Category: INO.com Contributors

OPEC's Rollover Of Deal May Be Full Of Holes

Posted on by Robert Boslego

Robert Boslego - INO.com Contributor - Energies


Crude oil was the worst-performing asset in the first quarter of 2017, losing 5.9 percent. That period coincided with the first three months of the OPEC-non-OPEC production cutbacks, which were intended to reduce global inventories and support oil prices.

Instead, global stocks increased from end-December through February. And U.S. crude stocks built by a staggering 57 million barrels through March. In addition, based on the Energy Department’s weekly data, U.S. crude production rose by 429,000 b/d from end-December through end-March. The Saudi Energy Minister, Khalid Al-Falih, had said during the OPEC press conference on December 10th that he did not expect any increase in U.S. production for all of 2017.

Khalid A. Al-Falih
Source: OPEC

Saudi Arabia claimed to cut its production effective January 1st, but crude imports from KSA to the U.S. soared until the final week of March. In the YTD through March 24th, imports were up by 17% from the same period in 2016, and by 30% from December. Continue reading "OPEC's Rollover Of Deal May Be Full Of Holes" →

Gold & Silver: History May Repeat

Posted on by Aibek Burabayev

Aibek Burabayev - INO.com Contributor - Metals


People record history from ancient times only to find that nothing is new in this world and everything repeats in cycles, waves, high and low tides, and therefore it is quite useful to have those historical records to project the future as it is another human propensity.

It is always a big challenge to be the first in doing something as you face uncertainty, and those who go next can learn from the achievements and mistakes of the pioneers. A few days ago, my eyes caught an interesting similarity in the chart history of gold’s price, which could give us a clue of an upcoming price development and I am happy to share it with you below.

As you may already notice from time to time I post different experimental charts, which use a variety of uncommon approaches in analyzing the markets to expand the scope of our vision. In this post I used the clones of the historic moves, which could shed light upon future moves.

I squeezed the charts to let both legs of the current upside move to fit in the snapshots, that’s why I would recommend you to open both graphs in a separate window for a comfortable view. Continue reading "Gold & Silver: History May Repeat" →

The Only Way I Would Play The IPO Market

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


With the recently highly hyped Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) initial public offering, I was once again reminded why I don’t attempt to buy into IPO's.

While big name company's first offer their stock to the general public, its call an initial public offering, or an IPO. While there are a number of issue's with buying stocks the first day they start trading, the biggest one is the hype!

The hype surrounding a big name IPO, such as Snap, Facebook, or Twitter to name a few, is that the demand for shares outweighs the supply on the first day of trading. Millions of people want shares and most fear if they don’t get them early, they will miss a big move higher. This hype and fear frenzy often causes shares to skyrocket in the first minutes to hours of trading. Snap for example rose 45% on day one.

But, after the hype fades, so will the stock price. The demand declines to the point that those looking to sell have to be willing to part ways with their precious shares for much less than they sold for on day one. Snap fell 27% on its second day of trading. Continue reading "The Only Way I Would Play The IPO Market" →

So You Still Think The Fed Doesn't Need Oversight?

Posted on by George Yacik

George Yacik - INO.com Contributor - Fed & Interest Rates


After this latest episode involving the disgraced Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker, who resigned for being less than truthful in the Fed’s probe of a leak to an analyst five years ago, are there still some people – outside the Fed, that is – who still believe the central bank is above the law and shouldn’t have to answer to Congress?

If you haven’t heard by now, Lacker – who was slated to resign later this year anyway – suddenly stepped down as the head of the Richmond Fed after he admitted to speaking to an analyst at Medley Global Advisors in 2012 the day before it published a report that contained confidential information about Fed policy discussions. You might remember that the leak, when it first came to light several years ago, “sparked a criminal investigation, prompted outrage on Capitol Hill and deeply embarrassed the Fed,” as the Wall Street Journal reported. Continue reading "So You Still Think The Fed Doesn't Need Oversight?" →

Will You Buy A Marijuana ETF?

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


The Horizons Medical Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (HMMJ) will begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange today, April 5th 2017. This will be the first ETF that will have exposure to companies listed in North America that operate in the medical marijuana bioengineering and production fields.

Many investors have been interested in the industry for a number of years, but haven't had the opportunity to invest in it through a diversified manner. This ETF solves that big hurdle.

While it is unknown how many stocks the fund will hold, or who exactly will be in it, investors can be assured this ETF boasts some very serious growth predictions. Sales in the marijuana industry grew by 30% in 2016 and according to Arcview Market Research; the industry will triple in the next four years. Continue reading "Will You Buy A Marijuana ETF?" →