Stocks Plunge Erasing 2018 Gains

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Hello traders everywhere. Volatility is the name of the game today after the DOW opened 567 pts lower only to reverse course and gain 367 pts before heading back into negative territory. Of course, this comes on the heels of a historic day where we saw the DOW shed over 1,150.00 (3.5%), the S&P 500 110 pts (4.6%) and the NASDAQ 250 pts (4.1%). The bulk of the selling came late in the afternoon after all three indexes broke through the 50-day moving average and when that happened traders headed for the exit in record-breaking fashion with the DOW falling over 1600 pts in that span.

I think the key thing here is to take a breath. As traders, we all knew this was coming sooner or later. There was no way that the low-volatility run to the upside was going continue without a major correction along the way. In fact, it's been two years since our last major correction to the downside. If you've been on the sidelines looking for a place to get in, now may be the time as some of the big players in the markets can be had at a discount, so take a deep breath and get to work.

Volatility

And then you have Bitcoin, which broke through it's 200-day moving average to new 2018 low of 5,902.73 before backing off that low today. That's it's the lowest level since early Nov. of 2017, right before Bitcoin pandemonium hit the markets pushing it to an all-time high of 19,528.87 in December of 2017. Continue reading "Stocks Plunge Erasing 2018 Gains" →

The "Do Nothing" Fed Does It Again

Posted on by George Yacik

George Yacik - INO.com Contributor - federal funds rate remains unchanged


I suppose it would have been out of character or asking too much to expect Janet Yellen’s Federal Reserve, at her last meeting as Fed chair, to act decisively and do something that needed to be done. Instead, playing to form, The Fed elected not to raise the federal funds rate at its January monetary policy meeting. Now we will have to wait another two months, March 20-21, the Fed’s next meeting, for the central bank to get back to normalizing interest rates.

For most of the past four years, the Yellen-led Fed has preferred to sit on its hands and let asset bubbles get bigger and bigger and leave interest rates pretty much alone, even in the face of a burgeoning economy. Instead, it has let its obsession with inflation – it’s too low, in their view, not too high – dictate monetary policy, whether that fixation has a basis in fact or not.

Since the beginning of last September, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note has soared about 75 basis points, from just over 2.00% to more than 2.75% at its most recent peak, putting it at its highest level in nearly four years. The yield on the two-year note, which is more susceptible to changes in short-term interest rate changes, is up about 90 bps in that time, to about 2.15%. Continue reading "The "Do Nothing" Fed Does It Again" →

Lithium Play: SQM's Consolidation Offers Opportunity

Posted on by Aibek Burabayev

Aibek Burabayev - INO.com Contributor - Metals - lithium investing


In this post, I will share with you an upcoming lithium investing opportunity in the lithium industry through the stock of the well-known company traded on the NYSE with a hard to spell name. It’s Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM).

Among other useful things it produces lithium carbonates for various applications, such as electrochemical materials for batteries; lithium derivatives; supplies lithium hydroxide for the lubricating greases industry, as well as for cathodes for batteries; and sells lithium chloride solutions. Its lithium products are marketed under the QLithiumCarbonate, QLithiumHydroxide, and QLubelith brands.

Recently, Moody's Investors Service affirmed on January 24th Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A.'s (SQM) Baa1 senior unsecured ratings and changed its rating’s outlook to stable from negative as the company reached an agreement to settle the long-term dispute with the Chilean Production Development Corporation on 17 January 2018. The resolution will positively impact production growth prospects for SQM's Salar de Atacama operations (half of the revenues) during the remainder of the contract, which expires in 2030.

Let’s start our analysis from financial highlights. Continue reading "Lithium Play: SQM's Consolidation Offers Opportunity" →

U.S. Crude Oil Production Surged in November

Posted on by Robert Boslego

Robert Boslego - INO.com Contributor - Energies


The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that November U.S. crude oil production averaged 10.038 million barrels per day (mmbd) in November, up 384,000 b/d from October. The monthly product number was just shy of the 10.044 mmbd record set in November 1970. This gain was on top of a 17,000 b/d upward revision for October, making the total rise 401,000 b/d. By comparison, the Saudi production cut was about 460,000 b/d.

About 200,000 b/d of the increase was expected since Hurricane Nate had disrupted production in October by about amount. But about 175,000 b/d of the rise was new production. The bulk of the increase was in Texas, accounting for 114,000 b/d. Production in the mid-west was up 23,000 b/d. Gains were wide-spread among numerous states.

Production has surged by 846,000 b/d from September through November. This increase is far more significant than the one reported by the EIA in its weekly numbers or forecast by the EIA in its monthly STEO. The interpolated weekly figures for November imply a monthly average of 9.667 mmbd, 371,000 b/d lower. And the latest weekly average reported by the EIA was 9.199 mmbd. Clearly, the EIA will need to upwardly revise its weekly model soon, probably in next week’s report.

U.S. Crude Oil Production
Continue reading "U.S. Crude Oil Production Surged in November" →

Weekly Futures Recap With Mike Seery

Posted on by The INO.com Team

We've asked Michael Seery of SEERYFUTURES.COM to give our INO readers a weekly futures recap of the market. He has been Senior Analyst for close to 15 years and has extensive knowledge of all of the commodity and option markets.

Michael frequently appears on multiple business networks including Bloomberg news, Fox Business, CNBC Worldwide, CNN Business, and Bloomberg TV. He is also a guest on First Business, which is a national and internationally syndicated business show.

Natural Gas Futures

Natural gas prices experienced a wild trading week after settling last Friday in New York at 3.17 in the March contract while now trading at 2.89 down about 28 points for the week. I was recommending a bullish position from around the 3.13 level getting stopped out in yesterday's trade as prices are now at a three-week low. I had also been recommending a bullish position in the February contract as we had to roll over into the March giving back some of the gains that we witnessed. I'm now sitting on the sidelines waiting for another trend to develop as the trend has turned negative. Natural gas prices are trading under their 20 and 100-day moving average as the volatility has exploded with extremely warm temperatures last week which sent prices down. However, colder temperatures are upon us as this market looks to be choppy so avoid for now & look at other markets with a better risk/reward scenario as the volatility will remain high in February. However, the spring season is almost upon us. At the present time I do not have any recommendations in the energy sector as I still remain bullish as natural gas prices still are cheap, but does not meet my criteria to enter into a trade so I will be patient and wait for the chart structure to improve, but I do think prices to the downside are limited.
TREND: LOWER
CHART STRUCTURE: POOR
VOLATILITY: HIGH
Continue reading "Weekly Futures Recap With Mike Seery" →