[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the Markets It was a choppy session with macro data serving another notice that economic conditions are weakening, a theme I have been pounding on for quite some time. Today, things started with disappointing U.S productivity, the key to a high living standard, which declined at an annual pace of 0.6% for the 1st quarter …
Looking For Direction
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the Markets It was a mixed day with the major indexes looking for a catalyst that never materialized. Equities meandered, and only the Dow managed to eke out a meager gain of +0.04%. It’s been a sideways pattern with the S&P 500 closing 2,388, 2,387, 2,388, 2,384, 2,388, 2,391 and 2,387 over the past 7 …
Uncertainty Reigns; Dollar Gets Pummeled
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the Markets Uncertainty and volatility reigned supreme as Secretary of State Tillerson’s meeting in Russia initially generated a small relief rally in the dollar with bond yields shooting higher. Then the hammer came down as Trump commented on a variety of issues including China and the overvalued US dollar. That was all it took, and …
Equities Edge Down As Gold Jumps
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the Markets After yesterday’s “good news” by the Fed that interest rates will be hiked, which produced a nice rally, today’s action was range bound as the major indexes hovered close to the unchanged line with only the Nasdaq eking out a meager +0.01% gain. To get upward momentum soaring again, we need more news …
Dow Slices Through The 20,000 Milestone Marker
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the Markets It seemed like forever, but it’s been only 28 days of treading water before upward momentum was sufficient enough to conquer the 20k milestone. Looking back to the 800 plus point drop in the Dow during election night, which appeared to signal a return to bear market territory, it’s been a truly remarkable …
New ETFs On The Block: ALPS Enhanced Put Write Strategy ETF (PUTX)
Investment managers often resort to derivatives trading to enhance portfolio yields. A frequently used income generation strategy involves selling call or put strategies when the investment manager is reasonably sure about the market’s direction after analyzing the macros. However, if the timing is wrong, the premium collected from put options could prove insufficient to offset the losses suffered due to …