RSS Updates
Email UpdatesIf you think that the credit issue and risk in sovereign debt is going away any time soon, you better think again. A small under-covered downgrade today is something which should be reviewed by those who are concerned about international sovereign debt ratings. It might seem odd that ratings of ETFs and funds might see the same sort of collateral risks seen elsewhere as if they are financial institutions. Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has lowered its fund credit quality rating on the SPDR Barclays Capital International Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE: BWX). This may sound irrelevant on the surface, but this is one of those calls that could have longer-term credit implications for all entities out there which have ties to weaker sovereign nations.
Posts related to ‘ETF’
Potash, Ag, and Fertilizer… Cool Again, No Stink (POT, CF, TRA, AGU, MOO)
How many quarters have we had to hear from fertilizer and potash companies that the earnings results will be disappointing but good news is closer rather than farther away? This has been the trend for about 9 months or so. But now things may finally be changing for the sector. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. (NYSE: POT) last night raised its guidance. We have also seen CF Industries (NYSE: CF) and Terra Industries (NYSE: TRA) confirm a $4.7 billion merger.
Finally. Fundamentals are catching up with share prices.
6 New Leveraged Direxion ETFs (BRIL, INDL, SOXL, BRIS, INDZ, SOXS)
Direxion is launching six new Direxion Shares Daily ETFs, making the leveraged ETF trading instruments now at 34 ETFs. These will seek 200% of the daily performance or 200% of the inverse of the daily performance of the BNY Mellon BRIC Select ADR Index and the Indus India Index. There is also a 300% bull and bear fund that tracks the PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index.
The six new Direxion ETFs are as follows:
The Unusual Suspects (BRK-B, CH, ECH, NBG, CRXX, COST, TM, F, RDY, MIL, PALM, SIRI)
This coming week we have many key issues coming front and center in our list of “Unusual Suspects.” Some are ongoing issues with mergers and the waves of earnings reports seem to be quieting down considerably. We had big news from Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-B) this weekend and expect more coverage Monday on this. We are also watching The Chile Fund Inc. (NYSE: CH), iShares MSCI Chile Investable Market Index (NYSE: ECH), and National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) for international macroeconomic and social events. We also have coming events this week in CombinatoRx, Incorporated (NASDAQ: CRXX), Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST), Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) and Ford Motor (NYSE: F). Other issues to watch closely this week are Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. (NYSE: RDY), Millipore Inc. (NYSE: MIL), Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) and SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI).
We have given some wide expectations, issues to watch, and background data on each stock for this coming week.
Bulls and Bears Fight Over Gold… The $8,000 Call (GLD, SGOL, GDX, GDXJ)
Gold was supposed to keep eroding, or so its chart was indicating, earlier this week. But the weakening dollar vs. euro trade coming back and variations of rumors that China was buying that gold that IMF sold or that China was stress testing the Yuan came into play. We have looked around at the end of the week news commentary and late-week analysis on gold and the madness between bulls and bears only continues to grow. We still have bearish and cautious calls on one end, and then a crazy $8,000.00 per ounce call on the other end of the spectrum. The two big ETFs we follow for gold are the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) and ETFS Gold Trust ETF (NYSE: SGOL). We usually shy away from the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) and the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ), but there is an interesting performance observation happening here in the larger of the two ETFs.
More Cold Days For Gold (GLD, SGOL, GDX, GDXJ)
It has been hard to not notice the sideways trading action in gold of late. Sure, you have the potential decline of the Euro, the rising dollar, mixed economic data globally, China keeping the brakes on to stall inflation and to prevent overheating, and more. Throw in Bernanke promising to keep rates very low despite a hiked discount rate. But now we have some new developments in the charts. We are looking here at the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) and ETFS Gold Trust ETF (NYSE: SGOL). Adam Hewison, at our affiliate INO who called for gold to run from $900 late in 2009 to $1100 and then $1200 or higher, has a new audio-video using an interesting technical analysis to explain why gold may have another month of trouble ahead.
Tiger Woods Caused The Stock Rally, Really (DIA, SPY, QQQQ)
Today was very confusing for traders. You had a housing number that may have incorrectly gave a feeling that housing is about to rapidly get back on its feet and we had a tame retail inflation figure via CPI that did not at all mirror the wholesale inflation via PPI yesterday. Throw in an off-meeting tightening (a.k.a. emergency tightening) from the Fed last night in the Discount Rate but not the Fed Funds Rate…. And to top it all off we had a significant media circus event with the first public and formal Tiger Woods apology via an 11:00 AM EST press conference with no Q&A allowed after Tiger read his speech. What if we told you that Tiger Woods was directly or indirectly responsible for the confirmation of the stock market rally today? This is almost impossible to make up and the numbers do not lie.
Emerging Market Surprise: Turkey Upgraded by S&P (TUR, TKF, TKC)
If you have read the news about Greece, Spain, and other PIIGS nations, you might think that the EuroZone and any neighboring states would be in the tank. If you asked about Turkey without making any quick research you might just lump it into the same pile. Well, Standard & Poor’s says differently. S&P has actually raised Turkey’s credit ratings today.
