Ride The Prevailing Winds With This Utility Play

Posted on by Daniel Cross

Daniel Cross - INO.com Contributor - Equities


Almost two months into 2016 and the stock market isn't sending investors much news to cheer about. The S&P 500 is down roughly 6% year-to-date and global economic concerns regarding a lack of growth and record low oil prices means that volatility is high and investors are skittish.

While high growth sectors like energy and industrials are suffering, defensive sectors finally have their moment to shine. But not all defensive sectors are performing as well as expected in the current environment. Consumer staples, generally a sector that does well when the broader averages are doing poorly, doesn't have much to offer investors. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (PACF:XLP) is up marginally at only 1%. However, there's another defensive sector is enjoying the performance spotlight. Continue reading "Ride The Prevailing Winds With This Utility Play" →

Into Thin Air...

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Into Thin Air is a best-selling non-fiction book of the 1996 Mt. Everest Disaster written by Jon Krakauer. His book was later made into a movie called Everest which gives a chilling visual account of events that took place on the world's tallest mountain. The phrase "into thin air" refers to the altitude and the lack of oxygen at the summit of Mount Everest. Humans can only stay at the summit of Mount Everest for a brief amount of time before the lack of oxygen will cause them to die.

That is sort of how I feel about the markets right now and this particular rally. The major indices without oxygen (in this case, super bullish news) are going to fail. That is how I feel now, but overriding any emotional feeling I have will be the non-emotional Trade Triangles. At the moment, both the Dow and the S&P 500 are indicating a sidelines position. Only the NASDAQ has both the weekly and monthly Trade Triangles indicating a downtrend. Continue reading "Into Thin Air..." →

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.

Crude Oil Futures

Crude oil futures in the April contract settled last Friday in New York at 31.75 a barrel while currently trading at 33.90 near a 3 week high as I’m sitting on the sidelines in this market at the current time. In last week’s blog, I was looking to short this market, but I decided against that as a short term bottom has taken place as prices are now trading above their 20 but still below their 100-day moving average as it looks like a bottoming formation is at hand. The S&P 500 has exploded in the last week helping support crude oil prices as it certainly looks like the worldwide nervousness is finished at least for now so look for higher prices ahead, however the chart structure is poor as the 10 day low is too far away as the risk/reward is not in your favor so look at other markets with better potential. This market has been extremely choppy over the last month or so as oversupply issues continue to keep a lid on prices and I think that will remain over the next several months as production cuts are needed therefore decreasing supply as demand still remains relatively high especially at these cheap levels. At the current time, Continue reading "Weekly Futures Recap With Mike Seery" →

Safe Haven Test: 1+ Year After SNB Shock

Posted on by Aibek Burabayev

Aibek Burabayev - INO.com Contributor - Metals


More than a year ago, on the 15th of January 2015, the market was shocked by the sharp move of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) abandoning the cap of the Swiss franc to the euro. I dedicated a special post to that event. This time, I've made a comparative chart for the period from the start of 2015 until today to show you how the SNB's move affected the safe haven currency for the past 13 months.

The Swiss franc is in an inverse cross here (CHFUSD) to comfort your perception of both assets dynamics against the US dollar.

Chart 1. Gold vs. Swiss Franc: Gold Wins Again

Gold vs. Swiss Franc
Chart courtesy of tradingview.com

The shock was short-lived as the currency quickly lost the gains during the first quarter of 2015. The Franc caught up with falling gold in a very tight correlation. They bottomed at the same time in March of 2015 and then reversed to the upside and peaked in May of 2015. The similarity of trends continued with the metal gapping deeper on the drops. Rare short interruptions of the link occurred last December and this month when gold increased its value and the franc didn't. Continue reading "Safe Haven Test: 1+ Year After SNB Shock" →

If It Walks Like A Duck, Quacks Like A Duck, It's A Duck!

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Hello MarketClub members everywhere! As the month of February rapidly comes to an end in just three trading days, I thought it would be interesting to look at where the markets closed at the end of January, which as you know was a very volatile month.

So here the closing values of the major indices, gold and crude oil on January 29th: Continue reading "If It Walks Like A Duck, Quacks Like A Duck, It's A Duck!" →