Weekly StatSheet For The ETF/No Load Fund Tracker Newsletter – Updated Through 08/28/2014

Ulli ETF StatSheet Contact

ETF/Mutual Fund Data updated through Thursday, August 28, 2014

Table of Content082312

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 10/25/2011

TTI

Our main directional indicator, the Domestic Trend Tracking Index (TTI), broke through its long-term trend line generating a Sell for this area effective 8/9/2011. Over the recent past, we’ve seen the TTI hovering slightly below and above this dividing line between bullish and bearish territory. The clear break to the upside occurred on 10/24/11 and, effective 10/25/11, a new Buy signal for domestic equities went into effect.

As of today, our TTI (green line in above chart) is positioned above its long term trend line (red) by +3.21%.

To avoid a potential whip-saw, a Sell signal to move out of all domestic equity positions will be generated once we have clearly pierced the red line to the downside. Be sure to tune in for the latest updates.

Read More

Markets React Negatively To Revived Concerns Over Ukraine; Cyber-Attacks On Banks

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Thur pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

It seems that international concerns trumped domestic economic outlook as market movers today, in that we received encouraging reports on economic growth, jobs and housing. Stocks dropped back below the 2000 mark on renewed concerns over the conflict in Ukraine. The major indexes came off their highs as the chart above shows.

Reports came in today that the economy grew faster than previously thought in the second quarter, as the government revised the growth in GDP to 4.2%, up from an earlier estimate of a 4% annual rate. Also, we heard that weekly jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 298,000 last week.

In the banking world, shares of JP Morgan (JPM) dropped today after a news report was released that the bank, and possible four other banks, were hit by cyber attacks. The FBI said it was working with the U.S. Secret Service “to determine the scope” of the attacks. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said his bank spends about $200 million each year to protect it from cyber attacks, according to his April 2013 letter to shareholders.

3 of our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight edged up slightly; no new highs were made.

Read More

Stocks End Flat After Record Tuesday; Is China’s Real Estate Bubble Deflating?

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Wed pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Stocks ended the day relatively unchanged after reeling from the hype of the record setting day it experienced yesterday. The S&P 500 and the Dow both ended flat, while the Nasdaq dropped ever so slightly.

We did see a few retail stocks perform well today after reporting positive earnings news. Tiffany (TIF) reported earnings that topped estimates and shares rose 1%. Express (EXPR) shares gained 13% on the day after the company raised its forecasted profits. And lastly, Michaels (MIK) gained 9% on higher earnings reports.

You may have seen a bit of interesting news from China yesterday. Apparently, real estate prices have been cut as much as 25% within such companies as Greentown China Holdings Ltd., whose stock dropped 33% yesterday. There have been subsequent protests from homeowners accordingly. One Greentown sales manager was quoted as saying that the price-cut was aimed to boost sales and “cope with competition” from rival China Vanke Co. Real estate inflation has always been a serious issue in China and it will be interesting to see how long before the bubble deflates.

6 of our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight inched up while 1 of them made a new high for the year.

Read More

Up, Up And Away Flies The S&P 500

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Tue pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Markets continued to rally as the S&P recorded its 30th record high of the year and closed above the 2000 mark for the first time ever. Investors were encouraged Tuesday by more “tasty” corporate M&A news (i.e. Burger King) and a jump in consumer confidence and durable goods orders.

Regarding Burger King (BKW), the U.S.-based restaurant chain officially announced today that it agreed to merge with the Canada-based Tim Hortons restaurant chain. The $11 billion deal is poised to create the world’s third-largest fast-food company that should realize about $23 billion in annual sales from 18,000 restaurants in over 100 countries. Take a bite out of that! Tim Hortons’ (THI) stock surged 8.5% to close at $81.05, and Burger King’s (BKW) stock fell 4.3% to $31.00.

In economic news, consumer confidence rose for the fourth-straight month as the Conference Board’s closely watched index jumped to a seven-year high in August. Also, we heard today that orders for durable goods soared 22.6% in July on strong demand for commercial aircraft.

7 of our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight gained with 5 of them again making new highs for the year.

Read More

S&P Breaks New Barriers; Crosses The 2,000 Mark

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Mon pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

The S&P 500 index broke the 2,000 level for the first time in history today and notched its 29th record close. However, the index dropped later in the day to close at 1998. The other major indexes had notable gains today, with the Dow and Nasdaq both finishing up 0.4%.

The rally today was powered by more deal activity here in the U.S., including a report that fast-food giant Burger King (BKW) is in talks to buy Canadian doughnut chain Tim Hortons (THI). Also, today we heard comments from central bankers in Europe and Japan over the weekend that more market stimulus may be in the pipeline.

Stocks have rallied three straight weeks now as investors continue to be on an improving U.S. economy and a plethora of better-than-expected Q2 earnings announcements. For the recent earnings season, companies in the S&P 500 posted profit growth of 8.4%.

The continued strong data on the economy has enabled investors to generally shrug off geopolitical concerns. The stock market, however, is no longer considered cheap; some argue that the market is trading accordingly with historical norms, while bears warn that stocks are getting pricey.

All of our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight joined the rally with 5 of them making new highs for the year.

Read More

ETFs/Mutual Funds On The Cutline – Updated Through 08/22/2014

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 398 ETFs, of which currently 344 (last week 325) 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. 73 ETFs (last week 71) have managed to remain in bullish territory after the recent market volatility.

The third report covers Mutual Funds on the Cutline. There are currently 776 (last week 708) above the line and 74 below it out of the 850 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.