One of the few good reasons to pay attention to mainstream financial media? If you’re looking to sell what they are buying. Otherwise, you might as well flip a coin on whether a fast trading prognosticator will get it right or get it wrong. That said, it’s nearly impossible to sift through commentary on the web without coming [...] Continue Reading...
My wife texted me a few hours ago. She expressed enthusiasm for the fact that the Dow closed above 13000, exuberantly commenting that the stock market is so “high.” (Exclamation points and smiley faces.) I did not wish to throw hail stones on her proclamation (or maybe I did). Yet the Dow also “achieved” this milestone back in April of [...] Continue Reading...
Emerging Market ETFs, Medical ETFs, Med Devices ETFs, MOil ETFs, Libor Rates and ETFs Click here to listen to the show: 2-26-12 Continue Reading...
Analysts have already lowered 2012 profit estimates for the S&P 500 from the 9% range down to the 6% range. Granted, profits may still be rising. But what could happen to stock prices when profits are climbing at a slower pace? And what happens if the manufacturers who are producing at a slower pace ultimately find themselves shipping less goods? In Dow Theory, [...] Continue Reading...
Only Egypt and Greece spent more government money as a percentage of economic activity (GDP) than the United States in 2011. The U.S. national debt ($15,300,000,000,000) already exceeds the value of all final goods and services produced by Americans each year. And gasoline prices figure to make things even tougher, as the $15 spike in crude oil since [...] Continue Reading...
Stock assets are at a collective crossroads. The reasons to go higher? Federal Reserve determination to force investors as well as corporations out of cash with their zero-percent rates AND a 7%-plus earnings yield (E/P) for the S&P 500. According to Bloomberg, the spread between the earnings yield and the 2% offered by the 10-year Treasury bond is the [...] Continue Reading...
Oil ETFs, Gasoline ETFs, Shore Europe ETFs, Short Euro Debt ETFs, Emerging Consumer ETFs, Volatility ETFs, Hedging and ETFs Click here to listen to the show: 2-19-2012 Continue Reading...
Wireless network operator, China Mobile, is at a 3-month peak. Oil explorer, Cnooc, has reached a seven-month pinnacle. And SPDR S&P China (GXC) is up as much as 38% since hitting perilous depths in October. Is the world’s second largest economy back on the track? Yes and no. While GDP growth estimates of 7% haven’t been this low since [...] Continue Reading...
Could it be that the U.S. economy is actually accelerating? Is it possible that the drama in Greece is nearing a resolution? Well, stock investors seem to think so. The S&P 500 is inching closer to a 52-week high reached last April, while the Dow is approaching a price that we haven’t seen in 4 years. On the flip side, crude [...] Continue Reading...
John Spence at ETF Trends wonders whether or not investors have become too upbeat on stock assets? High levels of confidence have been seen in everything from Apple (AAPL) journeying north of $500 per share to rising emerging market price ratios to increasing levels of bullish investor sentiment. That said, when advisers begin to get giddy, history tends to suggest that [...] Continue Reading...
