Stocks edge lower as investors reassess Fed fears

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Investors recovered their poise after a shaky start to trading on Wall Street that sent stocks sharply lower.

U.S. markets plummeted immediately after the opening bell Thursday following a global slump prompted in part by an unexpectedly weak report on manufacturing in China. Concern that the Federal Reserve might ease back on its economic stimulus program sooner than expected had also riled investors.

The dip gave investors who had missed this year's rally in stocks an opportunity to get into the market, and by midday stocks had recouped most of their early losses. The market even climbed into positive territory by midday, before ending the day marginally lower.

"Most institutions, most hedge funds and most individuals have watched the market go up without them, so the dips are being bought," said Jim Russell, regional investment director at U.S. Bank. "There's a very strong case for U.S. stocks." Continue reading "Stocks edge lower as investors reassess Fed fears" →

Market sell-off goes on

Posted on by The INO.com Team

The momentum of a late sell-off on Wall Street carried over into a second day, sending U.S. futures and global stock markets into retreat.

Uncertainty over how committed the Fed remains to a massive bond-buying program scattered investors and overshadowed a Labor Department report Thursday that was slightly better than most economists had expected.

Dow Jones industrial futures slid 125 points to 15,195. S&P futures lost 16.3 points to 1,639.30. Nasdaq futures fell 26.75 points to 2,974.25.

U.S. stocks began selling off late Wednesday when minutes from the most recent Federal Reserve policy meeting left open the possibility that the U.S. may begin easing off stimulus measures that have helped send major indexes to record highs in recent weeks. Continue reading "Market sell-off goes on" →

Investors Versus Traders: A Battle for Oil & Gas Profits

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The Energy Report: Looking back to your last interview with The Energy Report in November, you seem to have called the bottom in gas prices correctly. What's your view of where things are headed now?

Robert Cooper: We expect a reasonably robust pricing scenario ahead. Here's why: In 2013, we will likely see flat natural gas supply growth; this will be the first year in the last several that this will be the case. The natural gas rig count is at 350, the lowest since 1995. The declining rig count has taken its toll on almost every U.S. shale basin; the only basin that's growing is the Marcellus, and it is growing partly because infrastructure constraints are being alleviated. Unless productivity undergoes another massive step higher, or drilling time is cut in half again, rig count matters as a predictor of natural gas production levels. Natural gas liquids (NGL) prices are weak, and this impacts the ability of explorers and producers (EPs) to reinvest at the same level as even a year ago. This further reduces the probability that capital will be redeployed to dry gas plays.

TER: Your May 9 report shows gas storage 28% lower year over year and 5% below the five-year average. What are the implications of that? Continue reading "Investors Versus Traders: A Battle for Oil & Gas Profits" →

Today's Video Update: Target And Lowe's Both Miss... Who's Next?

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Hello traders everywhere! Adam Hewison here, President of INO.com and Co-creator of MarketClub, with your mid-day market update for Wednesday, the 22nd of May.

Target and Lowe's Both Miss
Both Target (NYSE:TGT) and Lowe's (NYSE:LOW) missed their estimated earnings this morning and disappointed Wall Street. Both companies blamed the miss on bad spring weather. I guess you have to point to something when you miss what everyone is expecting. We will be looking at Target and Lowe's today. Continue reading "Today's Video Update: Target And Lowe's Both Miss... Who's Next?" →