Posts Tagged ‘etf’

(Tad Majerek) - If you are like many investors, you most probably have been noticing and keeping up with the recent market fluctuations. During these times, you may be looking for opportunities to help protect your investments and possibly generate some income from your portfolio. The good news is there are several strategies investors can use to help increase the income generated from their investments and help protect your portfolio during turbulent markets. Let’s take a look at some of these strategies:

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(Lee Siler) - A deeper than expected jobless number has stocks reeling for the second day in a row. After suffering the worst one-day performance in months, the major averages are indicating a significantly lower opening. In September U.S. employers cut a worse than expected 263,000 jobs which took the unemployment rate from 9.7% to 9.8%. Analysts expected non-farm payrolls to drop 180,000 in September; this is a far cry from the actual number.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks got hit yesterday, as we start the worst period for the market. It's no secret that based on history the stock market performs its worst during the month of September. So it should've been a surprise when the major averages sold off from start to finish on the first day of the month. I've been expecting this pullback for several weeks now. But, investors continued to buy shares despite and economy that is still on unsure footing.

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(Lee Siler) - Last week the major averages treaded water, but the sentiment was changing. Despite a plethora of good economic data, the stock market was unable to gain any ground. In fact, there were several sessions where the market rallied right out of the gate, but by the end of the day was barely above the Mendoza line. In my opinion, this is a sign that the market is getting tired and the buyers are fading. What's more, the overseas markets have been correcting for weeks. China took a 20% hit a few weeks ago before rebounding slightly. However, overnight the Shanghai Index tanked almost 7%.

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(Lee Siler) - A dismal jobs report on Thursday sent the market plunging before the 4th of July holiday weekend. The U.S. lost 467,000 jobs in June. That was more than expected and took the overall unemployment rate to 9.5%, the highest since 1983. Stocks dropped more than 2.5% across the board. At the same time the price of crude also tanked by more than 4%. A drop in crude prices should be conducive to an economic recovery, but it may also be a sign that the economy is still not on solid ground.

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(Lee Siler) - Markets got wacked yesterday, as the economic outlook for 2009 and 2010 was grimmer than initially expected. The World Bank, a government funded lender to poor countries, said the global economy will contract 2.9% this year. That's much worse than the 1.7% previous projected. The World Bank also cut its 2010 outlook to 2% growth versus its previous forecast of 2.3% for 2010. Also in the news, which shouldn't be a surprise, the government announced that they see unemployment getting to 10%. This was widely predicted, but finally confirmed.

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(Lee Siler) - Things at General Motors are getting bleaker by the minute, as the company pulled an offering that would convert its debt to equity. The bondholders revolted the offer and gave GM no choice but to cancel the deal. This event will likely be the straw that breaks GM's back and pushes them into bankruptcy. On the news GM is down 12% and probably on its way to zero.

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(Lee Siler) - The major averages took a hit yesterday, as the banks sold off right from the open. After weeks of terrific performance, the financial stocks dropped on a wave of profit taking. As I mentioned yesterday, I sold all of my financial stocks and ETF's on Friday. I simply had a hunch that these stocks were way over done. Two months ago they represented some tremendous value. But, since then these stocks have made a parabolic move up. What's more, the banks that are in need of more capital will likely be doing secondary offerings and flooding the market with additional stock. This additional stock will cause some dilution and hence, will probably put some pressure on those issues. That said, there's not as much value in these stocks today...

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