Analysis Topic: Stock & Financial Markets
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Monday, April 28, 2008
Stock Market Update: Survival of the Unbiased Trader / Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets
I'm sure a few heads were turned when I first posted the chart above, which suggests the S&P could rally to 1430 before finally deciding whether this is a bull or bear market. What makes this chart great is it underscores the nature of unbiased trading: no matter what your personal convictions are, or your interpretation of economic data, the market has not decided bull or bear and neither has the unbiased trader.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, April 28, 2008
US Federal Budget Deficit Doubles as Fed Walks a Tightrope Against Inflation / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets
Do we have food shortages? Rice prices hit record highs in Thailand and in electronic trading of Chicago Board of Trade futures during Asian trading hours. This week's 5 percent jump in Thailand rice takes prices to $1,000 a ton, nearly triple their level at the start of the year, intensifying fears of social unrest in Asia .Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Worst of the Credit Crisis May be over as Investors Switch from Bonds to Equities on Inflation Concerns- Part 2 / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets
Financial Times: Treasury market mood swings
“The vanguard of US monetary policy, the Treasury bond market, is calling time on further interest rate cuts after next week.
“While many economists expect the US Federal Reserve to continue to cut the benchmark Fed funds rate to 1.5% from the current 2.25%, recent shifts in the interest rate-sensitive 2-year Treasury bond yield suggest another course.
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Sunday, April 27, 2008
Worst of the Credit Crisis May be over as Investors Switch from Bonds to Equities on Inflation Concerns - Part 1 / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets
The last week was characterized by investors increasingly taking the view that the worst of the credit crisis was over. They seemed to be shrugging off further substantiation of the dreadful state of the US housing situation, as they digested the latest round of quarterly earnings reports. The latter ranged from plunging profits from Bank of America (ANC) to a dreadful report from Ambac (ABC) to guidance from Microsoft (MSFT) that failed to live up to investors' expectations.
Stock markets see-sawed as investors assimilated the various economic and earnings reports, with the S&P 500 Index eventually eking out a positive return of 0.5% for the week, thereby consolidating the previous week's gains (+4.3%).
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Saturday, April 26, 2008
US Stock Markets Developing Bullish Pattern / Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets
The good news is: The market has been in a pattern of higher highs and higher lows for over a month now.
Short Term
The chart below covers the past 100 trading days showing the NASDAQ composite (OTC) in blue and an indicator showing the percentage of the last 3 trading days that the NASDAQ AD line (OTC ADL) was up in brown. Dashed vertical lines have been drawn on the 1st trading day of each month; the vertical line is red on the 1st trading day of the year. The indicator touches the top of the chart when there have been 3 consecutive up days and it touches the bottom of the screen when there have been 3 consecutive down days. OTC ADL (not shown) is a running total of NASDAQ declining issues subtracted from NASDAQ advancing issues.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Powerful Stocks Bull Market As US Hyper Power Prepares for Global Hegemony / Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets
Back in the late 20th century there were predictions that the 21st century would be characterized by “resource wars” where fighting breaks out between countries and aligned groups of countries, as they scramble to secure increasingly scarce commodities for themselves, principally oil and water. Barely had we entered the new century when a major resource war began, with the big surprise being that it was not some banana republic suddenly deciding to invade and loot its neighbor's territory, but instead the most powerful country on earth muscling its way around an entire region on the other side of the planet in order to position itself to plunder its oil resources en masse for itself.Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, April 26, 2008
How to Survive a Recession and Make Profits / Stock-Markets / Recession
Despite frantic efforts by the US Government and central bank to avoid a recession during a Presidential election year, the US is heading for a protracted recessionary period that is expected to be worse than the last two recessions as the credit crisis and housing bust continue.
The focus for investors now should be to realise that what worked during the 2003 to 2007 stocks bull market is expected to and actually is unraveling as the boom sectors such as financial's are in a bear market.
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Friday, April 25, 2008
Looking for Russell 2000 Index Breakout to Kick In / Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets
know what some of you must be thinking: why am I wasting my time in the IWM? Aside from the fact that I really like the upside potential of its 4 month base-like pattern, I also think that if Fed stimulus is going to "kick in" during Q3 and Q4, and if the narrowing of some of the credit spreads recently is any indication that fears of market risk are subsiding, then the small cap sector will benefit, although it has been lagging a bit.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, April 25, 2008
Chinese Government Intervention Sends Shanghai Stocks Soaring / Stock-Markets / Chinese Stock Market
Stock prices soared in China yesterday (Thursday) after the government announced Wednesday night that a tax on stock trades would be reduced. Beijing's decision to lower the trade tax from 0.3% to 0.1% was motivated by a steep drop in many mainland indices over the past six months.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, April 25, 2008
Why Utilities Stocks Beat Treasury Bonds / Stock-Markets / US Utilities
Nilus Mattive writes:I recently read an article on Forbes' website that attempted to help income investors compare the merits of utility stocks and U.S. Treasury bonds.
