Applied Materials Chirps, b2b Ramps, Yellen Hawks and Gold’s Fundamentals Erode

Applied Materials Chirps, b2b Ramps, Yellen Hawks and Gold’s Fundamentals Erode

Following is the opening segment from the May 29 edition of Notes From the Rabbit Hole, NFTRH 397:

If we are going to highlight improving fundamentals, which we did as gold out performed commodities and stock markets, then we also have to highlight and respect eroding fundamentals; no ifs, ands or buts.

The plain and simple fact is that Applied Materials and the Semiconductor Equipment sector is firming, with the April Book-to-Bill (b2b) joining Applied Materials’ quarterly report noted in NFTRH 396’s opening segment as another bullish [economic] indicator. Semi Equipment was a leader to the general Semi sector in early 2013, which in turn led the economy and job...