Weekly StatSheet For The ETF/No Load Fund Tracker Newsletter – Updated Through 02/19/2015

Ulli ETF StatSheet Contact

ETF/Mutual Fund Data updated through Thursday, February 19, 2015

TOC021915

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

 

1. DOMESTIC EQUITY MUTUAL FUNDS/ETFs: BUY — since 10/22/2014

TTI

Our main directional indicator, the Domestic Trend Tracking Index (TTI), broke through its long-term trend line generating a “Sell” for this arena effective 10/14/2014, which was followed by a violent break back above the line on 10/22/14 generating a new “Buy.” It was a classic whipsaw signal, and you can read more on my blog as to the events as they were unfolding.

As of today, our TTI (green line in above chart) is positioned above its long term trend line (red) by +3.70% keeping us in the market with our established positions.

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Stocks Close Mixed; Apple Interested In Tesla?

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Thur pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

U.S. stocks closed with mixed results on the day amid corporate earnings and economic data. In earnings news, EOG Resources (EOG) declined after reporting earnings that missed analyst’s estimates, while Priceline (PCLN) closed up over 8% after posting better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

As part of the good economic news today, apparently Americans are getting more jobs. We received a big drop in unemployment numbers. The number of unemployment claims last week (seasonally adjusted) was 283,000, which was a drop of 21,000 from the previous week’s estimate.

In tech/auto news, it seems that Apple (AAPL) may be legitimately interested in the auto market. There has been much speculation of recent that Tesla has poached more than a few employees from Apple for various engineering designs. The thing to remember is that, traditionally, when Apple has made an acquisition it is typically around the ceiling of $500 million, and the rumored asking price for a Tesla acquisition is $75 billion. Quite a difference in protocol!

2 our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight managed to squeeze out some gains and managed to make new yearly highs in the process, as section 2 below shows.

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Sloppy And Choppy Equals Unchanged

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Wed pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

It was a wild ride, but in the end nothing was gained as the S&P 500 closed about unchanged. The struggle occurred mid-day as the Fed minutes were released, which emphasized that, despite much jawboning to the contrary in the recent past, a premature rate hike “would harm the economy.” So, who knows when the inevitable rise will actually occur…

While the initial reaction was a sharp spike as lower rates for a longer period seem to be always welcome, a sell-off ensued, which was promptly reversed as we closed near the highs of the day. In other words, confusion reigned.

Economic reports were disappointing, which has been an ongoing theme lately, although you would not know it by the elevated level of the market indexes. Other non-inspiring news was the continued stalemate between Greece and its creditors along with the continued crisis in the Ukraine.

8 our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight closed up with 4 of them again making new highs; 9 of them are now on the plus side YTD.

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Stocks Regain Momentum To Finish The Day In The Black

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Mon pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Stocks began the day in the red, but all major indexes climbed back to close in positive territory. The big news of the day was that S&P 500 conquered 2,100 for the first time, another record closing. One of the primary drivers behind market gains today was the news that Greece will request an extension of its current bailout agreement with its creditors. It appears Wall Street is not betting on a Greek Debt Tragedy after all, despite last-minute talks between Greece’s new government and its creditors over bailout terms. Greece’s current loan deal expires at the end of the month and its future in the eurozone is at stake as is its pipeline to much-needed funds from eurozone lenders.

In tech, Apple (AAPL) hit another record high today; however, some analysts seem to feel there may be a resistance level around the $135/share mark. According to S&P Capital IQ, Shares of Apple are now trading for 17.2 times its diluted earnings per share over the past year; that’s very close to the 18x valuation which has been a problem for the stock twice before.

In the commodities world, Gold dropped 1.8% to $1,209.25 an ounce on the spot market, amid speculation Chinese demand will retreat during the Chinese New Year holiday. Silver tumbled 4.5%, and platinum dropped to the cheapest level in more than five years. Nickel and Zinc for three-month delivery in London sank more than 2%. Oil prices rose as U.S. benchmark crude gained 84 cents to $53.59 per barrel.

9 our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight closed up with 4 of them making new highs; all of them are now on the plus side YTD.

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ETFs/Mutual Funds On The Cutline – Updated Through 02/13/2015

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 410 ETFs, of which currently 273 (last week 253) 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. 45 ETFs (last week 41) have managed to remain in bullish territory after the recent market volatility.

The third report covers Mutual Funds on the Cutline. There are currently 423 (last week 310) above the line and 397 below it out of the 820 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: Do Greek Banks Face An Immediate Cash Crunch?

Ulli Market Review Contact

92835431The Germans and the Greeks seem to have made some progress on semantics in the ongoing debt negotiations, said Gilles Moec, Chief European Economist at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

They have started to discuss the technicalities of the Greece debt-problem, which is a huge achievement. They have still not agreed on the principles – the Greeks are insisting to start things from scratch while the Germans seem to maintain that the existing program is the reference for any future deal.

However, they have agreed there should be some kind of a technical-assessment, which clearly shows there is a willingness to negotiate. Both sides started off with a lot of rhetoric, but have toned down since. For the Greek leaders, it makes sense to maintain a tough posture as long as there’s no pressing need for money because they have to cater to their own constituency at home.

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