Many folks are “banking” on a year-end rally. The catalyst? The European Union (EU) will come up with a massive recapitalization (a.k.a. bailout) of their financial institutions. In theory, if we no longer need to fret the collapse of the EU — the solvency of member nations, the functionality of its banks, etc. – investors should be able to return to corporate earnings. And most should like [...] Continue Reading...
There are 4 exchange-traded vehicles with sufficient volume that a master limited partnership (MLP) enthusiast should consider. More specifically, for those investors who do not wish to pick individual securities, there are several diversified MLP products offering the possibility of capital appreciation and the certainty of a solid income stream. First, a quick primer on energy pipeline partnerships. Energy MLPs typically own the [...] Continue Reading...
Since 7/25/2011, market participants have been dealing with extraordinary volatility. In fact, for the past 11 weeks, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) hadn’t closed below a 50-day moving average. Until now, that is. On 10/10/2011, the current price of the VIX closed below a key trendline. In a similar vein, the S&P 500 hadn’t closed above a 50-day MA since 7/27/2011. [...] Continue Reading...
The number “88″ means a lot of different things to different people around the world. For some, it expresses the notion that the universe is both infinitely large and infinitely small. Others see it as a message of eternal love. Meanwhile, Chinese culture recognizes “8″ as its luckiest number, with “88″ symbolizing even greater fortunes. However, 8/8 is a rather dismal date for the [...] Continue Reading...
Forget the idea that the economy will contract in upcoming quarters… at least for a moment. And put aside the idea that housing prices have yet to bottom out. Instead, let’s focus entirely on the price movement of a premier benchmark in this year’s stock market correction. Specifically, U.S. stocks in the S&P 500 fell from a May 2 intra-day [...] Continue Reading...
How many articles are going to emphasize how bad the month of August treated investors? The fact that U.S. stocks in the S&P 500 shed -5.7% speaks for itself. On the other hand, the reality that August had been down as much -13.3% eight trading days earlier is far more telling. Ironically, you still read how the U.S. credit downgrade [...] Continue Reading...
For four consecutive days, the Dow Jones Industrials rose or fell 400 points or more. In fact, that’s never happened before in the history of the U.S. market. Does it matter? (No, seriously. What can one glean from this historical factoid?) Well, we can take note that new records are not all that surprising… not when the trading [...] Continue Reading...
Short-sellers and program traders are in charge… for now. Going into Wednesday’s (8/3/11) session, PowerShares QQQ (QQQ) sat directly atop its 200-day moving average. After falling below the key trendline early, QQQ springboarded to finish with a 1% gain. Or consider the S&P 500 SPDR Trust (SPY). It fell precisely -10% from its April 29 intra-day high to its August 3 [...] Continue Reading...
Just three trading sessions ago, PowerShares NASDAQ 100 (QQQ) hit a multi-year high. So did iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Growth (JKE). It’s not that the markets were ignoring the debt deadlock. SPDR Gold (GLD) and CurrencyShares Swiss Franc (FXF) were registering records as well. It’s the fact that summertime traders were taking a barbell approach to risk allocation, loading up [...] Continue Reading...
At the start of the week, analysts were wondering whether or not stocks could “hold the line.” Specifically, the bulls were simply hoping that the current price on the S&P 500 would stay above its 200-day moving average. However, the S&P 500 had little trouble holding the 1263 level. In fact, by Thursday, June 30, the U.S. stock [...] Continue Reading...
