ETFs For Those In Their 50s

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


So you are now just a decade or so from retirement and don’t want another 2008 market crash to wipe out our nest egg, forcing you to work for longer than you are planning. Finding safe investment options is a goal, but at the same time you don’t want to be too conservative because you do need to continue realizing capital appreciation so your nest egg can support you during your 'golden years'.

The balance between safety and growth is more difficult than one may think. If you get too safe, the growth will lag and you may not have a large enough retirement account. If you get too focused on growth, you may be taking on more risk than you should, which could leave you vulnerable to a big market crash.

While Exchange Traded Funds offer diversity, I personally don’t like very many of the mixed portfolio options available today (a fund that holds a combination of investment options such as stocks, bonds, RIETS, MLP's, currency, futures, etc.) and especially don’t like the 'age-based target funds' offer through many 401(k) plans and other mutual fund companies. Now I want to make it clear I am always a proponent of a well-diversified portfolio and I believe that idea holds true more so for those in this age group than investors who are younger.

With that being said, investors in their 50's should be thinking more about buying a few different ETFs, as opposed to the one-stop shops. I have found that the one-stop-shop ETFs typically tend to be either too conservative or too aggressive and this causes them dramatically trail the market returns or be way too exposed to a market pull-back. Continue reading "ETFs For Those In Their 50s" →

Copper Could Face Strong Headwinds From China and Australia

Posted on by Aibek Burabayev

Aibek Burabayev - INO.com Contributor - Metals


Copper topped the ranks at the end of last year and moved north to the middle of February without breaking any serious resistance peaking at $2.8230. Then the price drifted lower, closer to the area of the December 2016 low at $2.4480 as projected in my previous update. Copper has now bounced higher and I would like to share with you some new data, which could change my outlook for the metal.

I would like to start from Chinese data as they are the top importer of the metal in the world. China’s copper import dropped almost 20% in 1Q of 2017 according to the Chinese customs statistics and this is not supporting the pricing information. Below are two charts to show you more headwinds from China.

Chart 1. Copper Vs Chinese GDP Growth Rate (Quarterly)

Chinese GDP vs. Copper
Chart courtesy of tradingeconomics.com

The Chinese economy (left scale, blue) advanced only 1.3 percent in the 1Q of 2017, following a 1.7 percent growth in the previous three months and missing market estimates of a 1.6 percent growth. It has been the weakest expansion since the 1st quarter of 2016. GDP Growth Rate in China averaged 1.84 percent from 2010 until 2017. Continue reading "Copper Could Face Strong Headwinds From China and Australia" →

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 recap of the Futures 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.

Gold Futures

Gold futures in the June contract settled last Friday in New York at 1,289 an ounce while currently trading at 1,267 down about $20 for the week. I'm currently sitting on the sidelines as prices have now hit a 2 week low and my bias is to the downside. I am bullish the stock market & I think money flows are going to continue to come out of the precious metals and into the equity market and I'm looking at a short position in the next week or so. Gold prices are trading under their 20-day but still above their 100-day moving average topping out around the 1,300 level 2 weeks ago. Prices have been in rally mode in 2017 due to geopolitical tensions throughout the world. I've stated in many previous blogs these always seem to fade away and that's exactly what's happening right now as silver prices continue their decline and I think that will start to put pressure on gold prices here in the short-term. If you are bearish gold, my recommendation would be to sell at today's price level while placing the stop loss above 1,300 as an exit strategy. I will continue to sit on the sidelines as I'm waiting for better chart structure. Therefore, the monetary risk would be lowered as the risk is too high in my opinion at this point time. However, I am certainly bearish gold.
TREND: MIXED
CHART STRUCTURE: POOR

Continue reading "Weekly Futures Recap With Mike Seery" →

A Very Interesting New ETF, The 'Short Squeeze' ETF

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


On March 21st shares of The Active Alts Contrarian ETF (NASDAQ:SQZZ) began trading. SQZZ is the first ETF of its kind and opens the door for investors looking at investments from a slightly different angle. SQZZ is in a nutshell a 'short squeeze' Exchange Traded Fund.

First I will explain how shorting a stock works and what a 'short squeeze' is and then I will discuss SQZZ and why I like it.

What Does It Mean To 'Short' A Stock and What's A 'Short Squeeze'

If you don’t 'short' stocks very often, the concept of a 'short squeeze' and how this ETF will make money may be a little confusing. But I will start at the beginning and try to explain it all.

First, when a stock is sold 'short' that means the investors believes the price of the stock will move lower, not higher. If you buy stocks believing the share price will be higher in the future, what most people typically do, that is called going long on a stock. Hence, the phrase, 'going short' a stock when you think the share price is going to decline. Continue reading "A Very Interesting New ETF, The 'Short Squeeze' ETF" →

U.S. Economic Growth Slows To .7% In First Quarter

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Hello MarketClub members everywhere. The U.S. stock market is slightly lower this afternoon after data showed that the U.S. economy grew at its weakest pace in three years for the first quarter of 2017. The GDP increased at a 0.7% annual rate, below the 1.2% rise estimated by economists, as consumer spending barely increased and businesses invested less on inventories.

This drop comes on the heels of the 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2016.

MarketClub's Mid-day Market Report


Image courtesy of Bloomberg

Key levels to watch this week: Continue reading "U.S. Economic Growth Slows To .7% In First Quarter" →