Current Affairs and ETFs

Mar 13

1

Will The ‘Fed Put’ Work On The Next Go-Around?

By Gary Gordon | Current Affairs and ETFs, Dividend ETFs, ETF Strategy, Large Cap ETFs, Popular Posts, Real Estate ETFs, Special Sectors ETFs, US Markets and ETFs | No Comments

The Federal Reserve’s “180-degree turn” has worked swimmingly for borrowers and risk-takers alike. The 10-year yield has dropped from 3.24% to 2.62%. That may encourage households and businesses to lever up with more debt. Meanwhile, stocks are surging upward, reaching for the record heights experienced during the September-October peak. The question investors need to ask themselves now is, “Will the ‘Fed Put’ work on the next go-around? It depends. And it likely depends on whether or not the U.S. is…

Feb 27

1

Fooling Investors For A Third Time

By Gary Gordon | Consumer ETFs, Current Affairs and ETFs, ETF Philosophy, ETF Strategy, US Markets and ETFs | No Comments

After being fooled by dot-com mania at the turn of the century, many stock investors vowed that they would not make the same mistake twice. So they turned to “can’t-lose” real estate. Of course, the housing bubble made fools out of many of the very same fortune-seekers. Today, circumstances are more precarious. It is not stocks or real estate. It is stocks AND real estate. In fact, it is stocks, bonds and real estate – the assets that constitute record household net worth. The…

Feb 20

1

From 50 To Zero: Why Investors Are Shunning International Stocks

By Gary Gordon | Asia ETFs, Bond ETFs, China ETFs, Current Affairs and ETFs, Emerging Market ETFs, ETF Philosophy, ETF Strategy, Europe ETFs, Frontier Market ETFs, Large Cap ETFs, Special Sectors ETFs, US Markets and ETFs | No Comments

Leading into 2008, emerging market stocks and international stocks dominated financial shows. “Talking heads” agreed that investors should allocate as much as 50% overseas for a well-diversified portfolio. The reasoning? One should be aligned with the world’s stock market pie. After all, half of the world’s market capitalization belonged to U.S. stocks and half belonged to stocks from elsewhere around the globe. However, the real reason had little to do with market capitalization. In truth, foreign stocks were dramatically outperforming…

Feb 08

2

The Silencing of the Bears

By Gary Gordon | Bond ETFs, Current Affairs and ETFs, Dividend ETFs, Emerging Market ETFs, ETF Philosophy, ETF Strategy, Global ETFs, Large Cap ETFs, Small Cap ETFs, Special Sectors ETFs, US Markets and ETFs | No Comments

Since 2015, I have been less than enthusiastic about risk assets. And while I do not short the market, nor have I ever been completely divested from equities, investors have been rewarded for “going long.” Nevertheless, a review of the previous four years must note the 22 months of sideways stock movement that preceded the November 2016 election. The assessment must also account for the calendar year losses in 2018, especially for smaller-cap equities and foreign equities. The reason that…

Jan 30

1

Will The Fed’s Capitulation Come Back To Sack Investor Portfolios?

By Gary Gordon | Current Affairs and ETFs, Emerging Market ETFs, Global ETFs, Large Cap ETFs, Popular Posts, Special Sectors ETFs, US Markets and ETFs | No Comments

In December of 2007, I offered readers insight into a predictive model for recessions. Shortly thereafter, in the first week of January (2008), Investor’s Business Daily highlighted my five-point model and its 80% probability of economic contraction. One of the key components of the model is whether or not the future expectations of consumers are falling faster than how they feel about the present economic circumstances. The Conference Board’s Present Situation Index – an assessment of current business and labor…

Jan 23

1

Vive La Résistance? Investor Sentiment May Tell The Tale For Stocks

By Gary Gordon | Current Affairs and ETFs, ETF Philosophy, ETF Strategy, Special Sectors ETFs, Technology ETFs, US Markets and ETFs, Utilities ETFs | No Comments

Have we already witnessed the bursting of a stock balloon? Or, in contrast, have we merely experienced a volatile corrective phase in the continuation of the longest bull market on record? According to research at GMO, the bubble has burst and there is more downside to come. The author of a recent GMO white paper, Martin Tarlie, establishes effervescent particulars in a historical context. Specifically, when valuations become temporarily explosive — 1929, the late 1990s, 2017-18 — they are “averting the mean.”…

Jan 09

1

Let’s Not Kid Ourselves… The Market Will Remain Under Pressure

By Gary Gordon | China ETFs, Consumer ETFs, Current Affairs and ETFs, ETF Philosophy, ETF Strategy, Special Sectors ETFs, US Markets and ETFs | No Comments

High profile market watchers have pointed out that there have only been four times in the last nine decades when back-to-back calendar year stock declines occurred. The years? 1929-1932, 1939-1941, 1973-1974, and 2000-2002. This could be encouraging news for stock enthusiasts were it not for the fact that 1929-1932 and 2000-2002 are included in the list. Valuation levels today have some of the same features that they did leading into the Great Depression and heading into the turn-of-the-century tech bubble….

Dec 12

2

When Banks Get Beat, Who Wins?

By Gary Gordon | Bond ETFs, Current Affairs and ETFs, Dividend ETFs, ETF Philosophy, ETF Strategy, Large Cap ETFs, Special Sectors ETFs, US Markets and ETFs | No Comments

The chair of the Federal Reserve is one of the most powerful human beings on the planet. For one thing, he/she exerts an inordinate amount of influence on the cost of capital. Consumers, businesses and governments make critical decisions based on the attractiveness as well as the ability to borrow money. For another, financial markets hang on both the specific actions as well as the verbal guidance of the Fed chair. Currencies, commodities, bonds, stocks. The movement of each market-based…

Dec 06

2

How Long Before Powell Throws In The Rest Of The Towel?

By Gary Gordon | Bond ETFs, China ETFs, Consumer ETFs, Current Affairs and ETFs, ETF Philosophy, ETF Strategy, Large Cap ETFs, Popular Posts, Real Estate ETFs, Semiconductor ETFs, Special Sectors ETFs, Technology ETFs, US Markets and ETFs | No Comments

It was only a few days ago when the stock market celebrated a Trump-Xi tariff delay. And it was only a few days before that when Federal Reserve Chairman Powell flip-flopped on the extent of rate hiking yet to come. Both of the above-mentioned actualities sent stocks and risk assets soaring higher. And both were expected to serve as tailwinds for a phenomenal December rally. So how did the Dow lose nearly 1600 points in two days, then recover roughly…

Nov 21

3

Should You Buy the S&P 500 Dip Or Sell the S&P 500 Rips?

By Gary Gordon | Consumer ETFs, Current Affairs and ETFs, Dividend ETFs, ETF Philosophy, ETF Strategy, Large Cap ETFs, Popular Posts, Special Sectors ETFs, Technology ETFs, US Markets and ETFs | No Comments

Until recently, the U.S. stock market had been taking Federal Reserve rate hikes and quantitative tightening (QT) in stride. The investment community had come to believe that corporate tax reform would compensate for the gradual removal of ultra-easy interest rate stimulus. Indeed, up through October, rising interest rates had been hurting bonds far more stocks. Corporate credit assets of all sizes and shapes have logged total return losses year-to-date. The last time this happened? 2008. Lately, however, sellers have been overwhelming…