Category: INO.com Contributors

Is It Time To Take Profits On Oil Refining Stocks?

Posted on by Adam Feik

Adam Feik - INO.com Contributor - Energies


Does it sound strange to even think about "taking profits" on anything related to energy?

Well, oil refining companies' stocks have enjoyed quite a run this year. Check out this table summarizing recent returns for 5 selected stocks (total returns through 2/20/15, from Morningstar; returns longer than 1 year are annualized; "since Jan. 15" data from Yahoo! Finance):

If you haven't paid attention to this group, how surprised are you to see a group of oil-related stocks with positive returns over the past 12 months – let alone Tesoro's +82% performance?!!

I've also included the 3-, 5-, 10, and 15-year returns, just because they're so remarkable.

Oil down, refiners up!

Of course, the driving reason for this group's stellar 1-year returns is that oil refiners actually benefit from being able to pay lower prices for crude oil, which is the primary raw material used to make their refined products, such as gasoline. Continue reading "Is It Time To Take Profits On Oil Refining Stocks?" →

Bonds, Inflation and the Dollar

Posted on by Lior Alkalay

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor - Forex


Back in January, I had predicted that the Fed was on the cusp of postponing its decision to raise rates and that they might, in fact, perhaps as soon as early March, require investors to exercise even greater patience. As we await next week’s inflation data, Janet Yellen’s testimony and US growth figures, it would seem that investors have gradually become “acclimated” to just such a scenario, hence the plunge in yields on 1-year US Treasury bills to 0.19% as of this morning. That means that investors are pricing the Fed’s next rate hike to be as late as next year. For anxious Dollar bulls ahead of next week’s release of US inflation data and the Fed Chief’s testimony, this could serve as a warning sign. Should Dollar investors start to be worried? Continue reading "Bonds, Inflation and the Dollar" →

How Exposed are You to Apple?

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


Apple Inc. (AAPL) now has a market capitalization of more than $750 billion. That makes Apple easily the largest company, not only today, but of all-time. The next largest publicly traded company is Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) which has a market cap of $377 billion. That makes Apple just a mere $4 billion shy of being twice the size of the next largest company in the world.

With Apple's history of stock price appreciation and overall market crushing returns, and no real signs of slowing down when it comes to its business, it is understandable that a large number of money managers own shares of the company in theirs funds. But, what is interesting is the size that Apple represents in a large number of ETF's available to investors.

It is understandable that Apple is the largest holding in sum funds. For example Apple represents 3.89% and 3.87% in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) respectively, which are designed to mirror the make-up and performance of the S&P 500 index. Therefore since Apple is twice the size of the next largest company, it explains why it is double to size of Exxon in those ETF's. Continue reading "How Exposed are You to Apple?" →

Pros and Cons of the U.S. Shale Oil Boom (Really?)

Posted on by Adam Feik

Adam Feik - INO.com Contributor - Energies


Ten years ago, who would have imagined this headline?

I remember a comment made almost in passing by a mentor of mine, circa 2005. At the time, oil prices had spiked north of $50 per barrel, which was historically very high, and appeared set to continue rising. Worse, the U.S. – and a large segment of our economy – seemed almost totally dependent upon foreign countries harboring various levels of hostility against us.

Against this backdrop, my mentor said something to this effect: "What the U.S. needs is like another 'Manhattan Project' – only this time, the project would be coming up with a way for our country to become energy independent."

Perhaps you have similar memories of "pre-fracking boom" life in America. Continue reading "Pros and Cons of the U.S. Shale Oil Boom (Really?)" →

Now Is Time To Buy Gold, But Quit Silver

Posted on by Aibek Burabayev

Aibek Burabayev - INO.com Contributor - Metals


Dear INO.com Readers,

Last week I recommended you to be patient and wait until Gold finishes its pullback. The most important thing was to see if the neckline of an Inverse Head And Shoulders pattern and Symmetrical Triangle’s upside (highlighted in red) would stay safe. As you can see, Wednesday and Thursday candles couldn’t break below the support and this ideal pullback was amazingly precise. Moreover, Thursday’s candle appeared to be an Inverted Hammer. An Inverted Hammer is a reverse candle shaped on the troughs of a downtrend when the open and low are at the same level. The market reversed up on Friday confirming what the candle had suggested. On top of this, RSI also kept its support intact adding to the reversal behavior of the price. And the final touch is from possible uptrend development (highlighted in dashed green parallel lines) which now has three consequent bottoms adding to the power of the channel. So, we have an ideal pullback of the price. This is a healthy sign for the bulls, as its easier now to gain enough momentum from RSI’s low to soar back above $1300. Now, my patient friends, it is safe to buy gold above the Inverted Hammer’s high at $1233, with a target at $1300 (just below recent peak - buy level and target are highlighted in green arrows). And as always ,please don’t forget to put your stop below the neckline at $1212 ($3 below support highlighted in red). Risk is 1.7% ($21), reward is 5.4% ($67). Continue reading "Now Is Time To Buy Gold, But Quit Silver" →