This is an excerpt from our latest video, Investing Trends in 2020 and Where to Invest with Lynn Dolan at ETFguide and Dave Mazza at Direxion Investments. Lynn: As we head into a new decade, the market is already taking shape and new investment themes and trends are starting to take shape. Here to discuss …
“It’s wise to remember that too much success in the stock market is in itself an excellent warning,” once quipped Gerald Loeb. After nine consecutive yearly gains, it’s fair to say that our generation has enjoyed more than its fair share of stock market success. But someday very soon, a stock market correction will happen. …
The total U.S. stock market has gained over 20% during the past year and is doing great. But for U.S. investors that are under-weighted to foreign stocks, it’s not so great. Why? Because foreign stocks have convincingly outperformed U.S. equities, thereby causing a performance deficit. What’s the problem? The tendency of investors to concentrate and …
If you asked a thousand different people about the key factors that should drive their investment choices, you’re bound to get a thousand different answers. Some, for example, might be inclined to argue that U.S. stocks (NYSEARCA:SCHB) have increased for eight consecutive years and there’s no reason to make any portfolio changes because stock prices …
Never mind the abysmal results of first quarter earnings for the depressed energy sector. It doesn’t matter. And never mind the conventional wisdom of group-think and scary analyst warnings like, “Energy stocks are in deep trouble because Q1 losses will mark the first time any sector in the S&P 500 has reported an aggregate loss since …
Contrarian investing takes gumption. Not only are you buying assets that are hated by most investors, but you’re doing it at prices that are depressed. It’s a scary proposition for many people and because it requires such nerves of steel, most don’t do it. Add it to the checklist of reasons why contrarian investing – whether it’s done as a long-term investment or short-term …
Stocks in the solar and alternative energy space are getting crushed. Will it lead to a liquidity crunch? Since the beginning of the year, the Guggenheim Solar ETF (NYSEARCA:TAN) has lost a stunning 21.80% in value compared to a +0.20% gain for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY). And while a 21.8% loss is most …
Is a Liquidity Crunch in the Solar Sector Ahead? Read More »
The highly publicized cyber-attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment in November 2014 is the type of greatly feared computerized catastrophe that all individuals and institutions face. Although a personal cyber attack can be overwhelming, attacks at the corporate or government level can have dire consequences. In addition to financial losses, cyber attacks have the ability to shut down or manipulate …
Cyber Security: An Emerging Sector within Technology Read More »
Is consumer credit quality deteriorating? TransUnion reports: “While delinquency levels for subprime borrowers have grown from 4.2% in Q3 2012 to 4.5% in Q3 2013 to 5.3% in Q3 2014, the contribution of this segment to the overall delinquency rate has been muted because their share has remained between 14% and 15% during this timeframe. …
Do Rising Auto Delinquencies Spell Trouble Ahead? Read More »
At the beginning of the year, the yield on 10-Year U.S. Treasuries was just shy of 3% and appeared ready for takeoff into the stratosphere. Alas, the long-awaited period of runaway interest rates had arrived! The something weird happened. U.S. Treasury yields (ChicagoOptions:^TNX)– like a schizophrenic mad scientist straight out of the movies – suddenly …
Don’t Let the ‘Great Yield Slide’ Punch You in the Nose Read More »
The latest episode of stock market cheating by high-frequency traders (HFT) has set in, yet unanswered questions remain. Do regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) encourage market manipulation? Manipulation refers to the dishonest activity by individuals or institutions who try to game the price of a stock (NYSEARCA:IVV) or a certain market for their …
The pace of U.S. merger and acquisition (M&A) activity has erupted. Bankers and lawyers love it because it gives them work. And investors of the targeted companies love it so long as the buyout premium hovers between juicy and ridiculous. What does the velocity of M&A deals tell us about the state of the stock market? During the …
Russia is in deep trouble. Never mind that it’s on the brink of full-blown war with Ukraine. International sanctions were just imposed against 17 companies with close ties to President Vladmir Putin, and even more severe penalties are in the works. A poll of economists by a large media enterprise* found that Russia faces a …
What Would Baron Rothschild Say about Russian Stocks? Read More »
“Stocks are cheap by historical standards” is the latest fiction being promoted by valuation geeks. Is it true? Meb Faber, proprietor of the Cambria Global Value ETF (NYSEARCA:GVAL), and a valuation guru tweeted the 5-year CAPE ratio for the usually frothy technology sector (NYSEARCA:XLK) is just 22 today compared to an elevated 96 at the height …
Stock Prices Are Cheap! Valuation Geeks Get it Wrong Again Read More »
A credit bubble (China), inflation (Brazil), and the threat of war (Russia) have made BRICs a dangerous place to invest. Is the worst over? “BRIC” is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, and China that was introduced in 2001. Enthusiasm for investing in stocks from BRIC nations rose in the mid-2000s as mega-emerging markets outperformed …
Note to the reader: “High-frequency trading” also known as “HFT” is done by firms established for sole purpose of gaining an unfair advantage over other stock market participants. Please keep that in mind as you read on. Why has the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) failed to abolish HFT? Wasn’t the 60 Minutes report about …
43 Questions for Regulators about High-Frequency Trading Read More »
Was the S&P 500 the last proverbial man standing? Today’s -2.09% clobbering officially wiped out the S&P 500’s (NYSEARCA:IVV) YTD gain. Put another way, three-months of gains were lost in single trading session! (See chart below) The swift decline doesn’t come as a surprise to our readers, as we’ve been warning about the stock market’s …
Money is flowing out of risky emerging market stocks (NYSEARCA:VWO), and guess where it’s going? Into even riskier frontier market debt and stocks (NasdaqGIDS:PMNA). The Economist reports: “Investors in America and Europe were hungry to buy dollar-denominated debt offering juicy yields. Zambia drew $12 billion of orders for a ten-year bond paying only 5.4%. Pension-fund …
After posting its first monthly decline of 2014, gold now trades near 7-week lows and the charts are looking ugly. As readers familiar with our research know, last year we were consistently bearish on gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) and precious metals (NYSEARCA:SLV) along with mining stocks (NYSEARCA:GDX). Last year, our largest ETF gainer was the Feb. 2013 …
Chinese stocks are the bargain of a lifetime. That’s what pundits from Goldman Sachs to analysts at major media outlets have been reporting. Are they right? The resurgence of borrowing money, led by world governments, has pushed global debt levels up 40% from $70 trillion in 2007 to around $100 trillion today. And while the …