Markets Mixed As Investors Await Jobs Report On Friday

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Thur pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving The Markets

The S&P 500 ended nearly flat on Thursday as investors anxiously await Friday’s jobs report, though some gains in Internet shares helped lift the Nasdaq to positive territory late in the day. The anticipated (April) jobs report, which is expected to show that U.S. employment rose at its fastest pace in five months could give investors confidence that economic momentum will continue on through the next quarter.

Perhaps more convincing that the U.S. economy is trucking along is the fact that U.S. consumer spending recorded its largest gain in more than 4-1/2 years in March and factory activity accelerated last month. Remember that consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. When adjusted for inflation, it increased 0.7% in March after advancing 0.4% in February.

Shares of DirecTV Inc (DTV) experienced a surprising pop today of 4.1% after the Wall Street Journal reported that AT&T Inc (T) had approached the company about a possible acquisition. Other gainers on the day included TripAdvisor Inc (TRIP) which added 3.4%, while Amazon.com (AMZN) rose 1.2%.

Overseas, many of the major markets were closed for May Day holidays. However, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.3% on the day, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4%.

Our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight went sideways; no new highs were made today but 9 of them are remaining in the green YTD.

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Dow Closes At Record Level For The First Time This Year

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Wed pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving The Markets

Volatility was still the name of the game on this last day of April just as it has been for quite some time. All the major indexes gained while the S&P 500 managed to eke out a modest +0.64% for the month.

As expected, the Fed announced a reduction of $10 billion in its monthly bond buying program from $55 billion to $45 billion. Key interest rates remained unchanged despite weak GDP growth in the first quarter, which almost came to a standstill. Of course, there always hopeful optimists who believe that the Fed’s tapering means the economy is improving and should soon be able to carry its own weight. Personally, I have not seen enough data to support that view.

Although private sector hiring improved in April with employers adding the most jobs in some 5 months. The Chicago PMI also rebounded last month at the fastest pace in six months.

Our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight headed modestly higher with 3 of them making new highs today while 9 of them are now in the green YTD.

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Equities Continue To Climb On Positive Earnings Announcments

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Tue pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving The Markets

Stocks continued to move higher today, driven by continued positive earnings announcements. The major indexes climbed as the chart shows but the Nasdaq led with a gain of 0.73% on the day.

Notable corporate earnings announcements, that exceeded analyst expectations included Merck & Co (MRK) and Sprint (S). Q1 profit growth for S&P 500 companies is at 3.7% compared with a forecast for 2.1% at the beginning of the month. This bodes well for those who are looking to capitalize on those corporate earnings announcements left in the pipeline. This is another big week for earnings announcements with 135 companies in the S&P 500 reporting.

Looking ahead, the Federal Reserve ends its two-day meeting Wednesday with the release of its closely watched policy statement, while the U.S. government will release its April jobs report on Friday.

In international news, Chrysler’s shot at a significant slice of sales in China, the world’s largest auto market, has taken a major step forward with a deal to build three Jeep SUVs there in a venture with Guangzhou Automobile. Production of SUVs in China is expected to rise to 6 million by 2020, nearly twice the 3.15 million produced in 2013.

Our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight gained with 2 of them making new highs today while 9 of them are now in the green YTD.

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Market Sways—But Closes In Positive Territory

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Mond pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving The Markets

The market swayed back and forth today, but finished in positive territory across the board with the exception of the Nasdaq. And, despite today’s intraday volatility and chaotic price action, many major market indexes are not far from all-time highs.

Although markets ended up for the day, there was a notable selloff in big name social media stocks such as LinkedIn (LNKD), Facebook (FB), Yelp (YELP) and the Chinese social media company that went public earlier this month Weibo (WB).

In M&A news, takeover talks remain the buzz as Pfizer (PFE) reaffirmed its commitment to its potential $100 billion bid for AstraZeneca (AZN), while General Electric (GE) is reportedly attempting to buy Alstom’s (ALSMY) power turbines business.

We are still in the midst of Q1 earnings season announcements, with Twitter Inc (TWTR) and Nokia Corporation (NOK) among the high-profile names with earnings announcements coming up tomorrow. Amazon (AMZN) took a blow today after its sub-par earnings report. The stock continued its slide from Friday falling 3.1% on the day. Overall though, the majority of corporate earnings announcements have been exceeding reduced analyst’s forecasts.

Our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight inched higher with 3 of them making new highs today while 8 of them are remaining in the green YTD.

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ETFs/Mutual Funds On The Cutline – Updated Through 04/25/2014

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 351 (last week 365) 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. 77 ETFs (last week 80) have managed to remain in bullish territory after the recent market volatility.

The third report covers Mutual Funds on the Cutline. There are currently 601 (last week 652) above the line and 248 below it out of the 859 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: Could China Be The Biggest Market Threat This Year?

Ulli Market Review Contact

92835431The asset-allocation rotation that was witnessed over the past few weeks seems to be over now and the question whether that presaged something more broadly in the market investors really needed to worry about, no longer seems to be the case, said Dan Morris, global investment strategist at TIAA-CREF.

It did seem to be concentrated in the stocks that had done quite well as the big momentum reversed, but it didn’t tell much about the broad market, and the fundamentals remain quite solid, he added.

Asked to explain the strong economic fundamentals, Dan said it has been a benign market for equities. Inflation has been pretty low while GDP growth has been slow but steady, which is good. There’s no imminent threat to the macro-economic environment, be it from Europe or the US Fed. So, US corporations can really focus on increasing profitability since they are good at it, which in turn will drive equity prices through out the year, he observed.

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