Equity ETFs Reverse Losing Streak After Five Days; TAN Shines, VXX Sinks

Ulli Market Review Contact

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

Equity ETFs rebounded Thursday following a streak of five down days that had wiped out more than 3 percent of the major indices, as concerns over Spain eased and hopes for better-than-expected profits rose ahead of the earnings season following Alcoa’s surprise profit surge.

US Treasuries retreated after six sessions of gains amid rumors that Madrid wouldn’t require a Greece-style bailout as Spanish and Italian bonds climbed on robust demand. I don’t believe this for a minute; to my way of thinking, it’s just a matter of time when the need for another bailout makes front page news. The only question remains is “who’s next?”

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7 ETF Model Portfolios You Can Use – Updated through 4/10/2012

Ulli Model ETF Portfolios Contact

The long awaited and overdue correction finally set in with the S&P 500 sliding 5 days in a row. Since last week’s ETF Model Portfolio report, this benchmark has surrendered 3.8%.

Downward momentum accelerated over the past couple of days as a result of last Friday’s poor jobs report and renewed concerns about the European debt crisis with Spain’s rising interest rates being the center of attention.

All of your ETF model portfolios retreated with the moderate one (#4) still taking the top spot closely followed by the conservative option (#2). That’s no surprise since, during sell offs, those with the highest percentage of bond holdings will usually prevail.

One sell stop in portfolio #3 (VDE) just got triggered yesterday and, barring any rebound today, this holding will be liquidated.

Here’s the latest ETF Model Portfolio update:

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US Stocks Slip For Fifth Day; VXX Surges, GAZ Tanks

Ulli Market Review Contact

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

US stocks closed sharply down Tuesday, extending losses for the fifth session as fear trade gathered steam over Eurozone’s financial health.

All the three major stock indices tumbled more than 1.5 percent after the spread between Spanish and German bond yields surged in European trade, bringing back memories of the Greek crisis just before the beginning of Q1 earnings season.

As markets panicked over a possible European contagion, Treasury yields on 10-year notes dropped below 2 percent on strong demand as safe-haven appeal of US debts increased.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) slumped 1.7 percent registering its biggest fall this year Tuesday.  The S&P 500 Index (SPX) slipped 1.7 percent, knifing right through its 50-day moving average, and posting the largest single day point and percentage drop since December 8.

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US Equity ETFs Suffer Delayed Fall On Weak Jobs Data; VXX Rises For The Fifth Day While GAZ Slips

Ulli Market Review Contact

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

Following the government’s nonfarm payrolls report on Friday that showed companies added fewer jobs than forecast, US stocks suffered their biggest loss in over a month on Monday, reacting on the first trading day since the report was published last week.

Analysts however, attributed Monday’s pull-back to profit booking by investors, pointing out average monthly job-addition still tops the 200,000 mark.

As demand for US safe-haven assets shot up amid fears of a global slowdown, US 10-year Treasuries made their biggest gain in four weeks Monday. Yields on Treasuries dropped following speculations of further rounds of quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve in view of the lousy job market data.

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ETFs/Mutual Funds On The Cutline – Updated Through 4/5/2012

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 326 (last week 346) of them 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 93 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. 64 ETFs (last week 72) have managed to move into in bullish territory after the recent run up.

The third report covers Mutual Funds on the Cutline. There are currently 794 (last week 802) above the line and 67 below it out of the 861 that I follow.

Take a look:

1. ETF Master Cutline Report

2. ETF High Volume Cutline Report

3. MF Cutline Report

Last Week In Review: ETF News And Blog Posts To 4/8/2012

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 4/8/2012.

Again, last Monday provided the fireworks, after which we went downhill during the next four trading days.

Contributing to the decline of the major market ETFs during this Holiday shortened week were the notes of the FOMC meeting essentially downplaying the need for any more stimulus efforts by the Fed.

That pulled the rug out from any upward momentum; no surprise there as we have been living with rallies supported by QE efforts during 2010 and 2011. No one has any idea where the market indexes would level out at without support from the Fed.

Friday’s unemployment report came in way under expectations, and the futures market quickly dropped over 1%. We will see how this disappointment will affect the indexes on Monday when trading resumes.

Actually, in Wall Street’s perverse way of thinking, this could be good news for stocks as it brings the possibility of further Fed easing back into play again. Go figure…

This week, we covered the following:

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