Analysis Topic: Stock & Financial Markets

The analysis published under this topic are as follows.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Similarities To 1973 Stock Market Peak / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2013

By: Sy_Harding

In last week’s column I showed charts of how the market has alternated between significant bull and bear markets since the top in 2000, and how Warren Buffett has been right so far in his prediction in November, 1999 that, “Over the next 17 years equities will not perform anything like – anything like - they’ve performed over the last 17 years.”

Friday, June 21, 2013

Federal Reserve Propping Up Asset Prices / Stock-Markets / US Federal Reserve Bank

By: Fred_Sheehan

The Federal Reserve is fully committed to its asset-propping strategy: It will raise the economy by lifting asset numbers.

This is where it is important to remember the Federal Reserve does not care about economics. The economists at the Fed are central planners. It's not that they don't like economics, they simply are not interested in, so ignore, economics. Those of us not so inclined think of asset numbers as prices, be they shares in the S&P 500 or wheat germ. But the Fed operates in an abstract world; humanity is a distraction.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Finding a Sea of Calm in the Rising Stock Market Mania / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2013

By: Money_Morning

Martin Hutchinson writes: The markets have begun to swoon and one of the canaries was two Thai tycoons.

This pair of Thai tycoons, neither of them well-known internationally, has made a total of $27 billion in acquisitions in the past year, more than all Thai companies spent abroad in the preceding three years.

That's the kind of statistic common in today's global deal mania, fueled by the glut of funny money. It raises a dreaded question: what happens when the music stops, and when global leverage stops being so available?

Friday, June 21, 2013

Stock Market Breakdown - Flash Crash May be Starting Here / Stock-Markets / Financial Crash

By: Anthony_Cherniawski

After a bit of sideways consolidation beneath Cycle Bottom resistance, SPX has now broken beneath its prior lows and is on its way for another probable 100 point drop. The Flash Crash may be starting here.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Five Signs the Stock Market Is Topping Out / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2013

By: Investment_U

Carl Delfeld writes: It is always a painful “learning” experience.

Like many investors, I have made the unfortunate mistake more than once of investing in booming markets at just the wrong time – right before they go into reverse gear.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Batten Down the Tatches for a Perfect Stock Market Storm! / Stock-Markets / Financial Crash

By: Anthony_Cherniawski

Good Morning!

Yesterday was quite a day. I took a crew down to Wabash, IN to help “dig out” a friend who suffered a direct hit by a tornado. Fortunately, the city of Wabash has a wood recycling operation, so we only had to move the limbs and more than a few mature trees to the street for pickup. When we were done, the stack of logs and branches was nearly a block long by about 4 feet high!

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Thursday Stock Market Thump – Bernanke Blows His Chance / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2013

By: PhilStockWorld

NOW it's getting interesting.

We got our big Wheee! on oil overnight to $96.37 (/CL) with the old contract (/CLN3) at $96.11. If it weren't a scam, then why would the August contract fall just because July is expiring today. In fact, wouldn't the Aug contract be more in demand from rolling while the July is selling off? But no, they go down together to make sure the NYMEX boys can do those rolls as cheaply as possible to keep the scam going another month.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Hope Runs Out for the Eurozone / Stock-Markets / Eurozone Debt Crisis

By: DailyGainsLetter

Moe Zulfiqar writes: The economic slowdown in the eurozone continues to take a toll on the global economy. It’s causing major economies like China to suffer severely due to anemic demand. Sadly, looking ahead, there’s really no light at the end of the tunnel. Despite the bailouts and the European Central Bank (ECB) taking a tougher stance, countries at the epicenter of the crisis continue to suffer and show dismal economic data, and others are starting to follow their lead towards economic scrutiny.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Unsupported Bullish Investor Sentiment - Stock Market Set to Crash? / Stock-Markets / Financial Crash

By: InvestmentContrarian

Sasha Cekerevac writes: If one were to look at the current state of the stock market, because of the substantial run-up in prices, one would think that investor sentiment is being based on the bullish opinion that corporate earnings will continue to rise.

However, a look below the surface would reveal that corporate earnings are not growing anywhere near the levels necessary to sustain the current enthusiasm in investor sentiment.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

How to Play the Fed’s New QE Tapering Policy / Stock-Markets / Quantitative Easing

By: Investment_U

Alexander Green writes: It’s amazing just how often – and how effectively – the media and its various talking heads get investors to take their eye off the ball. (In case you don’t play golf or baseball, taking your eye off the ball causes anything from a shank to a whiff.)

Right now, for instance, the topic du jour is “When will the Fed begin ‘tapering’ its bond-buying program and how should I play it?”

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

One Simple Measure for Investing in a Volatile Stock Market / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2013

By: InvestmentContrarian

George Leong writes: Volatility has been edging higher since the end of 2012, but so far, the stock market has held up pretty well.

