Fiscal Cliff Optimism May Generate Further Buying Interest

Posted on by The INO.com Team

With traders expressing continued optimism about the looming fiscal cliff, stocks may extend a recent upward move in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a moderately higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 32 points.

The markets may continue to benefit from signs of progress in budget negotiations between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Although the lawmakers have not yet reached an agreement with less than two weeks to go before the year-end deadline, recent moves toward a compromise have generated buying interest on Wall Street.

News that Standard & Poor's raised its credit rating on Greece may also help to push stocks higher, with S&P upgrading the rating on Greece to B-minus from selective default. Continue reading "Fiscal Cliff Optimism May Generate Further Buying Interest" →

Precious Metals Commentary

Posted on by The INO.com Team

February gold closed sharply lower on Tuesday and below November's low crossing at 1674.70 thereby renewing the decline off October's high. The low-range close sets the stage for a steady to lower opening when Wednesday's night session begins trading. Stochastics and the RSI are diverging but are bearish signaling that sideways to lower prices are possible near-term. If February extends the decline off November's high, the 62% retracement level of the May-October rally crossing at 1638.00 is the next downside target. Closes above the 20-day moving average crossing at 1714.50 would confirm that a short-term low has been posted. First resistance is the 20-day moving average crossing at 1714.50. Second resistance is November's high crossing at 1757.10. First support is today's low crossing at 1662.00. Second support is the 62% retracement level of the May-October rally crossing at 1638.00. Continue reading "Precious Metals Commentary" →

New Video: Optimism drives markets higher

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Hello traders everywhere! Jeremy Lutz here with your mid-day market update for Tuesday, the 18th of December.

Stocks are moving higher as traders become more optimistic that lawmakers are closing in on a budget deal that will stop the U.S. from going over the "fiscal cliff" at the beginning of next year.

House Speaker John Boehner told reporters he remains hopeful that a budget compromise can be reached but, says President Barack Obama has yet to offer a balanced deficit-cutting plan.

Among stocks making big moves, Arbitron (ARB), a provider of radio ratings, surged after TV ratings company Nielsen said it would buy it for $1.3 billion.

Let's see what the Trade Triangles say about the markets today.

Every Success,
Jeremy Lutz

Click Here to view today's video

Gold Chart of the Week

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Each week Longleaftrading.com will be providing us a chart of the week as analyzed by a member of their team. We hope that you enjoy and learn from this new feature.

Weekly Gold Report (December 17th through December 22nd)

 As far as I am concerned, “Holiday Markets” took control last week and it is the best way to describe what we witnessed in Gold. In Europe, a deal in Greece was reached which underpinned the Euro and dropped the US Dollar. Later in the week, the Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates at close to zero until unemployment falls below 6.5%, which is new to their monetary policy. It is the first time ever that Interest Rates were pegged to one area of the U.S. Economy. Initially after the news broke, Gold Futures rallied and closed in the upper end of the range for the week. But it was not long before early profit taking began and suddenly the market found itself over $30 lower and back at the lower end of the range on lighter volume. And who could forget all of the “Fiscal Cliff” nonsense? Every day (sometimes multiple times a day), through television or social media, the President and the Speaker of the House report to the world that while they are negotiating, nothing is really being accomplished. I can’t speak for the rest of the world, but personally I can not wait for the final decision, not because it will provide a direction for major markets, but because I am tired of reading about both of them and their sophomoric behavior. It seems like suddenly the highest political offices in the U.S. have confused their roles with the highest offices at US (Weekly). Continue reading "Gold Chart of the Week" →

New Video: Is the Cult of Apple Over?

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Hello traders everywhere! Adam Hewison here, co-founder of MarketClub with your mid-day market update for Monday, the 17th of December.

This will be my last broadcast for 2012, as I'm taking time off from trading during Silly Season. Jeremy Lutz, who you know from MarketClub TV, will be doing the updates until I return back to the markets in early January.

IS THE CULT OF APPLE OVER?

Apple just sold 2 million iPhone 5s in 3 days in China, yet its stock falls below $500 in pre-market trading. What is going on in the smart phone world?

This past weekend, my daughter and son-in-law came over for an early Christmas celebration. My son-in-law, who is a very smart guy and a computer engineer, showed me his new phone which to my surprise was not an iPhone5, but a Samsung Galaxy III. Much to my chagrin I picked it up and started playing with it and I have to admit some of technology, especially the Google voice technology, appeared superior to Siri, which is what Apple uses in its iPhone5 and IOS6 operating system. Continue reading "New Video: Is the Cult of Apple Over?" →