Are investors being lulled into a false sense of complacency? They may be. Consider the following: 1. One brief trading day ago, the S&P 500 hit 1039 to set yet another intra-day peak in the 6-month cyclical bull. What’s more, the U.S. markets finished August out by closing less than 1% from a closing high on August 27. Meanwhile, the Claymore BRIC Fund [...] Continue Reading...
With the first quarterly increase in the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index in three years, housing-related ETFs are catching people’s eyes. Meanwhile, on the flip side, China’s overnight 6% thrashing is giving more credibility to the non-believers. (Or at least some may be looking at another BRIC nation for growth.) Housing ETFs, China ETFs, India ETFs as well [...] Continue Reading...
When mainland Chinese stocks drop 5% or more on a given day, world markets take notice. Similarly, when China ETFs or Chinese stock markets fall 20% from their highs, investors start to get nervous. Nevertheless, when it comes to the future’s most dominant economic force, “green shoots” can bloom in any season. During the precarious pullback in [...] Continue Reading...
With the Obama administration trying to push through major health care reform, some may think that the profit potential will “flatline.” However, the iShares DJ Healthcare Index (IYH) has served up a dose of heatlhy returns over the last few weeks. We’re giving healthcare ETFs the “once-over.” What’s more, we’re reading up on silver ETFs and Japan ETFs. Healthcare [...] Continue Reading...
ETF Turnover Higher For U.S. Markets Than Emerging Markets. Click here to listen to the show: 8-30-09 Continue Reading...
The U.S. spent approximately $13,000,000,000,000 so far to re-inflate the domestic economy. That’s not far from the $14 trillion estimate of total economic output for all of 2008. Ouch! Yet stocks have soared on the recession rebound. Bernanke has been reappointed for the Fed Chairman role. And few seem to question why many are so quick to leave ”safer” assets (e.g., value stocks, bonds, [...] Continue Reading...
Dell continued a trend of technology companies surpassing Q2 earnings expectations. Still, if you want a wider range of access to the tech space, ETFs provide a low-cost, transparent and trade-able alternative. We also close the week out with a look at inflation-prtoected securities as well as emerging market considerations. Here is some terrific ETF reading for August 28, 2009: Trade Technology With [...] Continue Reading...
This cyclical bull is seriously winded. Consider: (A) Good news has crossed the newswires all week long… and the markets have shrugged. In fact, they’ve hit a wall at intra-day highs in the S&P 1035 area. (B) The areas most responsible for early bull market gains are reversing course; that is, tech and energy have been the most sluggish. Similarly, resource-related producers [...] Continue Reading...
China, India, Brazil and Russia are not the only emerging market nations that elicit investor intrigue. South Africa has spent enormous sums on the infrastructure for next year’s World Cup, its economy actually creates more products than services and its political evironment has stabilized. Find out why you might want to consider South Africa. Or, check [...] Continue Reading...
The stock market went from bearish fear to abject terror on Monday, September 15, 2008. That’s the day that Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection… the largest filing in U.S. history. Although the markets received an Obama hope rally in November-December, the end-of-the-world scenario played itself out through early March 2009. The 6-month period from [...] Continue Reading...
