Developed markets have been weighing the perceived positives in Greek exit polls against the perceived negatives in Spanish bank bailouts. In contrast, emerging markets seem less concerned with the European drama; the “emergers” are focused squarely upon China.
Need proof? Consider the post-holiday headlines for Tuesday, May 29. The euro slid to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in more than two years. A prominent [...] Continue Reading...
There are a variety of ways to interpret stock market volatility. A rising CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) often typifies greater fear on the part of “options” investors such that they require protection against a monstrous sell-off. A widening of the daily trading range on a popular benchmark may also be indicative of explosive moves to the downside or upside. Moreover, upward revisions to the [...] Continue Reading...
There are roughly 1400 exchange-traded vehicles on the U.S. exchanges. And yet, only a small fraction of them (about 5%)Â 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...
Back in 2009, a flood of easy money worldwide sparked super-sized gains for the emerging markets… more so than their developed world counterparts. Granted, stock assets for industrialized and developing regions were both remarkable. Yet the best investment profits involved commodities, materials and rapid-fire economies with the most “stuff.”
By mid-2010, the industrializing world found itself tightening fiscal and monetary policies to curtail runaway [...] Continue Reading...
In the 5-year bull market from 10/2002 through 9/2007, large-cap indexes typically carried price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios ranging from 17-18. Perma-bears harped on these “valuations” throughout the period, expressing that major benchmarks had not reverted back to a historical average of 15.
With the real estate lending bubble bursting in dramatic fashion, stock assets plummeted 40%. Separately, the P/E price tag for the S&P [...] Continue Reading...
Foreign bonds have always been one of my favorite areas for genuine diversification. Historically speaking, foreign bonds do not correlate negatively or positively with stocks.
Until recently, however, ETF investors had slim pickings. You had vehicles such as SPDR DB International Gov’t Inflation Protected (WIP) as well as SPDR Barclays International Treasury (BWX). Yet WIP and BWX experienced enormous difficulties during [...] Continue Reading...
Last October, enthusiasm for Brazil had reached epic proportions. And why not? Not only had the iShares MSCI Brazil Fund (EWZ) risen 175% off its November 2008 lows, but the country constitutes one of the essential building blocks in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, China, India) fortress.
Indeed, the country boasts the world’s 7th largest economy, a consumption-oriented middle [...] Continue Reading...
With a variety of benchmark ETFs hitting multi-year highs on 7/7/11 – Powershares Nasdaq 100 (QQQ), iShares Russell 2000 (IWM), iShares DJ Transports (IYT) — investors have placed the May-June swoon in their rear view. What’s more, economically sensitive sectors like tech and consumer discretionary are leading the charge. In fact, some analysts believe that the momentum in cyclicals is a clear sign that the [...] Continue Reading...
Even the bulls have been hedging their commentary lately. For example, Blackrock’s Bob Doll frequently points to accommodative monetary policy, strong corporate results and an increasingly self-sustaining economy as reasons for stocks to grind higher. More recently, though, the chief equity strategist acknowledged economic malaise by philosophizing, “A significant acceleration or deceleration in the pace of jobs growth has [...] Continue Reading...
