Transocean

Enjoy today, but prepare for tomorrow: 05-03-10

Short-Term Key: Neutral Long-Term Key -63 (Neutral)

     We love it when the market keeps going up week after week. Who doesn't? But we also know better than to get carried away when the fundamentals do not support long-term gains.

      For now, our technical indicators say the uptrend is intact. The most important of these is the ratio of the relative strength of small caps vs. that of large caps, which remains positive. So we willingly maintain our exposure to stocks – but for the near-term only.

     How long will the rally continue? We can't say for certain. It could be as short as a month or as long as a year. Regardless, don't look on this as a return to the heyday of the 1990s. If anything, the fundamentals underlying the world's economy are getting worse. And that can only end in tears.

     It is worth mentioning, however, that in the very short term there are a few specks of grey. Over the past couple of days the market has become somewhat less discriminatory and that sometimes sets the stage for a very near term setback. But near term setbacks are always possible. Barring a sharp change in the indicators any correction should be less than 10 percent.Read more...

Market Update 03-08-10

Market Update
March 8, 2010
 
Short-Term Key: Negative
Long-Term Key: -86 (Neutral to Negative)
 
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Inside this week's update...
 
***** Don't listen, watch.
***** Heavyweights lining up for Nova.
***** Oil stocks: opportunities and a pitfall.
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With so much spin these days, it's important to pay closer attention to what people do rather than what they say. Case in point: George Soros' recent behavior regarding gold.
 
A couple of weeks back, the hedge fund manager made headlines by suggesting gold was in a bubble – implying that investors should lighten up on their gold holdings.
Read more...

Market Update 02-16-10

The European Union’s plans for aiding the ailing Greek economy continue to dominate the financial headlines this week. Last Thursday, EU member states pledged to come to Greece’s rescue—should they ask for it—without offering solid details on an aid package. That news settled equity markets while simultaneously hurting rather than helping the euro. The news also buoyed precious metals.Read more...

The pop of the bubble approaches. 08-10-09

Short-Term Key: Negative  Long-Term Key: +50

Read more...

Mid-Week Update 05-20-09

Crude oil prices are once again above $60 a barrel and local television newscasts have returned to that old chestnut, consumers grousing about the high cost of gasoline, to fill airtime. Nevermind the fact that despite the great lengths we go to extract, transport and refine it, ounce-for-ounce petrol is still far cheaper than a cup of coffee or bottled water. 
 
It’s curious that the gains in oil (which is up approximately 75 percent from its lows) and gasoline (up more than 50 percent) have occurred amid the greatest oversupply in a generation.
 
The financial crisis and subsequent economic contraction has pushed peak oil—the point at which the world is unable to increase oil production—from the public’s psyche. But it will not meaningfully delay the inevitable decline in output.
 
 
Peak oil will only be clearly recognized with the benefit of hindsight. Yet a good case can be make that we’ve already past that inflection point. Our guess is that energy prices will temporarily retreat in the near term as a full economy recovery is still a ways off and investors get nervous after the big run they’ve had in recent months.
Read more...

Market Update 01-12-09

Wall Street

Image by jpellgen via FlickrRead more...

There has been quite a dichotomy in the market in recent weeks. Blue chip shares have been under pressure, while small cap shares have been acting quite well. Last week, for instance, while the S&P 500 declined by more than 4 percent, our preferred small cap average, the unweighted average of all stocks on the New York Stock exchange (which treats all stocks equally) climbed by 3 percent—on top of the nearly 9 percent increase in the average the prior week. 
You might be surprised to learn that on a short-term basis the relative performance of the small fry has never been better. There are several important takeaways from this action.
 

Market Update 12-09-08

OPEC headquarters in Vienna

Image via Wikipedia

Winter is in full force these days here in New York, with temperatures routinely dipping below the freezing mark. The weather has left more that a few people longing for the dog days of summer. The stock market, meanwhile, is seeming marking the passage of time in dog years, with 12 months or more of ups and downs/highs and lows, getting compressed into just a few weeks and in many cases merely days. In the past three months, for instance, the average daily gain/loss in the S&P 500 has been 3.5 percentage points—nearly five times the norm of the last 80 years. Read more...

Weekly Update 11-03-08

Lehman Brothers Times Square

Image via Wikipedia

Short-Term Key +8
Long-Term Key +26

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In this pre-election update...

***** Not a stock market, but a market of stocks.
***** Incredible deals that won't last long.
***** Keeping an eye on the long-term picture.
***** Election fever has us excited too.
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SITTING ON THE HEDGE 12-19-05

SHOULD TCI STAND FOR “TWO COMMODITIES INVESTOR”? MAYBE THIS WEEK…

The stock market remained in neutral last week, with the S&P 500 rising just 0.6%. Ho hum.

Instead, the real excitement was in gold, which dropped $21.98, but still closed the week above the psychological threshold of $500. “Ho ho ho,” we say, pondering the significance of this development, and also in keeping with the holiday season.

Two updates ago, we said we were waiting to see if $500 would become the new floor in gold prices. If so, we might increase our weighting in the precious metal. It’s still too early to determine one way or another. Gold’s next move will show us whether it has peaked or is just getting warmed up.

Either way, our faith in gold is increasing. It has not only hit 24-year highs, but has also broken out in all the world’s major currencies.

Just as gold managed to close above $500 two weeks in a row, our other favorite commodity, oil, has spent the last two weeks struggling to break out from its Shoulder Season pullback. Although it fell $0.34 last week, to $59.05, it nonetheless seems to be emerging from the downtrend it began in August. A weekly close well above $60 would help confirm this.Read more...