4 Tips For Investors To Learn More About Private Equity

By: Tim Melvin

Tickers: AINV, APO, ARO, KKR

Most individual investors pay very little attention to what's going on in the world of private equity.

The shadowy world of private equity and buyout investing is seen as the province of large institutions and well-heeled big money types -- and of little interest to those looking to catch the next 10 point move in Apple.

It's of even less interest of those middle of the road investors who have some stock and mutual funds in their retirement plans and just do not spend a lot of time thinking about the markets. While most will never have big money invested in private equity funds, tracking this industry should be at the top of every investor's regular activities list.

Popularity Is Not Always Key Continue reading "4 Tips For Investors To Learn More About Private Equity"

How To Avoid Dead Fish In Q3

One of the most important tools that a trader possesses is his or her mind. Attitude can either make or break you as a trader.

To become a successful trader, it begins with believing in yourself and having a winning attitude. Everyone wants to be a winner, at least they think so. Unfortunately, most are not willing to perform the tasks necessary to become a consistent winner.

Winners generally achieve success by being focused on a goal. Being focused allows winners to remain committed to the tasks at hand. Most winners perform a lot of hard work, including a willingness to deal with sometimes mundane duties. Most of all, winners perform with an "I am responsible for both my failures and successes" attitude.

So, where does the would-be trader start to become a success? Continue reading "How To Avoid Dead Fish In Q3"

Why The Bull Market May Not Be Finished Yet

By: John Kosar of Street Authority

The major U.S. indices were mixed last week, closing on Friday just slightly on either side of unchanged. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 and small-cap Russell 2000 were the strongest performers. As long as the May trend of relative outperformance by these two market-leading indices continues, so should the current broad market advance.

The two strongest market sectors last week were consumer discretionary and utilities. My own asset-flow based metric shows that the biggest increase in sector bet-related assets over the past one-week and one-month periods was in utilities, which supports more upcoming strength in this sector.

A strengthening utilities sector is often driven by declining long-term U.S. interest rates, which we saw last week as the yield on the 10-year Treasury note declined by 9 basis points to 2.53%. This encourages yield-seeking investors to accept more credit risk (via utility stocks) in exchange for potentially higher returns. Therefore, as long as long-term interest rates continue to decline, it should drive more investor assets into utilities and buoy Treasury prices, which move inversely to yields.

Small Caps, Tech Should Continue Leading the Way Continue reading "Why The Bull Market May Not Be Finished Yet"

Is This Stock Ready To Pop?

I was looking over the charts this past weekend and noticed one stock that I wanted to bring to your attention. There are two reasons why I think this stock is worth a look.

1. There was a new monthly Trade Triangle signal on June 27th at $48.04.

2. I like the formation. This chart has a "W" formation, which normally occurs at the bottom of a move and signals a reversal. In this case, it would look as though once we close over $48 a share, we could see a quick pop up to $50.

The stock I am referring to is Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (NYSE:CCE), traded on the New York stock exchange. This is a large company and has been around for a long time. While not usually considered a hot stock, the formation is undeniable. As with any position, you should always be using money management stops.

Another part of this formation I like is the classic Fibonacci retracement of 60%, that was again tested on June 13th and it held. Continue reading "Is This Stock Ready To Pop?"

Inside Look: Check out this Unprecedented Bear Market Formation Since 2000

Think the current conditions in the stock market are normal? Think again. Here are 3 characteristics you should expect to see in wave b.

By Elliott Wave International

Editor's Note: Below you will find a sneak peek from the just-published issue of Robert Prechter's Theorist. It provides you an opportunity to see some of the research, analysis and forecasts that Elliott Wave International's subscribers are enjoying inside their latest issue.

Figure 4 (below) is a diagram from Chapter 2 of Elliott Wave Principle. It displays a typical progression of prices and psychology in a bear market. We can apply this picture to the stock market since 2000. The real-life pattern is a bit more complex than this picture, because wave a itself was a flat correction, which ended in 2009. The dashed line in Figure 4 represents what the market has been doing since then: rallying to a new high in a b-wave. The entire formation has been tracing out an "expanded flat" correction (see text, p.47) of Supercycle degree.

Per Figure 4, among the characteristics we should expect to see in wave b are: "Technically weak," "Aggressive euphoria and denial" and "Fundamentals weaken subtly." The volume contraction in the stock market has now lasted over five years, which is extreme technical weakness, albeit only in that indicator. The 30+ charts we have shown of market sentiment reveal historically high levels of optimism regarding stocks. No doubt bulls would dismiss the idea that investors today exhibit "aggressive euphoria and denial." But look at Figure 5. Continue reading "Inside Look: Check out this Unprecedented Bear Market Formation Since 2000"