Last week, I wrote a piece on ETFs with remarkably positive trends in relative strength. Specifically, I highlighted 3 successful investments that rarely garner media coverage, yet deserved a bit more of the limelight. (See “Three ETFs With Momentum That You Probably Don’t Know Exist.”) I received a great deal of direct feedback on this particular article. [...] Continue Reading...
There are roughly 1400 exchange-traded vehicles on the U.S. exchanges. And yet, only a small fraction of them (about 5%) can lay claim to $1 billion in assets under management. These 70-75 influencers often explain the direction of stock, bond, currency and commodity markets. In fact, there have been times when a single asset defines the entire investing landscape. For example, PowerShares DB [...] Continue Reading...
The Dow and the S&P 500 may have experienced the worst 2-week losses since November. Still, is it really time to panic? When one considers the reality that the major averages are less than -4% from multi-year highs, abandoning stock assets seems a bit premature. That said, you may want to avoid certain investments. For example, [...] Continue Reading...
U.S. dollar strength has kept a number of commodities range-bound, including gold, silver, copper and agricultural grains. Yet industrial metals tied to economic expansion appear to be gaining strength on signs that China may loosen monetary and fiscal policy, while oil/gasoline continue to surge on Middle East uncertainty. In aggregate, commodity investing has been mildly beneficial in 2012. The iPath DJ UBS [...] Continue Reading...
Renewed fears over Thursday’s deadline for Greece’s debt swap with private bondholders served as the excuse. The truth is… the price of the S&P 500 had lived more than one standard deviation above a 50-day moving average since the last trading day of 2011; stocks were nearly certain to pull back. And it’s not like warning lights [...] Continue Reading...
Month-over-month, most sector investments have provided investors with ample capital appreciation. Country ETFs with ties to technology, energy and infrastructure have all performed admirably. Yet there are a variety of areas of weakness that cannot be disregarded as inconsequential. For instance, in my February commentary on underachievement in the transportation arena, I highlighted the concerns with the Dow Industrials Average [...] Continue Reading...
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...
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...
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...
