Last Week In Review: ETF News And Blog Posts To 4/29/2012

Ulli Market Review Contact

In case you missed it, here’s a summary of the ETF topics and market reviews I posted to my blog during the week ending on 4/29/2012.

Strong earnings, despite lowered expectations, were the main story last week, which powered the major indexes higher despite some very questionable economic reports. A low GDP number failed to damp enthusiasm, and the S&P 500 gained four days in a row.

With one more trading day left, we are now within striking distance of where we stared the month of April. Despite downgrades in Spain, Europe was fairly quiet this week, but that may change as we are nearing the final round of the French elections on May 6 along with elections in Greece.

Depending on expectations and outcome, that could sure challenge the continuation of any remaining upward momentum in the US markets.

This week, we covered the following:

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The Weekly Interview: Will The Fed Rescue The Markets Again Via QE-3?

Ulli Market Review Contact

Now that the Q1 GDP number has come lower than expected, are we going to witness another round of quantitative easing after the present “Operation Twist” ends in June?

Mark Luschini, Chief Investment Strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott doesn’t think so, especially in an election year.

The yield on 10-year Treasuries is still low below 2 percent. As investors continue to seek refuge in safe-haven assets, other asset classes like equities remain on the sidelines. Mark thinks a shock treatment is required to force people out of bond markets or bond mutual funds. However, people who believed in bonds were vindicated by the Fed’s QEs that resulted in a directional tailwind in the third-year of easing.

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Taking Stock: These Latin American ETFs Are Red Hot; Are They Really A Buy?

Ulli Country ETFs Contact

The Latin American countries have survived last year’s down-turn rather well and, after little slippages, the growth engines are humming again. The latest IMF report is rather upbeat about the Latin American and Caribbean economies and expects them to pick up pace following a slight slowdown in 2012.

You should, however, remember that these economies are heavily dependent on commodity exports and their growth depends on global economic environment. The Chinese economy has been the major driver for growth for these countries and China is showing signs of a slowdown. Nonetheless, if Western economies pick up, the long term outlook for this region remains attractive.

Among Latin American countries, Brazil and Columbia remain attractive so let’s look at some details:

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04-27-2012

Ulli Newsletter Archives Contact

ETF/No Load Fund Tracker Newsletter For Friday, April 27, 2012

ETF/No Load Fund Tracker StatSheet

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

https://theetfbully.com/2012/04/weekly-statsheet-for-the-etfno-load-fund-tracker-newsletter-updated-through-04262012/

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Market Commentary

Friday, April 27, 2012

MAJOR MARKET ETFS END WEEK ON A HIGH; GLDX RISES, DXJ SINKS

US stocks advanced Friday, extending weekly gains as strong corporate earnings outweighed disappointments over weaker than expected first-quarter GDP growth.

Treasury 10-year notes settled lower after hitting a twelve week high triggered by European contagion fears.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) climbed 0.2 percent to close the week at 13,228.31, up 1.5 percent for the week with Cisco Systems (CSCO) leading the pack. This is the blue-chip index’s second straight week of gains. 19 stocks of the 30-component index closed higher while consumer-goods company Procter & Gamble Co (PG) dropped the most, losing 3.6 percent on the day over weak 2012 guidance.

The S&P 500 Index (SPX) climbed 0.2 percent to 1403.36 with online travel company Expedia (EXPE) and e-retailer Amazon (AMZN) gaining the most, adding 23 percent and 15 percent respectively.

The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite Index (COMP) rose 0.6 percent, up 2.3 percent over last Friday.

Yield on the benchmark 10-year notes settled 0.01 percentage point lower at 1.93 percent for the week, after tumbling to a near three-month low of 1.88 percent.

Yield on 30-year bonds settled at 3.06 percent, a level last seen on March 29. Latest government data showed the economy expanded at a slower 2.2 percent annualized rate in the Jan-March quarter against an expected 2.7 percent growth, a negative fact which was simply ignored by the markets.

ETFs in the news:

The United States Natural Gas Fund LP (UNG) gained the most for the day, jumping 3.1 percent for the day. Natural gas has seen some strength off late with prices going up by about 15 percent over previous week.

A cooler-than-normal spring forecast has pushed UNG higher, pushing up related ETFs across the board. The premium laden iPath Dow Jones UBS Natural Gas Subindex Total Return ETN (GAZ) also ended in the positive territory, despite tumbling lower in early trade.

The Global X Gold Explorers ETF (GLDX) rose 3.73 percent, extending its winning streak for the third straight day. The small-caps-underlying ETF has managed to recover some of its losses suffered early this month. GLDX has seen wild day-to-day swings in recent times and you better watch it from the sidelines, if volatility is not your cup of tea.

Among the day’s top losers, the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity ETF (DXJ) stayed on top of the heap, losing 1.26 percent for the day. DXJ tracks the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Index, which provides access to Japanese equity along with hedging protection against fluctuations from the Japanese yen. This ETF leads when the Yen weakens, but lags when the currency strengthens against the greenback.

The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Healthcare Providers Index Fund (IHF) closed 0.91 percent lower after its 10th largest position, Coventry Health Care, tumbled eight percent on missed earnings target. Its number four holding Aetna also slipped 3 percent on strong selling pressure.

Our Trend Tracking Indexes (TTIs) followed the major indexes higher, and both remain above the line and in bullish territory. Here are this week’s closing numbers:

Domestic TTI: +5.38% (last week +4.60%)

International TTI: +4.00% (last week +3.23%)

Have a great week.

Ulli…

Disclosure: No holdings

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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 Duffy:

Q: Ulli: First thanks for your time and effort in providing your newsletter. On the 4-20-12 Cutline report, within the first three mutual funds, I see (UOPIX, and RYVYX) with a DD% of 7.84 and 7.83; would these have not stopped out at our 7% limit? DD% is draw-down from high?

A: Duffy: Yes, you are correct, however, but I am just reporting what the numbers are, so, if you had owned these funds from the beginning of the cycle, then you would be selling now.

If you had purchased them at a later date, then your high point, from which to calculate the sell stop, would be different.

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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/

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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 Friday, April 27, 2012

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/2012/04/weekly-statsheet-for-the-etfno-load-fund-tracker-newsletter-updated-through-04262012/

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Market Commentary

Friday, April 27, 2012

MAJOR MARKET ETFS END WEEK ON A HIGH; GLDX RISES, DXJ SINKS

US stocks advanced Friday, extending weekly gains as strong corporate earnings outweighed disappointments over weaker than expected first-quarter GDP growth.

Treasury 10-year notes settled lower after hitting a twelve week high triggered by European contagion fears.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) climbed 0.2 percent to close the week at 13,228.31, up 1.5 percent for the week with Cisco Systems (CSCO) leading the pack. This is the blue-chip index’s second straight week of gains. 19 stocks of the 30-component index closed higher while consumer-goods company Procter & Gamble Co (PG) dropped the most, losing 3.6 percent on the day over weak 2012 guidance.

The S&P 500 Index (SPX) climbed 0.2 percent to 1403.36 with online travel company Expedia (EXPE) and e-retailer Amazon (AMZN) gaining the most, adding 23 percent and 15 percent respectively.

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Weekly StatSheet For The ETF/No Load Fund Tracker Newsletter – Updated Through 04/26/2012

Ulli ETF StatSheet Contact

ETF/Mutual Fund Data updated through Thursday, April 26, 2012

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

The domestic 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 Trend Tracking Index (TTI—green line in above chart) has broken above its long term trend line (red) by +5.14%. Be sure to tune into my blog for the latest updates.

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