Stocks Recover Large Early Deficit—But Still Finish Lower

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Tue pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Renewed fears over China’s economic growth, a fresh rout in commodity markets and continued uncertainty over a Fed rate hike later this year triggered a heavy sell-off on Wall Street today. All three major benchmark indexes fell over 1.0% to close out the day, recovering from even larger deficits earlier in the day.

The agricultural chemicals company Mosaic (MOS) slid today after the company announced reduced production in its potash business due to unfavorable crop conditions.

Also hurting the Dow was news released about one of its influential components, Goldman Sachs (GS), which revealed that its CEO Lloyd Blankfein has a “highly curable” form of lymphoma. Goldman Sachs shares finished down 2%.

We heard from Groupon (GRPN) today. The technology up-and-comer announced that it is laying off 1,100 people, about 10% of its workforce, and is shutting down operations in seven countries, a sharp reversal of fortune at the height of its rebuffed multibillion-dollar buyout offer from Google. Groupon has decided to decide its own destiny and continue being a publicly traded company.

In positive news, shares of the oilfield services company Weatherford (WFT) saw substantial gains in its stock after it announced that it would not pursue previous plans for a public offering.

All of our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight succumbed to bearish forces today with the worst performer being the Global 100 (IOO), which gave back -1.73%. The best of the bunch turned out to be Healthcare (XLV) with a modest loss of -0.61%.

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Equities Rise, Fall And Stay Afloat

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Mon pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Stocks climbed Monday, the Nasdaq just barely, in a seesaw day as Wall Street shook off a two-day slump that was sparked by last week’s decision by the Federal Reserve not to raise interest rates. Crude Oil gained slightly today as well to close at $46.69 a barrel.

In M&A news, Chipmaker Atmel (ATML) jumped after accepting a bid from Britain’s Dialog Semiconductor. Amtel’s business is the manufacturing and sale of electronics used in Internet of Things products, automobiles, computers and other consumer communications.

In other tech news, there was some controversy surrounding Apple (AAPL) today when the public found out that some 39 apps in the app store became infected over the weekend. The malicious code is called Xcode Ghost and came hidden in a fake version of Xcode, popular Apple software used to create applications. Most apple representatives are only calling it a minor setback as the company unveils its new line of iPhones. Some other rumors emerged today though regarding Apple potentially unveiling a smart car in 2019. The rumor is that Apple currently has a team of 600 working on the project.

9 of our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight managed to climb higher during this whip-saw day with the leader being the Financials (IYF) with +1.13%. On the losing side, Healthcare (XLV) stood out by surrendering -1.38%.

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ETFs/Mutual Funds On The Cutline – Updated Through 09/18/2015

Ulli ETFs on the Cutline Contact

Below are the latest ETF Cutline reports, which show how far above or below their respective long-term trend lines (39 week SMA) my currently tracked ETFs/MFs are positioned.

The first report covers the ETF Master List from Thursday’s StatSheet and includes 381 ETFs, of which currently 28 (last week 24) are hovering in bullish territory.

The second report includes only High Volume ETFs. To clarify, High Volume (HV) ETFs are defined as those with an average daily volume of $10 million or higher.

These ETFs are generated from my selected list of some 97 that I use in my advisor practice. It cuts out the “noise,” which simply means it eliminates those ETFs that I would never buy because of their volume limitations. 6 ETFs (last week 8) have managed to remain in bullish territory after the recent market volatility.

The third report covers Mutual Funds on the Cutline. There are currently 36 (last week 32) above the line and 764 below it out of the 800 that I follow.

Take a look:

  1. ETF Master Cutline Report
  2. ETF High Volume Cutline Report
  3. MF Cutline Report

In case you are not familiar with some of the terminology used in the reports, please read the Glossary of Terms.

If you missed the original post about the Cutline approach, you can read it here.

One Man’s Opinion: Will Developments In The Labor Market Trigger A Rate Hike?

Ulli Market Review Contact

ManThe short-term interest rates were kept unchanged on Thursday because historically, the US Federal Reserve has been a very conservative organization, said Gary Stern, former President of Minneapolis Federal Reserve.

While the markets are witnessing a volatile situation, economic conditions abroad have been deteriorating, and the Fed failed to achieve its inflation target. Amid such a scenario, it’s pretty easy for the policy makers to continue on the course they have been on. That said, whether that was the right decision or not could be a matter of debate, he noted.

While many market observers expected the Fed to raise rates Thursday, the Fed must be looking at a wide range of factors like the softening of export demands and heightened uncertainty overseas, said Randall Kroszner, a former Governor at the US Federal Reserve.

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New ETFs On The Block: Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight Real Estate ETF (EWRE)

Ulli Real Estate ETFs Contact

56371366With an improving labor market, housing has emerged as one of the most attractive sectors for investors as more and more millennials contemplate owning their own homes.

Mortgage lending in recent times has also gained traction indicating higher real estate activities, data available from banks across the country indicate. Guggenheim, the Chicago-based eighth largest provider of US exchange-traded funds recently launched a real-estate product that would help investors to tap into the rising housing and construction industry.

The newly launched Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight Real Estate ETF (EWRE) is an industry first in that it tracks a sub-sector that will come into existence in about a year from now.

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ETF/No Load Fund Tracker Newsletter For September 18, 2015

Ulli ETF Tracker Contact

ETF/No Load Fund Tracker StatSheet

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THE LINK TO OUR CURRENT ETF/MUTUAL FUND STATSHEET IS:

https://theetfbully.com/2015/09/weekly-statsheet-for-the-etfno-load-fund-tracker-newsletter-updated-through-09172015/

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Market Commentary

STOCKS AND OIL TAKE A BATH TO CLOSE THE WEEK

Fri pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Markets climbed from the beginning of the week up until the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) made its decision to keep the fed funds rate between 0.0% and 0.25% Thursday, which caused stocks to stumble into Thursday’s close and post further losses on Friday. Oil prices also fell today by more than 4% as U.S. benchmark crude dropped to about $45 a barrel.

The major indexes here in the U.S. fell more than 1.3% Friday as investors focused on the Fed’s worries about recent turbulence in financial markets and the health of the global economy. All 10 of the S&P 500 sectors ended lower today, with energy stocks leading the dive. On the week, major indexes were lower with the utilities sector showing relative strength and the materials sector showing relative weakness.

Looking ahead to next week’s key economic numbers, investors will focus on existing home sales on Monday, the Purchasing Managers’ Manufacturing Index (PMI) on Wednesday, and durable goods orders on Thursday. Additionally, Wall Street will take note of the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment data that will be released on Friday.

All of our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight reversed and headed south after gaining earlier in the week. Scoring the worst was the S&P 500 (SPY) with -2.17% while the Select Dividend ETF (DVY) held up best by giving back only -1.33%.

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