On the bad news side, the column noted that the yields on both utility shares and 10-year Treasuries are down about 50% since the beginning of 1995. Ouch!
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Thursday, April 24, 2008
Stock Market on Route to Recovery / Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets
By now it should be abundantly clear to even the most recalcitrant pessimists that the stock market is well along its route to recovery. The internal momentum structure hasn't looked this promising in weeks if not months. When it comes to evaluating the stock market's potential, internal momentum always precedes future price momentum and takes precedence over nearly every other consideration.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Retail Stocks ETF Punches Through Resistance / Stock-Markets / Sector Analysis
This is what I wrote for subscribers yesterday about the Retail HLDRs ETF (AMEX: RTH), and there is no change in my outlook right now: The RTH appears to me to have ratcheted up into a higher trading plateau between 93.00 and 96.00 from 92.00 to 96.00, as the price structure pushes towards a confrontation with a cluster of resistance that is represented by its 9-month down trendline, the declining 200-day moving average, and a 5-month plateau of prior failed rally peaks at 96.00/65.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Nasdaq Q's Look Poised to Reach Next Upside Target / Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets
All of the action from Monday's high in the Q's (NASDAQ: QQQQ) at 47.08 appears to be carving out some sort of rest-digestion pattern that exhibits a double-peak at 47.08-47.06 juxtaposed against a series of higher lows off of yesterday's low at 45.93. Based on the developing near-term pattern, the Q's remain above 46.50 into the closing bell, and either thrust towards my next optimal target within the final 40 minutes of trading or in reaction to AAPL earnings in the aftermarket.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Buy China Stocks Instead of ETF's on the Stock Market Dips / Stock-Markets / China Stocks
Tony Sagami writes: When it comes to China, the media has been focused on the riots in Tibet and the protests following the Olympic torch around the globe.
For emerging market investors, getting swept away by newspaper headlines is a huge, not to mention costly, mistake.
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Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Russell 2000 To Test Support and then Rally / Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets
Thus far, the iShares Russell 2000 Small-Cap ETF (AMEX: IWM) has retraced 62% of its prior upmove from 68.16 to 72.27 and although the intensity of the sell-off is pressing the hourly RSI into oversold territory, my sense from the way the pattern is unfolding is that the IWM will test the March-April support line, now in the vicinity of 69.40/35 -- prior to my expectation of a potent upside pivot reversal that initiates a new upleg.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Japanese Yen Vs US Stock Market / Stock-Markets / Yen Carry Trade
We can say with confidence that we anticipated the recent weakness of the Japanese yen. But at current levels, it makes sense to reevaluate the situation.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, April 21, 2008
Stock Market Update: Hitting on All Cylinders / Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets
In a period that had many traders guessing about earnings and the economy, TTC canceled out the noise last week and booked steady gains by doing what we always do: trading the charts. As the headlines raised the specter of economic depression and an earnings recession, the tape was hinting all along that the market wanted higher. And just as the majority of traders were fooled, the market screamed up to where it's been saying it was going all along.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, April 21, 2008
Commercial Banks Heading for Huge Derivatives Losses- Credit Crisis Turning into Credit Armageddon / Stock-Markets / Credit Crisis 2008
While most investors are focused on the latest stock market rally, hidden from view is a monumental change that few recognize and fewer understand: Unprecedented amounts of old debts are coming due in America, and many are not getting refinanced.
Even worse, borrowers are going into default, lenders are taking huge losses, and outstanding loans are turning to dust.
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Monday, April 21, 2008
The Next Credit Crisis Disaster Waiting to Happen / Stock-Markets / Credit Crisis 2008
In the first quarter, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ( GS ) packed another $27 billion worth of illiquid assets onto its balance sheet - a 39% increase that brought the total to $96 billion.
And Goldman wasn't alone. Morgan Stanley ( MS ) reported that these hard-to-value/hard-to-sell assets soared 45%, reaching $32 billion. For Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( LEH ), the first-quarter increase was $500 million, bringing its total to $42.5 billion.
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Sunday, April 20, 2008
Stock Markets Continue Rally into Intermediate Short-term Top / Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets
Current Position of the Market
SPX: Long-term trend - Election years that fall in the 8th year of the Decennial pattern call for consolidation in the early part of the year followed by a strong finish. But the 6-yr cycle which is scheduled to bottom in late Summer/early Fall could also play a restraining role, followed by an eventual bull market top in 2009-2010.
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