Turkey is still not the easiest country to invest in from ETFs, closed-end funds, and ADRs. But there is one of each that investors here in the U.S. can use. There is the iShares MSCI Turkey Invest Market Index (NYSE: TUR), the Turkish Investment Fund Inc. (NYSE: TKF), and Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (NYSE: TKC).
Changing Solar Sentiment Into First Solar Earnings (FSLR, JASO, TAN, PBW, WFR, ENER, SPWRA)
This will not be the first time you have heard this statement from 24/7 Wall St… “Solar stocks may be nothing more than leveraged bets that react to sudden price moves in the price of crude oil.” First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is the leader of the solar power sector, and it is due to report earnings after the close of trading on Thursday. The recent price activity may be tied to or at least aided by the rapid rise in the price of oil. But personal opinions aside, there is beginning to be the feel of a significant sentiment change on how to treat the company on its earnings.
We do not want to say that First Solar will impact every solar player out there on a generic statement, but we are going to look specifically at JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO), Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy (NYSE: TAN), PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (NYSE: PBW), MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR), Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER), and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA). We have looked at developments here on each of these stocks.
Read More
Spain’s Surprising Bond Sale (SNF, EWP)
If you have followed all the news about sovereign debt risks in the PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain), you would think that perhaps the Euro was about to implode overnight or that suddenly debt holders were going to have to figure out how to repossess a country. Yesterday, there was talk of a 15-year debt maturity coming out of Spain, and the deal has priced. It looks like the demand was ample and the spread is not indicative at all that Spain is about to slide off into the Atlantic Ocean.
Read More
BofA/Merrill Lynch Resumes Homebuilder Coverage (TOL, BZH, KBH, RYL, DHI, HOV, PHM, LEN, MDC, XHB)
Bank of America/Merrill Lynch has initiated coverage of the homebuilder sector this morning. Technically this is a resumption of coverage. While some are positive calls, there are still some cautious undertones here from the firm. Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) was initiated with an “Underperform” rating with a $16.00 target. The “Neutral” rated homebuilder is Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) with a $4.50 target. The “BUY” rated homebuilders are as follows:
- KB Home (NYSE: KBH) with a $20 target,
- Ryland Group Inc. (NYSE: RYL) with a $28 target,
- DR Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) with a $16 target,
- Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: HOV) with a $5 target,
- Pulte Homes Inc. (NYSE: PHM) with a $13 target,
- Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) with a $21 target,
- and MDC Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MDC) with a $43 target.
There has hardly been any reaction in the SPDR S&P Homebuilders (NYSE: XHB) this morning, but most of these components are indicated higher after coverage was initiated this morning.
You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear about top analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPOs and secondary offerings, ongoing day trader and options trader alerts, stock and market rumors, Buffett and guru investor news, M&A and more.
JON C. OGG
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
More Triple-Leverage ETF Launches (TQQQ, UDOW, UMDD, URTY, SQQQ, SDOW, SMDD, SRTY)
Usually we think of Direxion in the world of triple-leverage and triple-inverse funds, but there are others. And now there are more… ProFunds Group is launching new Triple Leverage ETFs and Triple-Inverse ETFs. For triple leverage up, it is offering tracking returns for the NASDAQ-100, DJIA, S&P Mid-Cap 400, and the Russell 2000. Its Triple-inverse launches are on the same indexes. ProShares already has triple-leverage and triple-inverse S&P 500 Index ETFs, so this should make it have a large spread of the major US equity indexes for stock traders.
Read More
More Calls For a Crash (DIA, QQQQ, SPY, NBG, GLD)
We are getting more and more caution from technicians and fundamental analysts that bring back the notion and fears of another market correction. Some are expecting far worse than just a correction. The good news is that many of these seem almost implausible, short of the Great Recession coming back even stronger and getting far worse. Some history does not ever get repeated, but those who choose to ignore history often doom themselves to repeat history.
Read More
Correction Call: Gartman Joins Prechter and Soros (GLD, QQQQ, SPY, PG)
The Gartman Letter has been a key technical advisory service for years and years and has become one of the benchmark technical reports. We have already heard both billionaire George Soros and then Robert Prechter of Elliott Wave call gold a serious bubble. Here we watch the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) rather than spot gold because of an ease of trading for investors. and we have already heard Robert Prechter say in the last two weeks in his newsletter that this was “perhaps the last chance to get out of stocks with the DJIA in quintuple digits.” This echoes what our affiliate Adam Hewison said about the NASDAQ heading down to 1,800 or worse and we follow that via the PowerShares QQQ (NASDAQ: QQQQ). Last night we saw Dennis Gartman jump in on throwing the towel on the stock market.
