs of improvement in March. China’s factory indicators point to a pickup in the economy supported by greater stability in the yuan and a rise in its stock markets. Pressure on emerging markets including China eased due to the Federal Reserve’s cautious stance to hike rates in the future. Higher rates in the U.S. mostly results in outflows from these markets. China’s service sector also expanded last month, which bodes well for the country’s long-term goal of transforming into a consumer-driven economy. Increase in stimulus measures from Chinese authorities helped the service sector to move north. Given the recovery in manufacturing and services, it will not be unwise to invest in mutual funds that are exposed to the Chinese economy. When you add industrial profits gaining immensely in the first two months of this year and consumer sentiment touching record levels last month, China doesn’t seem to be in a bad proposition. Before we cherry pick some good funds, let’s take a look at the latest data: Manufacturing Expands After eight consecutive months of decline, China’s official manufacturing PMI came in at 50.2 in March. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion. There has also been a marked improvement in production and new orders. The production index went up to 52.3 in March from 50.2 in February, while the new orders index rose to 51.4 from 48.6 in February. A separate indicator, the private Caixin manufacturing PMI, rose to 49.7 in March from 48.0 in February. In spite of being below 50, it turned out to be the index’s highest reading in the past 13 months. Caixin Insight Group Chief Economist He Fan pointed out that “the output and new order categories rose above the neutral 50-point level, indicating that the stimulus policies the government has implemented have begun to take hold.” China-focused funds such as the Oberweis China Opportunities Fund (MUTF: OBCHX ) and the Matthews China Fund (MUTF: MCHFX ) are poised to benefit from this uptick in factory output. These mutual funds have invested in companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE: TSM ), China Mobile Limited (NYSE: CHL ), CNOOC Ltd. (NYSE: CEO ) and Tencent Holdings ( OTCPK:TCEHY ) that are direct beneficiaries of a rise in factory activities. Services Gain Momentum China’s official non-manufacturing PMI rose to 53.8 in March from 52.7 in February. This showed expansion in the service sector, which has become a major source of economic and employment growth in the country. Sub-indices of the non-manufacturing PMI including the new orders index, input price index, and sales price index all improved in March. The non-manufacturing PMI generally includes retail, aviation, technology, telecommunications, financials and construction sectors. Funds such as the AllianzGI China Equity Fund Class A (MUTF: ALQAX ) and the Eaton Vance Greater China Growth Fund Class A (MUTF: EVCGX ) are positioned to immensely benefit as they have significant exposure to the aforementioned sectors. 3 China-Focused Mutual Funds to Invest In Rise in both industrial and service activities in China will surely help its economy to navigate through troubled waters. Moreover, the country’s industrial profits climbed 4.8% to about $119.8 billion in the first two months of this year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Recovery in real estate industry was cited to be the reason behind this increase in industrial profits. NBS analyst He Ping added that the “positive trend was driven in part by quicker product sales of industrial firms and a narrowing in the decline of industrial producer prices.” Consumer sentiment too rose sharply in March. The Westpac MNI China Consumer Sentiment Indicator jumped 6.1% to 118.1 in March, its highest level since Sep. 2015. Banking on this optimism, it will be wise to invest in China focused mutual funds that have gained in the last one-month period. Further, these funds possess strong fundamentals, which will eventually help them continue gaining in the future as well. We have selected three such mutual funds that boast a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy), offer minimum initial investment within $5,000, carry a low expense ratio and have given positive returns in the last four weeks. Matthews China Investor seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing a large portion of its assets in the common and preferred stocks of companies located in China. MCHFX’s 4-week return is 1.9%. Annual expense ratio of 1.14% is lower than the category average of 1.76%. MCHFX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1. AllianzGI China Equity A seeks to achieve its objective by normally investing a major portion of its assets in equity securities of Chinese companies. ALQAX’s 4-week return is almost 7%. Annual expense ratio of 1.70% is lower than the category average of 1.76%. ALQAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #2. Invesco Greater China Y (MUTF: AMCYX ) invests the majority of its assets in equity or equity-related instruments issued by companies located in Greater China and in other instruments that have economic characteristics similar to such securities. AMCYX’s 4-week return is 7.1%. Annual expense ratio of 1.63% is lower than the category average of 1.76%. AMCYX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #2. Original Post Editor’s Note: This article discusses one or more securities that do not trade on a major U.S. exchange. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.

