05-09-2014

Ulli Newsletter Archives Contact

ETF/No Load Fund Tracker Newsletter For May 9, 2014

ETF/No Load Fund Tracker StatSheet

————————————————————-

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

https://theetfbully.com/2014/05/weekly-statsheet-for-the-etfno-load-fund-tracker-newsletter-updated-through-05082014/

————————————————————

Market Commentary

Friday, May 9, 2014

DOW SQUEEZES TO NEW HIGH AS THE END OF Q1’s EARNINGS SEASON APPROACHES

Fri pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving The Markets

The Dow squeezed past a new record high today, gaining 0.2%. However, celebrations remained fairly mild given that the Dow’s performance is essentially flat for the year. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both closed out the day in positive territory, which was a nice way to end a rather sour week of trading given the continued selloff of high-flying tech and biotech stocks.

Throughout the week it has been hard to overlook the headlines surrounding the upcoming IPO of Alibaba later this year. Wall Street analysts remain optimistic on Alibaba, due to its huge size and growth potential in the massive Chinese online consumer market. Many are speculating that the IPO will be the largest of all time and thus has the potential to top the $17.9 billion IPO of Visa.

Well, the Q1 earnings season is coming to a close, and near final results show that corporations are continuing to fare well.  With 90% of companies in the S&P 500 having reported first-quarter results, earnings are up 5.4% year-over-year and 69% of companies have posted better-than-expected earnings according to Thompson Reuters. This all bodes well for an optimistic outlook on continued economic growth as we continue on into the second quarter of the year.

Nonetheless, markets remain stuck in a sideways pattern, plagued by overvaluation speculation and remnants of the gains many realized on the mega performance of 2013’s market.

Our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight went sideways during this bouncy week; however, one of them made a new high today and 9 of them are on the plus side YTD.

2. ETFs in the Spotlight

In case you missed the announcement and description of this section, you can read it here again.

It features 10 broadly diversified ETFs from my HighVolume list as posted every Monday. Furthermore, they are screened for the lowest MaxDD% number meaning they have been showing better resistance to temporary sell offs than all others over the past year.

In other words, none of them ever triggered their 7.5% sell stop level during this time period, which included a variety of severe market pullbacks but no move into outright bear market territory.

Here are the 10 candidates:

MaxDD

All of them are in “buy” mode, meaning their prices are above their respective long term trend lines by the percentage indicated (%M/A).

Year to date, here’s how the above candidates have fared so far:

YTD

To be clear, the first table above shows the position of the various ETFs in relation to their respective long term trend lines (%M/A), while the second one tracks their trailing sell stops in the “Off High” column. The “Action” column will signal a “Sell” once the -7.5% point is taken out in the “Off High” column.

3. Domestic Trend Tracking Indexes (TTIs)

Our Trend Tracking Indexes (TTIs) slipped from last Friday’s close but remain above their respective long-term trend lines by the following percentages:

Domestic TTI: +2.05% (last Friday +2.42%)

International TTI: +2.87% (last Friday +3.61%)

Have a great weekend.

Ulli…

Disclosure: I am obliged to inform you that I, as well as advisory clients of mine, own some of these listed ETFs. Furthermore, they do not represent a specific investment recommendation for you, they merely show which ETFs from the universe I track are falling within the guidelines specified.

————————————————————-

READER Q & A FOR THE WEEK

All Reader Q & A’s are listed at our web site!
Check it out at:

http://www.successful-investment.com/q&a.php

A note from reader Joseph:

Q: Ulli: This is more a comment than a question. I really like your 10 ETFs in the Spotlight addition, which I follow daily. I used to be the type of investor who could not be invested in too many mutual funds and/or ETFs.

I now use the spotlight ETFs as my guide, have reduced my total holdings sharply, update my trailing stops daily and have found that my investing endeavors currently not only take much less time but also have reduced my emotional decision making in the process. I am much more relaxed and feel confident that I can better handle the uncertainties of the market place. Thanks for that.

A: Joseph: While I don’t dwell on this often enough, the issues you have addressed exactly describe the main benefits of the trend tracking methodology. Having a plan in place that deals with whatever the market gives you, let’s you make better decisions and, as importantly, allows you to sleep better at night.

———————————————————-

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR INVESTMENTS PROFESSIONALLY MANAGED?

Do you have the time to follow our investment plans yourself? If you are a busy professional who would like to have his portfolio managed using our methodology, please contact me directly or get more details at:

https://theetfbully.com/personal-investment-management/

———————————————————

Back issues of the ETF/No Load Fund Tracker are available on the web at:

https://theetfbully.com/newsletter-archives/

ETF/No Load Fund Tracker Newsletter For May 9, 2014

Ulli ETF Tracker Contact

ETF/No Load Fund Tracker StatSheet

————————————————————-

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

https://theetfbully.com/2014/05/weekly-statsheet-for-the-etfno-load-fund-tracker-newsletter-updated-through-05082014/

————————————————————

Market Commentary

Friday, May 9, 2014

DOW SQUEEZES TO NEW HIGH AS THE END OF Q1’s EARNINGS SEASON APPROACHES

Fri pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving The Markets

The Dow squeezed past a new record high today, gaining 0.2%. However, celebrations remained fairly mild given that the Dow’s performance is essentially flat for the year. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both closed out the day in positive territory, which was a nice way to end a rather sour week of trading given the continued selloff of high-flying tech and biotech stocks.

