ETF/No Load Fund Tracker StatSheet
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THE LINK TO OUR CURRENT ETF/MUTUAL FUND STATSHEET IS:
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Market Commentary
Friday, April 15, 2011
MAJOR MARKET ETFs: SLOPPY AND CHOPPY
The past five trading days turned into a repeat of the prior week, as the major market ETFs continued to meander aimlessly but moved higher today in the face of several headwinds.
Some of them came in form of higher inflation readings here in the U.S. joined by China and Europe. Other disappointments were B of A’s earnings, higher oil prices, a downgrade of Ireland’s debt, worries that Greece will default and surging gold prices.
You’d think that those news reports would be a downer, but they weren’t today. Improved consumer moods were an offsetting factor to higher consumer prices as the consumer sentiment index climbed off a 16 month low. That could be a sign of job gains, which will help many with the ever increasing gasoline and fuel cost.
Nevertheless, gold was the primary beneficiary of today’s news events as it settled at a new high of $1,486/ounce. Part of the surge was caused by the above mentioned downgrade of Irish debt and worries about Greece defaulting.
Crude oil headed higher again and, strangely enough, interest rates were lower as the dollar rallied against the euro.
Despite today’s up move, the major indexes lost for the week with the S&P 500 dropping -0.6%.
Our Trend Tracking Indexes (TTIs) showed a mixed picture as the domestic market displayed more strength than its international counterpart. As of today, both have rallied above their long-term trend lines by the following percentages:
Domestic TTTI: +4.21% (last week +4.27%)
International TTI: +4.47% (last week +5.85%)
The CPI has now risen for the 9th straight month adding 0.5% in March. Of course, excluding volatile food and energy, the core gauge rose only 0.1%. Now, if we could just figure out a way how to do without food and energy, we’d be all enjoying only a very minimal rise in prices.
Next week, earnings season will shift into high gear as heavyweights like Apple, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Intel, AT&T and GE are scheduled to release their respective report cards.
On the economic menu, we will hear about housing starts, building permits, home sales, initial claims and a few others.
With the S&P 500 being stuck at its 50-day moving average, it’ll be interesting to see if that level can hold and act as a springboard for further advances.
Have a great week.
Ulli…
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READER Q & A FOR THE WEEK
All Reader Q & A’s are listed at our web site!
Check it out at:
http://www.successful-investment.com/q&a.php
A note from reader Frank:
Q: Ulli: Utilizing your charts has been quite beneficial to me. It helps to see the trends that have developed and guides me in making selections. The Draw Down column shows me how far the fund has come off its peak, but I am not quite sure how to use that in my evaluation.
Am I correct in assuming that if a reading is 0% then the momentum is upward? What would be an acceptable range when examining the data?
A: Frank: Yes, you are correct. A DD% of 0.00% means that this fund/ETF has just made a new high for the period. That translates into strong upward momentum compared to a fund showing a -3.56% number, which represents weakness.
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