Read More
Technical Alert: JPMorgan Vs. Key Banks (JPM, BAC, C, WFC, XLF, FAS)
The recent trading days have been more than interesting in the market and in the financial sector. The big change came right at the same time that the banks looked poised for another potential breakout to the upside, but the rules of the game unexpectedly changed in short order. To top it off, we have a very different read in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: WFC) versus its peers to the tune Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C). More importantly, the JPMorgan chart flies against the two key financial ETF products in the financial sector: Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLF) and Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (NYSE: FAS).
The January Barometer Curse Returns (DIA, SPY, QQQQ, YTEC, GLD)
Friday marked month-end for January in the financial markets. There have been many efforts out there to discuss the market’s direction, but perhaps the one issue that traders will be using to judge 2010 versus the run-up in 2009 this weekend is the notorious ‘January Barometer.’ The saying is, “As goes January, so goes the year…” If the January Barometer is a real prediction tool, the markets just ended on a down note for the DJIA (-3.46%), the S&P500 (-3.7%), and the NASDAQ (-5.3%). Without calling out any individual stocks, we will be looking specifically at the DIAMONDS Trust (NYSE: DIA), SPDRs (NYSE: SPY), and the PowerShares QQQ (NASDAQ: QQQQ) to track these indexes. We want to look at a broader slate of issues and other calls on each.
Read More
Oil Rig Counts Still On The Rise (BHI, OIH, USO)
The rig counts are still mostly heading in the right direction, at least they are if you want to see a robust oil sector along with some oil price stability. Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) has issued its weekly rig counting data, and the gains are interesting when you consider the recent price action of oil being off so much from recent highs. We are watching the Oil Services HOLDRs (NYSE: OIH) and the United States Oil (NYSE: USO) as the two key ETFs on the news.
Read More
WisdomTree’s Shrinking ETF Portfolio (WSDT, DBT, DRF, DBR, DPN, DPC, DDI, DGG, DEB, EEZ, USY)
WisdomTree (Pink Sheets: WSDT) has become fairly well-known in the world of exchange traded funds. But today is a sad day for ETF traders, and is just further evidence that there are some solid ETF strategies mixed with some really bad ETF strategies out there. WisdomTree is shutting down 10 ETFs. These will not destroy the company because it is said to be in the press release only 3% of the WisdomTree assets. That does not keep this from being an added question mark, nor will it exactly be good PR for the next ETF that the firm wants to launch.
Read More
Weekend Bargain Hunters Visiting PIIGS (PT, IRE, AIB, IRE, NBG, OTE, CCH, DRYS, DSX, SNF, EWP, BBVA, STD, REP, TEF)
First it was Iceland, then came the PIIGS… This is of course the acronym for Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain…. although this is really an issue of PIGS front and center without considering Italy. Greece is the standout issue that is the first or most dire due to its sovereign debt spreads widening out as rumors continue to mount that Germany and France are going to have to do an emergency rescue financing for that nation. This has so far been denied, but it seems unlikely that Greece will be able to get its deficits that are now estimated north of 12% of GDP and many doubt the country’s policy of ‘tax and spend’ is the answer to anything other than adding to recession. But there may be some hope that Greece is not going to weigh on the Euro and the EC forever. After the US market recovered we have seen some select bargain hunting here or at least some recovery off the lows.
Read More
Soros & Prechter: A Gold Bubble Ripe To Burst… (GLD, SGOL, GDXJ)
Gold has been on a tear and has performed better than stocks in recent years. But we have now seen a pullback and gold is back under $1,100.00 per ounce. While you can still find plenty of gold bulls out there, we are getting more and more pundits who believe that the great move of gold is behind it. If George Soros and Robert Prechter are right, investors will be more wary of the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) and ETFS GOLD TRUST (NYSE: SGOL) as the two key gold ETFs. That also will bring havoc for the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners (NYSE: GDXJ) as they are much more speculative around the price of the shiny yellow gold.
Read More
-
Today’s top tickerspy Indexes Regional Bank Sto... +1.4% Hospital Stocks +1.1% Rubber and Plasti... +1.0% Casino Stocks +1.0% Hotel Stocks +0.9% 
-
-
- House Call: To Buy or Not to Buy
- UPDATE: UK Darling: No Spending Giveaways In Upcoming Budget
- CORRECT: Thomas Weisel Sets Aside $4 Million For Auction-Rate Fine -Filing
- China Premier: To Tackle Drought In SW China, Keep Prices Stable
- UK Darling: UK Voters Would Not Welcome Budget Election Giveaways
- Possible Bomb Found On Passenger Plane In India--Report
-
-
- paidContent - Is FiLife Running On Borrowed Time?
- paidContent - Wireless Carriers Bicker Over Size Of Spectrum Holdings
- paidContent - FCC May Open Public-Safety Spectrum Block For Commercial Purposes
- paidContent - Right On Schedule, MediaNews' Parent Exits Chapter 11
- paidContent - Welcome To Microsoft Office. Would You Like A Microblog With Your Order?
- paidContent - March Madness: CBSSports.com Says It Served 3.4 Million Live Hours On Day One
-
