Today's Video Update: Stocks Subdued After Record Week

Hello traders everywhere! Jeremy Lutz here, with your mid-day market update for Monday, the 6th of May.

Stocks are little changed after record week
The stock market cleared new milestones Friday after the government reported that employers added more workers. However, that hasn't translated into a strong Monday open as investors turned more cautious, focusing once again on the problems facing the global economy. Though growth in the U.S. is holding up well, it is slowing in China. The 17 country Eurozone remains in recession and unemployment there has been hitting a series of record highs.

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On Investor's Minds:
United States - homegrown terrorists
North Korea - an agent for China?
Europe - ITALY has a government. YEAH!
The FED - OMG do they know what they are doing?
May 19th – Debt ceiling suspension expire

Every Success,
Jeremy Lutz

Today's Video Update: Jobs Report Sends Market To All-Time Highs

Hello traders everywhere! Jeremy Lutz here,  with your mid-day market update for Friday, the 3rd of May.

U.S. Employers Add 165K Jobs
U.S. employers added 165,000 jobs in April, and hiring was much stronger in the previous two months than the government first estimated. The job increases helped reduce the unemployment rate from 7.6 percent to a four-year low of 7.5 percent.

The Labor Department report is seen as a reassuring sign that the U.S. job market is improving despite higher taxes and government spending cuts that took effect this year.

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The government revised up its estimate of job gains in February and March by a combined 114,000. It now says employers added 332,000 jobs in February and 138,000 in March. The economy has created an average of 208,000 jobs a month from November through April  above the 138,000 added in the previous six months. Continue reading "Today's Video Update: Jobs Report Sends Market To All-Time Highs"

How to Stress Test Gold Equities: Joe Mazumdar

The Gold Report: Where can long-term gold investors look for safety during times of market turbulence?

Joe Mazumdar: Is there safety in the gold market? The short answer is no. Both the equity and gold market have been volatile, lately more the latter. Gold stocks have a good correlation, a beta, to gold, and if the price of gold is volatile, the stocks will be volatile. This leverage to the gold price cuts both ways for gold equities. Year to date, gold is down 1015% as it has underperformed most commodities including copper, oil and natural gas, while the SP/TSX Global Gold index is down almost 3035%.

Other reasons why the gold equities have disappointed investors includes the failure to achieve benchmarks or guidance on costs, both operating and capital, and timelines, among others. The overriding financing risk, especially for the juniors, has continued to weigh on their performance.

Major gold producers provide liquidity, but are not necessarily a safe bet. Over the last few years, the large gold companies have not shown growth at a reasonable price. The amount of reserve repletion they require is their Achilles heel such that they have focused on dividends. This is nothing new, as the project requirements tend to create significant footprints and attract the attention of other stakeholders who want to slow down or cancel mining development. This issue is affecting Newmont Mining Corp.'s (NEM:NYSE) Conga project, Pascua Lama with Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX:TSX; ABX:NYSE) and El Morro with Goldcorp Inc. (G:TSX; GG:NYSE) and New Gold Inc. (NGD:TSX; NGD:NYSE.MKT). If a major's growth is linked to this type of project, it is not necessarily a safe place to invest. Continue reading "How to Stress Test Gold Equities: Joe Mazumdar"

Gold's Plunge Ultimately Healthy for the Sector: Michael Gray

The Gold Report: On April 15, gold dropped to a two-year low as panic selling set in across many mined commodities. Was this the larger players showing the retail market who is in control or was it inevitable?

Michael Gray: Several firms have been predicting a mid-cycle correction for gold; it just happened faster and with more volatility than expected. It also seems to be a very well-timed short-selling trade, especially on the back of the positive gold price correlation with quantitative easing (QE) breaking down and reversing post-QE3. In addition, there was no response in the gold price to the debt crisis in Cyprus or political concerns with North Korea. This was an opportunistic time for the shorts to come in, and they did, forcefully.

TGR: Does this indicate that investors prefer equities to gold? Continue reading "Gold's Plunge Ultimately Healthy for the Sector: Michael Gray"

Will Gold Fall Further?

By: Street Authority

Imagine a bullet fired at the sky.

It climbs higher and higher until gravity overcomes its upward momentum. The bullet begins to fall.

Now, imagine small wings on the bullet that flap while it is falling. The wings are just enough to create a series of slight upswings while on the downward trajectory.

Known as "bear flags," this wavelike cycle recurs until the momentum ends and the bullet drops to the ground. Bear flags are thought to signal additional downward moves to come.

This is exactly what has happened with the price of gold since it hit its high near $1,900 per ounce in August 2011. More recently, this action has been exaggerated, with gold trending downward since striking highs in the $1,800 range back in October. Continue reading "Will Gold Fall Further?"