Is It Time to Take Profits on Oil Refining Stocks? (re-visited)

Posted on by Adam Feik

Adam Feik - INO.com Contributor - Energies


I wrote on February 24th about whether the time had come to take profits on oil refining stocks like Tesoro, Valero, and others. (My conclusion was to hold the stocks for the time being, but to keep a close eye on them).

Since then, oil refiners have continued rising (generally), as oil prices have showed continuing weakness – especially in the last 30 days. Crude oil, of course, is the key input for refiners, so refiners benefit when its raw materials prices are low. Nymex crude fell below $50/bbl Wednesday, having fallen from $61 on June 23, 2015, and from $107 on June 20, 2014 (data from eia.gov).

Here's an updated table showing performance of selected refiners through July 22:

On Thursday, July 23rd, oil and refining stocks both fell. But more often recently, it's been… Continue reading "Is It Time to Take Profits on Oil Refining Stocks? (re-visited)" →

Gold Hits a 5-Year Low: How to Time the Next MAJOR Bottom

Posted on by The INO.com Team

By: Elliott Wave International

"In what traders called a 'bear raid,' sellers on Monday dumped an estimated 33 tonnes of gold in just two minutes on exchanges in Shanghai and New York, sending prices on a nearly $50 downward spiral from which they never fully recovered." (Reuters, July 21)

If you live in the U.S., maybe you've noticed lately that "We Buy Gold!" signs are disappearing from sidewalks in front of pawn shops. The signs really began popping up in 2010-2011, when gold prices were climbing to their all-time high of $1900 an ounce. And even after gold tumbled from that peak in September 2011, the signs stayed up for months. Only after gold fell below $1200 an ounce in 2013 -- and price stayed flat for almost two years -- did "We Buy Gold!" signs become scarce.

Someone may chuckle at this brief record of poor timing decisions, and maybe even put it down to the general investment ineptitude of laymen. Certainly, big-name gold market players -- like central banks, for example -- with their access to privileged information and armies of PhD's would not make timing mistakes like that. Right? Continue reading "Gold Hits a 5-Year Low: How to Time the Next MAJOR Bottom" →

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 August contract settled last Friday in New York at 1,132 an ounce while currently trading at 1,082 down about $50 for the trading week continuing its remarkable bearish trend as I’ve been recommending a short position when prices broke 1,170 and if you took that trade continue to place your stop loss above the 10 day high which currently stands at 1,160 as the chart structure will start to improve on a daily basis starting next week. Gold prices are trading far below its 20 and 100 day moving average telling you that the short-term trend is to the downside as the next level of support is around 1,050 as I think that could be tested in next week’s trade as there’s no reason to own gold and if you’ve been reading any of my previous blogs you understand how bearish I am of the entire commodity sector as a whole. Continue reading "Weekly Futures Recap With Mike Seery" →

Amazon Knows Exactly What It's Doing

Posted on by The INO.com Team

When Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) back on July 5, 1994 to sell books online, he had a much bigger goal in mind that no one else could see.

Mr. Bezos named his fledgling e-commerce company Amazon after the river and for good reason.

The Amazon River is the largest river in the world and it dwarfs the water output of the next seven largest rivers combined! That was Jeff Bezos's ambition... to dwarf every other company in the world and so far he is succeeding.

I imagine that Sam Walton, the genius who created Walmart, was an inspirational role model for Mr. Bezos. Yesterday, Amazon surpassed Walmart in sales - no small feat given the fact that Walmart has been around since Sam Walton founded this company in 1962, over half a century ago! Like Sam Walton, Jeff Bezos took a similar approach to retailing - to make products readily available at better prices than anybody else. Somewhere down the line, I would not be surprised to see Amazon open up brick and mortar stores. Continue reading "Amazon Knows Exactly What It's Doing" →

Platinum Could Hit The Floor

Posted on by Aibek Burabayev

Aibek Burabayev - INO.com Contributor - Metals


The Global Outlook: Platinum Is In Serious Trouble

NYMEX_EOD:PL1
Chart courtesy of TradingView.com

Indeed, this metal is very tricky. One moment it can be flying high, then it can take a swing hitting the bottom and again and again. This time around, Platinum is on its way down, falling like a hot knife through butter. Without any problems, it has lost $500, down from $1500.

The minor swing was detected at the $1200-$1300 level on the monthly charts and then the metal slid even faster. The price has easily broken below both the 2006 low at $1059.60 and the 1980 high at $1045. The psychologically important round number level at $1000 has fallen even quicker. Continue reading "Platinum Could Hit The Floor" →