New ETFs On The Block: Janus Small Cap Growth Alpha ETF (JSML)

Ulli Equity ETFs Contact

InvestingSince entering the exchange-traded funds space over a year ago by acquiring VelocityShares, Janus have been steadily expanding fund offerings by launching both equity and fixed-income focused funds. Given Janus’ long history in fundamental factor based investment strategy, the newly-launched so-called Smart Growth equity funds seem long overdue.

The newly launched Janus Small Cap Growth Alpha ETF (JSML) and Janus Small/Mid Cap Growth Alpha ETF (JSMD) target the middle and small capitalization companies and provide exposure to smaller domestic US stocks in a unique way.

Linked to proprietary indices developed in-house, the new funds deploy the firm’s Smart Growth methodology to systematically identify mid- and small-cap companies with the potential for achieving long-term sustainable growth.

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ETF/No Load Fund Tracker Newsletter For April 1, 2016

Ulli ETF Tracker Contact

ETF/No Load Fund Tracker StatSheet

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https://theetfbully.com/2016/03/weekly-statsheet-for-the-etfno-load-fund-tracker-newsletter-updated-through-03312016/

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Market Commentary

STOCKS DROP AND POP AFTER STRONG JOBS REPORT

Fri pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

On the surface the jobs report was received as a winner with equities tanking at first and then staging their usual comeback with the major indexes closing higher for the week.

While the headline number of 215,000 jobs gained sounded good, almost two-thirds of those continued to be minimum wage jobs just as we’ve witnessed in previous months. On the negative side, some 29,000 manufacturing jobs were lost, the largest monthly drop since 2009.

However, none of these events matter since any kinds of news, good, bad or indifferent, has had the same effect on the markets lately, which is to drive them higher. Even as last month’s lead dog, US oil, got spanked at the tune of some -4.5% today, the S&P 500 decoupled and ended up higher pushing our Domestic Trend Tracking Index (TTI) into “Buy” mode.

See section 3 below for important details.

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Weekly StatSheet For The ETF/No Load Fund Tracker Newsletter – Updated Through 03/31/2016

Ulli ETF StatSheet Contact

ETF/Mutual Fund Data updated through Thursday, March 31, 2016

TOC010716

If you are not familiar with some of the terminology used, please see the Glossary of Terms.

 

1. DOMESTIC EQUITY MUTUAL FUNDS/ETFs: SELL — since 11/13/2015

TTI-3-31

Our main directional indicator, the Domestic Trend Tracking Index (TTI-green line in above chart) has recently crawled above its long term trend line (red) and finally generated a new “Buy” signal effective 11/3/15. The market subsequently dropped, and we exited again on 11/13/15. As of today, the TTI has just moved above its trend line by +0.95%. This is move is not enough to generate a new Buy signal. Stay tuned for daily updates and any changes to our position.

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Waiting For The Jobs Report

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Thur pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Who would have thought that markets would be in positive territory at the end of March, given the horrendous start to the year. As of the closing bell, the Dow and S&P 500 are officially both in positive territory YTD.

At the pinnacle of fearing Bears may take over, which was around mid-February, all of the major domestic indexes had fallen more than 10% for the year. Today, the S&P 500 is up 1% YTD and with the Dow not far behind. Of course, as MSM media conveniently does not mention, this mysterious recovery did not generate any new profits for those who were in the market, it merely wiped out the losses that occurred during the first six weeks of 2016. As trend followers, we are very well aware of that fact.

Domestic stocks are now riding a 2-day rally wave that Janet Yellen started on Tuesday after reiterating that the nation’s central bank is in no rush to hike interest rates AKA pleasing Wall Street. However, Wall Street is still awaiting economic data to be released tomorrow.

As we discussed on Monday, Friday we will hear about the jobs report for March, which will have an impact on the Fed’s stance regarding the state of the economy and potential interest rate hikes. If the report comes in way below expectations, we could either see a swoon in equities as disappointment reigns supreme or another sharp leg higher, as Wall Street would expect the Fed to start more Quantitative Easing. Which will it be?

We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

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Follow Through Buying Elevates Indexes—Domestic TTI Closes In On A New “Buy”

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Wed pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Markets remained strong the day after Janet Yellen stressed that the central bank will remain “cautious” in its approach to raising interest rates. In case you missed it, “cautious” means being accommodative to the financial markets no matter what.

Helping stocks higher today was another decline in the value of the U.S. dollar vs foreign currencies. Remember, a lower dollar helps sales and profits for U.S. multinationals, as well as oil and emerging markets.

Tech geeks’ eyes are waiting for the unveiling of Tesla’s (TSLA) new electric car this Thursday. The ‘Model 3’ will hit the market at a price tag of about $35,000, which will compete with Acura, BMW and other popular luxury brands, but at half the price of its current Model S sedan. The stock remains about at par with its starting price at the beginning of the year.

Oil, which remains at the forefront of market moving commodities, closed where it started, at $38.28 a barrel. Oil prices have risen about 50% over the past 2 months after the OPEC suggested ideas of slowing production. The $40 a barrel benchmark is still what investors are watching, however, the black gold has been on a mini slide closing lower for 6 days in a row.

Our Domestic TTI inched higher again and is now within shouting distance of a new “Buy” signal. Please see section 3 below for more details.

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The Fed Blinks—Markets Rally

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Tue pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Both the Dow and S&P 500 closed at high water marks for 2016. Movement upward today was driven mostly by Janet Yellen’s speech today in New York wherein she said the central bank will “move cautiously” on interest rate hikes. The “cautious” stance is mostly due to risks of a weak global economy and low inflation. In other words, the promise of interest normalization via 4 small hikes during 2016 went out the window. Imagine a tiny 0.25% hike is considered too much for the economy to handle, which gives you an idea of the true state of affairs.

In the end, we all know by now that economic data points no longer matter, as the Fed alone determines market direction via its dovish or hawkish announcements. Even oil, which has led the S&P higher during most of March, decoupled and lost over 2% on the day while equities rallied.

I mentioned investors will be eyeing economic news this week. Today, we saw data on consumer confidence and home prices. Home prices rose 5.7% YoY. Seattle, San Francisco and Portland led the pack. The consumer confidence index rose 96.2% in March, up from 94 in February.

We heard a bit of shocking news today that SunEdison (SUNE) is flirting with bankruptcy amid questions over the company’s accounting practices and falling oil prices. Shares of the stock tumbled 41% in pre-market trading to 74 cents a share. Analysts say the company’s biggest issue is lack of liquidity.

Stay tuned for the all important employment figures this Friday.

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