FactSet

The profit growth of S&P 500 companies continues to be buoyant and is one of the factors responsible for the current bull market. Early indications suggest the momentum is set to continue. With the first-quarter reporting season around the corner, here's a look at how the season is likely...

The fourth-quarter earnings season is imminent, and to capitalize on corporate financial results, knowing when sectors and companies report is key.  Around the earnings season, the chatter surrounds whether the company hits, misses or exceeds expectations. This invariably triggers at least a...

Fourth-quarter earnings season kicks off on Friday, and traders will be treated to the usual avalanche of earnings updates from financial services firms early in the reporting cycle. Short-term events such as earnings reports are the ideal occasions for leveraged exchange-traded funds. That...

The Technology Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLK) and other technology exchange-traded funds have recently slumped. A big reason why is an obvious sector rotation out of technology into financial services and other groups seen as beneficiaries of the Trump Administration's tax reform effort....

The herd mentality of piling into asset classes favored by the large majority of investors is the rationale behind crowded trades. By definition, a crowded trade is an asset class or investment theme that has attracted an unusually large number of market participants. Among the traits associated...

The second-quarter reporting season has wound down, with all companies part of the S&P 500 having already reported their calendar year second-quarter results. About 73 percent of the S&P 500 companies have reported positive earnings surprise and about 70 percent rang in sales beats,...

Dow components Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX), the two largest U.S. oil companies, deliver second-quarter earnings results Friday. Earnings updates from the two titans of the U.S. oil industry are often thought to be important for energy exchange-traded...

The second-quarter reporting season is upon us. Overall, expectations concerning the quarter are upbeat. Financials, being early reporters, will be prevalent Friday, with a slew of earnings scheduled to report throughout the day. Q2 Reporting Season: A Preview Factset expects the blended earnings...

The first-quarter reporting season is done and dusted. And the tidings were mostly positive, evident from the strong run up in the major averages since the commencement of the first quarter reporting season, which is generally early-to-mid April. Market Warms To Reporting Season Since April 10,...

The financial space, which capitalized on President Donald Trump's election, banking on his promise of deregulation, has had a lukewarm first quarter. The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLF) is up merely 0.9 percent compared to a 5.29 percent advance by the S&P 500. However, since...

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is set to report its second-quarter financial results Wednesday amid low expectations from the Street. Wunderlich, which has a Hold rating on the stock, sees in-line results for the period, during which the service provider volumes faced tough comparisons. Analyst...

Last year was something of a tepid year on the share buyback front. S&P 500 member firms repurchased $115.6 billion of their own shares in the third quarter, a 28 percent year-over-year decrease and good for the second consecutive quarterly decline, according to FactSet. PKW And Buybacks That...

Last year, the value factor snapped its skid against its growth counterpart in significant fashion, but some growth exchange-traded funds were still able to accumulate new assets. “Large-cap growth mutual funds had $56 billion of net outflows in 2016 with four portfolios shedding $3 billion...

Thanks in large part to massive inflows to fixed income funds, the global exchange-traded funds industry reached another assets under management record at the end of May with $3.143 trillion in combined AUM. The U.S. ETF market, the largest in the world, also hit a record with a $2.229 trillion in...

The PowerShares Buyback Achievers Fund (ETF) (NYSE: PKW) will turn 10 in December, but PKW is not just one of the oldest exchange-traded funds dedicated to companies spending oodles of cash on repurchasing their own shares. PKW is also the king of the group with $1.62 billion in assets under...