The 10-year treasury yield is back below 2%. The U.S. Dollar is surging as a safe haven currency. And U.S. stocks in the S&P 500 have dropped nearly -5% from recent highs. In spite of the “risk-off” indications, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) has been showing lower levels of implied volatility. How can that be? In his commentary below, Bill Luby [...] [...more]
The folks at Bespoke Research documented calendar-year performance (through 10/14/2011) for the stock markets of 78 countries. As traumatizing as U.S. equity investing has been, S&P 500 investors have fared far better than any of the G7 nations. Canada was off -10%, while Japan and France were down -14% and -15% respectively. Was it any better for the [...] [...more]
The proverbial “Wall of Worry” has helped stocks recover of July lows. Perhaps ironically, summertime skepticism has given way to wintertime optimism in the form of a December market “melt up.” But have stocks gotten ahead of themselves? Are investors becomnig complacent? If you’re going to move against this bullish herd, you could look to short individual companies or sectors [...] [...more]
While worldwide equity markets began 2010 with a bang, European debt woes and U.S. economic stagnation caused the investing public to downshift. Still, a number of emerging countries have been juicing their returns since May; moreover, their year-to-date gains are positively phenomenonal. Malaysia, Thailand and Chile provide 3 good reasons to come out of the bear cave. Are there other surprises in the YTD [...] [...more]
According to Investor’s Business Daily, countries like Malaysia, Columbia and Thailand have been percentage leader in world market performance. Can industrial demand in these Emerging Country ETFs foster bigger and better gains than hallmark emerging funds like Claymore BRIC (EEB)? Will the magnificent growth story in the developing world change the pervasive pessimism that has battered the developed markets? Five Country [...] [...more]
Jermey Siegel, author of the financial classic, “Stocks For The Long Run,” explains that the current economic expansion is strong enough to continue without government stimulus. If the good professor is correct, which sectors may surge the fastest… those that have been trending higher or those that have been shaken by uncertainty in the worst May since 1962? Why Jeremy Siegel is Bullish on [...] [...more]
There’s been a great many changes since the S&P 500’s closing low on 3/9/2009. Appetite for Stock ETFs has increased dramatically. What’s more, emerging market and frontier market investing has caught the attention of investors. And yet, as sovereign debt default concerns in Greece has shown us, fear of the unknown can cause a collective unease. In fact, focus can shift from recovery to [...] [...more]
European ETFs and their respective Currency ETFs have been getting squashed. Nobody seems to want to invest in Greece, Spain or Italy. Many believed that the U.S. represented a brighter spot. Yet the news… oh boy! Sales of new and existing homes have plunged. Consumer confidence sank. And jobless claims rose dramatically. - Is another recession around the corner? Is [...] [...more]
In years past, some investors looked to overseas market for more aggressive returns. Yet many discovered that the risks didn’t seem to match up well with the reward. In the past decade, however, investing abroad has paid off. And while some Foreign ETFs still fall further in corrections and bears, they also rise more sharply when gains start anew. On Tuesday, February 23, [...] [...more]
Buffett’s acquisition of Burlington Northern may be an early indicator of positive economic growth to come. After all, if we are truly heading out of recession, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) will rise dramatically. Yet right now, most corporations are still hoarding their cash. So how do we know if an M&A rebound is in the works? And what ETF might prosper if it is? Here [...] [...more]