Throughout the week it has been hard to overlook the headlines surrounding the upcoming IPO of Alibaba later this year. Wall Street analysts remain optimistic on Alibaba, due to its huge size and growth potential in the massive Chinese online consumer market. Many are speculating that the IPO will be the largest of all time and thus has the potential to top the $17.9 billion IPO of Visa.

Well, the Q1 earnings season is coming to a close, and near final results show that corporations are continuing to fare well.  With 90% of companies in the S&P 500 having reported first-quarter results, earnings are up 5.4% year-over-year and 69% of companies have posted better-than-expected earnings according to Thompson Reuters. This all bodes well for an optimistic outlook on continued economic growth as we continue on into the second quarter of the year.

Nonetheless, markets remain stuck in a sideways pattern, plagued by overvaluation speculation and remnants of the gains many realized on the mega performance of 2013’s market.

Our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight went sideways during this bouncy week; however, one of them made a new high today and 9 of them are on the plus side YTD.

Read More

Weekly StatSheet For The ETF/No Load Fund Tracker Newsletter – Updated Through 05/08/2014

Ulli ETF Tracker Contact

ETF/Mutual Fund Data updated through Thursday, May 8, 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 +2.03%.

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

Equities Bounce Aimlessly; European Central Bank May Cut Interest Rates

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Thur pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving The Markets

There was not much movement up or down in the U.S. equity markets today. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed slightly in the red zone, while the Dow managed to squeeze out some positive gains. Utilities and technology companies led sector losses. The trend continues to be investors selling out of big growth and momentum stocks and moving into less risky value stocks.

Keurig Green Mountain and Twenty-First Century Fox were among the winners after reporting earnings, while electric carmaker Tesla slumped. Tesla Motors (TSLA) fell $19.72, or 9.8%, to $181.67, after the company reported a $49.8 million first-quarter loss late Wednesday and said that reinvestment in the company would weigh on earnings later this year.

In Europe, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said today that the ECB is ready to cut interest rates next month if needed and expressed concern about the euro’s exchange rate. There seems to be a growing assumption amongst international investors that the ECB is going to start a quantitative easing program. Thus, we have seen more and more investors pouring cash into the euro-area bond markets amid optimism the ECB will step in to support the debt.

Our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight went sideways with one of them making a new high; 9 of them remain on the plus side YTD.

Read More

Markets Bounce Higher; Responding Well To Yellen’s Speech

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Wed pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving The Markets

Wednesday was a rather uneventful day across the board with the S&P 500 and Dow climbing and the Nasdaq stumbling. Tech stocks continued to fall out of favor as worries of overvaluation continue to be the culprit. A number of Nasdaq listed stocks have taken quite a beating over the past two weeks, thus it comes as no surprise that Twitter (TWTR), AOL (AOL), GroupOn (GRPN), Zullily (ZU) and FireEye (FEYE) are all down more than 20% in the last two days.

On the positive, investors were receptive to Janet Yellen’s speech today, wherein she told the Joint Economic Committee of Congress that a tough job market and weak inflation meant that the Fed will likely keep borrowing rates low for a “considerable time.” Thus, the economy will still need the Fed’s help.

In tech news, Yahoo’s (YHOO) stock dropped 6.6% today, which came as a surprise in that Yahoo is one of the largest shareholders of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, which filed Tuesday its much-anticipated plans to sell shares in what could be one of the biggest initial public offerings ever.

And finally, Ford Motors (F) announced today that it will buy back about 116 million shares of company stock worth about $1.8 billion. The Michigan-based automaker says the buybacks will help offset potential dilution from convertible debt and stock-based compensation for employees. The stocked closed the day up 1%.

Our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight recovered nicely with one of them making a new high; 9 of them remain on the plus side YTD.

Read More

A Pullback Tuesday For The Markets

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Tue pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving The Markets

Markets took a hit today, a day after the Dow and S&P 500 closed near record highs. The Nasdaq took the largest hit, while the S&P and Dow dropped dropped by lesser percentages. Again, we see the Nasdaq, which is filled with those big momentum social media and tech stocks, showing the highest sensitivity to market volatilities.

Twitter (TWTR) shares led the plunge, officially hitting a new low as company insiders became eligible to sell their stock today as their “lock-up” period ended. Under federal securities law, company founders and executives must wait six months before selling any shares following an initial public offering. Netflix (NFLX), TripAdvisor (TRIP) and Amazon (AMZN) all took a beating as well today, while Target (TGT) shares continued to tumble following the exit of their CEO yesterday. In short, it was not a good day for the big momentum stocks that have captured so many headlines so far this year.

In more positive news, I saw a report today that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in March as exports rose to the second highest level on record. Sales of aircraft, autos and farm goods were the big leaders. The deficit declined to $40.4 billion, down 3.6 percent from a revised February imbalance of $41.9 billion.

Our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight slipped with 8 of them remaining on the plus side YTD.

Read More