Gold has been a major topic of discussion thus far in 2015. We saw Gold prices make a violent move up at the beginning of the year only to fall just as quickly in February. It feels like Gold has been in a bear market for years and years, but amazingly, it’s been fairly stable for the last year and a half. To get a better idea of what is
Our society seemingly has given way to shorter time frames. We simply revel in looking at the next minute rather than “tomorrow”. In this fast-paced Information Age, we all want a little bit of instant gratification… and we want it sooner than now. I could digress into other areas of life as we know it, but that’s a broader societal question. What I want to write about is how our behavioral need for a
As the major stock market indices march higher, all eyes are on the NASDAQ Composite. This popular tech index is getting a ton of press lately because it’s approaching its former all-time “bubble” highs from 2000. Yep, it took 15 years to get back to these levels. I’m also seeing a lot of “buzz” about how it’s different this time. Well folks, since TIME really doesn’t exist I’m not sure what
I spend a lot of my time writing about the common mistakes made by investors because I operate under the assumption that cutting down on unforced errors could drastically improve portfolio performance for a majority of investors. The behavior gap between reported fund returns and actual investor returns that results from poorly timed purchases and sales is probably the most pervasive problem facing investors today. Well-known funds such as the Fairholme Fund
Many of our readers know that our big-picture charts for equity and commodity markets fit together to imply a somewhat pessimistic scenario for the global economy in coming years. We’re not gloomy by nature, but we go where the charts tell us. At present, global equity markets show topping patterns. Meanwhile, declining prices for major commodities match expectations of an economic slowdown. Although we see potential reversal signals in most
As we look around the globe, we are seeing stronger global equities markets that have benefitted from what investors perceive to be a safer playing field. And this has shown up in lower bonds and gold prices, and a falling Volatility Index (VIX). The net result: The S&P 500 is up nearly 6 percent for February, on pace for it’s best February showing since 1998. Note that this post went out to our email
Small caps have finally broken out from their resistance level with the Russell 2000 (RUT) so far holding above the important 1220 level. Bullish momentum may carry the index another 2-3% higher, but that should be about it. The RUT has rallied from 1153 to 1232 for a gain of 6.85% in the last 16 trading days. For traders that think this rally might have another small leg higher, a
The landscape of international investing has become more complex than ever, particularly for ETF investors. The reason for this is actually a good thing – there are now more choices than ever when it comes to varying country, regional, economic development, or currency exposure than ever. So there are a wide variety of international ETFs to choose from. The hottest trend right now is in currency-hedged ETFs that hold a
The ongoing Greece negotiations have overshadowed the improving technical conditions of several European equity markets. The London Financial Times Index (FTSE) is attempting to breakout above the 1999 highs after successful tests of the 200-week sma in late 2014. The French CAC 40 Index (CAC) has broken out from a multi-year channel after a successful test of the 200-week in 2014. The FTSE Milan Index (MIB), representing the Italian stock
On Friday the S&P 500 closed at an all time high while the Volatility Index (VIX) went into the weekend just under 15. While a value of 15 isn’t incredibly low, it is on the lower end of the 3 month range. While everything looks great on the surface, other measures of volatility might be flashing a warning sign. However, before we head too far down the road of discussing