Take a look at the chart below of the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), also known as the “Fear Factor Index,” based on the S&P 500 Index. The VIX reading is holding around 16.8—well below some of its high readings since 1990, as shown on the chart. When the VIX is low, it suggests traders are relaxed and not concerned about the current stock market climate; but you need to remain alert, because investor mistakes occur when people are too confident.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Stock Market Top Called to Within One Day by Contracting Fibonacci Spiral...Now What? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2013

By: David_Petch

It is nearing two years since I first published an article describing a theory titled "Contracting Fibonacci Spiral". For further information, simply Google "Contracting Fibonacci Spiral" and a plethora of articles should be listed to provide a more thorough description. Further to this, I published an article in the April 2013 issue of Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities (Submitted in October 2012) to attempt to bring more mainstream exposure to this concept.

In a nutshell, the theory indicated important tops of 1966, 1987, 2000, 2008, with the next sequential date due in 2013. The ideal date was December 27th, 2012, but a 5% extension in time generated a date of May 21st, 2013. The broad stock market indices topped on May 22nd, 2013, which is either a fluke or is following the CFS, but with an extended time post for this move. The next CFS date is 3 years away and has already been determined and posted on our site.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Can Bernanke Keep the Stock Market Rally Going? / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2013

By: Graham_Summers

The markets are rallying today because Bernanke and the Fed meet on Wednesday and will announce their new policies (if any).

Someone might want to explain to them that the Nikkei just collapsed in spite of Central Bank policy. The bank of Japan announced it would buy $1.4 trillion worth of assets (roughly 25% of Japan’s GDP) in early April. The Nikkei has already wiped out almost all of the gains since that time.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Stock Market Violent Whipsaw Continues.... / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2013

By: Jack_Steiman

It was a very, very wild day today. We saw weak action late on Friday. It figured to mean we'd likely see lower this morning in terms of those pre-market futures. Sometimes you get a clue from how a day closes and what takes place on the futures right away after hours. We saw the weak close and the futures move down some as well. So today would be weak for sure, right? Wrong. Strong futures simply got stronger as the morning went along. We blasted higher once the marked opened, and then things got very interesting. We kept running higher. The first two sixty-minute sticks suggested the market would hold up for the day. That reality lasted until we saw the 2pm hour hit.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Market Calls Fed’s Bluff / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2013

By: Michael_Pento

The Fed has recently expressed a desire to begin winding down its Quantitative Easing program in the next few months. This would be the first step towards the eventual raising of interest rates. Mr. Bernanke and the other members of our central bank believe the normalization of interest rates would occur within the context of robust markets and rising GDP growth.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Global Recession Forecast - Is PIMCO's Bill Gross Wrong Again? / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2013

By: Money_Morning

Keith Fitz-Gerald writes: Stuart Varney put the question directly to me last week during his Fox Business show:

What do I make of comments from PIMCO's Bill Gross...that he's projecting a 60% chance of a global recession in the next three to five years?

Now, Bill Gross is obviously one of the most powerful men in the world. PIMCO, the firm he founded, is the world's biggest bond manager. He has assets under management of more than $2 trillion (that's right, with a "t").

Monday, June 17, 2013

Stock Market Caught in a Wide Trading Range, Odds Favor Resolution to Downside / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2013

By: Andre_Gratian

SPX: Very Long-term trend - The very-long-term cycles are in their down phases, and if they make their lows when expected (after this bull market is over), there will be another steep decline into late 2014. However, the severe correction of 2007-2009 may have curtailed the full downward pressure potential of the 40-yr and 120-yr cycles.

Intermediate trend - SPX continues to progress according to its structure. An intermediate reversal is on the way.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Stock Markets Risks Unacceptably High and Rising / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2013

By: Brian_Bloom

Post GFC, US corporate profits have been very likely rising for reasons that are more related to cost savings and margin increases than to real revenue growth. These cost savings have now worked their way through the system and future US corporate profit growth will be more dependent on price inflation and/or sales volume growth.

US balance of payments may improve as a result of improved energy exports but, because the country is now oriented to a service economy, any growth in export volumes of manufactured goods is unlikely to impact significantly on the economy as a whole. In any event, with the rest of the world in recession, the likelihood of a growth in export volumes is low.  With government spending sequestered, an implication is that employment opportunities will have to be driven by private enterprise.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Media, Economy and Markets Behind The looking Glass! / Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2013

By: Robert_M_Williams

The most important service rendered by the press and the magazines is that of educating people to approach printed matter with distrust! - Samuel Butler (1612 – 1680)

I have been of the opinion for a number of years that what we see in the media is exactly what “they” want us to see, no more and no less. With very few exceptions, if we see it on TV it’s because they want us to see it and it is meaningless. If by chance you do see something bad on TV it’s because it isn’t what it appears, or the censors slipped up. Most of what appears to be bad is simple misdirection intended to distract your attention away from what really matters. This week was no exception as we are subjected to the monotonous drone of employment numbers, earnings reports and whether or not the market has topped. None of that matters, at least not in the way it is being presented to us.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Stock Market Longer Trend Weakening, Daily Trend Turning / Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2013

By: Michael_Noonan

Charts are not predictive in nature, rather they are instructive on how to best prepare and get an edge when deciding to enter into a position, [or exit one]. It is of the utmost importance to have a game plan in place, beforehand, otherwise, one is relying upon factors more emotionally driven than fact driven.

The function of reading a chart is to gain insight from the most reliable source available, the market itself. What a market does is generate information that reflects the outcome of all source decision-makers, from the most highly informed and experienced to the least informed and weakest, with varying degrees of skills in between.