No post today, since I finally had my long overdue cataract surgery done. It turned out to be successful, but my vision is still a little blurry, which makes reading and writing a bit of a challenge. I should be back to normal within a day and plan on sending out Friday’s weekly newsletter as usual.
Overcoming Resistance
Rising shares of some of the heavyweights like McDonald’s, IBM and Apple definitely contributed to yesterday’s rally, as the S&P; 500 overcame major resistance in the 1,313 area, a level which was last reached in August 2008. The advance occurred despite some headwind in form of China’s second interest hike in a month designed to control inflationary pressures. Gold and …
Day Of The Deals
Yesterday turned out to be another solid day in the market as a slew of takeover deals, along with continued confidence in the economy, provided the firepower to push the major indexes higher. Even political turmoil in Egypt appeared to ease, which temporarily alleviated fears of more uncertainty. While the markets did not end up closing at their highs, which …
Revisiting The Biggest ETF Loser
Several readers have emailed me and were wondering if there was some credence to articles suggesting Natural Gas (UNG) as an investment was ready to explode. Maybe there are new fundamental reasons, but I have heard most arguments every so often over the past few years as UNG plummeted further into abyss. The following 5-year chart clearly depicts the misery …
Sunday Musings: Disconnect
Emerging markets, the leader of the past, have been holding up relatively well since the Egyptian crisis has erupted as MarketWatch reports: For emerging markets investors, the unrest in Egypt has been unsettling, to say the least. But the steep losses in Egypt’s now-shuttered stock market barely have affected the returns of emerging-markets mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. The Egypt …
An Active Bear ETF
Hat tip goes to reader Larry who pointed to a new ETF that recently came on the market. It’s a managed Bear ETF and it works as follows: The investment objective of the Active Bear ETF (HDGE) is capital appreciation through short sales of domestically traded equity securities. The HDGE portfolio is sub-advised by Ranger Alternative Management, L.P. The portfolio …