The ETF Monkey Vanguard Core Portfolio: 2016 Q1 Update

This article is an update to the following articles: On July 1, 2015, I wrote an article for Seeking Alpha introducing The ETF Monkey Vanguard Core Portfolio . On January 4, 2016, I wrote the 2015 year-end update for the portfolio. On February 11, 2016, following the severe market decline during the first part of 2016, I wrote a follow-up article that detailed a rebalancing transaction that I executed to bring the portfolio back in line with my target weightings. In this article, I will report on the performance of the portfolio for the quarter ended March 31, 2016. Evaluating the Portfolio: Q1 2016 Here is the corresponding Google Finance page for the portfolio as of the market’s close on 3/31/16. Have a look, and then I will offer a few comments. Click to enlarge First, as a reference point, the S&P 500 index closed at 2,043.94 on December 31, 2015 and 2,059.74 on March 31, 2016, for a gain of .77% for the period. Second, the portfolio received dividends totaling $208.56 during this period, bringing the cash balance in the portfolio to $251.53. This came from the 3 ETFs as follows: Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF ( VTI) – $132.00 Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF ( VEU) – $45.88 Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF ( BND) – $30.68 So how did the portfolio perform? All told, not too badly. The closing value of the portfolio was $49,076.43 as of March 31 vs. $48,348.37 on December 31, for a gain of 1.51%. Therefore, the portfolio outperformed the S&P 500 by .74% over this period. Let’s break down the performance, and reasons, by asset class. Domestic Stocks – During the period, VTI grew from $27,120.60 to 28,825.50, an increase of $1,704.90. Subtracting the $1,382.85 added from the February 11 rebalancing leaves us with a net gain of $322.05. Add in the $132.00 of dividends and VTI gained $454.05 on a base of $27,120.60, a gain of 1.67%. This is a slight outperformance when compared to the S&P 500 index. Foreign Stocks – During the period, VEU grew from $12,588.90 to 13,376.50, an increase of $787.70. However. removing the $761.40 added in the rebalancing transaction leaves us with a net gain of only $26.30. Add in the $45.88 of dividends and VEU gained $72.18 on a base of $12,588.90, a gain of .57%. As compared to the U.S. market, this reflects the continued underperformance of foreign markets. Bonds – During the period, the value of BND declined from $8,076.00 to $6,623.20. However, if we add back the $1,648.20 used in the rebalancing transaction, BND actually increased in value by $195.40. Add in the $30.68 of dividends received and BND gained $226.08 on a base of $8076.00, a fairly stunning increase of 2.80%. This reflected a firming of bond prices as the signs of economic malaise during Q1 appeared to lead the market to conclude that interest rates would remain low for a longer period of time than previously anticipated, including the likelihood of the Fed having to modify it’s goal of raising rates as often in 2016. No Transactions or Rebalancing This Period Here’s how the portfolio stood in terms of its asset allocations at 3/31/16. Click to enlarge As can be seen, due to my February 11 rebalancing and the strong performance of the domestic stock market through March 31, domestic stocks are a little overweight and bonds are underweight. As noted in my rebalancing article, I did this on purpose. I am going to monitor this as time moves forward. My preference will be to increase the bond weighting by using dividends that I will receive moving forward. However, if the weightings get severely out of line, I may have to effect another rebalancing transaction. Summary and Conclusion The portfolio did very well during the quarter, outperforming the S&P 500, my chosen benchmark, by approximately 3/4 of a percentage point. Sadly, it is still down a little over 3% from its inception date of June 30, 2015. As can be seem from the graphic, weakness in foreign stocks is the main culprit, as these entered a very weak period almost immediately following the establishment of the portfolio. Still, it is my belief that a disciplined allocation to foreign stocks will prove beneficial over the long term. Disclosure: I am not a registered investment advisor or broker/dealer. Readers are cautioned that the material contained herein should be used solely for informational purposes, and are encouraged to consult with their financial and/or tax advisor respecting the applicability of this information to their personal circumstances. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Readers are solely responsible for their own investment decisions.