ETF/No Load Fund Tracker Newsletter For Friday, May 17, 2013
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, May 17, 2013
BULLS NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP
Stocks continued their climb into uncharted territory today and more than made up for yesterday’s sell off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 finished at fresh record highs, driven by gains in energy and industrial shares. The indexes have pushed to a series of never-before-seen levels as part of the rally that has lifted equities more than 16 percent for the year so far.
The Dow closed higher by 121 points (0.8%) at 15,354, the S&P 500 Index increased 15 points (1.0%) to 1,666, and the Nasdaq Composite ascended 34 points (1.0%) to 3,499. Volume was 7% lower on the Nasdaq but 17% higher on the NYSE compared to Thursday, according to preliminary data. The volume data may have been skewed by the expiration of stock options.
The market has been racking up gains for the fourth week in a row as consumer confidence rose higher than expected and a gauge of future economic activity rebounded. The Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index jumped 7.3 points in the preliminary May reading to 83.7, the highest level since July 2007.
Economists expected a modest 1.6-point gain to 78.0. If the reading is maintained for the full month, it would be the biggest increase since September 2009. The latest sentiment reading corresponds to 3.3% real GDP growth and suggests improved economic activity in the fall. One-year inflation expectations were stable at 3.1%. The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index (LEI) rose 0.6% in April, double the consensus. The index is at its highest level since June 2008. Seven of its ten components improved, led by building permits, interest rate spread, and jobless claims. The report suggests “economic growth will remain positive in the upcoming months and may even pick up slightly toward the end of the year.”
Despite some disappointing global economic data and festering uncertainty regarding when the Fed will take its foot off of the economic stimulus accelerator, stocks continued to post record highs this week.
The bulls shrugged off a plethora of data: the Chinese economy continued to slow, the Eurozone recession hit a record length, Japanese business spending remained sluggish, and manufacturing activity in New York and Philadelphia unexpectedly contracted.
But recent improvement, including in the labor market and retail sales, has suggested the recovery remains resilient. For the week, the Dow advanced 1.6 percent, while the S&P 500 climbed 2 percent and the Nasdaq rose 1.8 percent. JPMorgan raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 1,715 from 1,580, implying a gain of less than 3.5 percent for the index for the rest of the year.
Our Trend Tracking Indexes (TTIs) headed higher with the market indexes and closed the week as follows:
Domestic TTI: +5.07% (last week +4.56%)
International TTI: +10.09% (last week +9.30%)
We remain fully invested subject to our trailing sell stops.
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 Ed:
Q: Ulli: What are your thoughts on the PRPFX Fund with gold having dropped so fast??
A: Ed: I don’t own it, since it is hovering below its long-term trend line. There are far better opportunities in low volatility ETFs.
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