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Reply to @Sven: Hi Sven, not really. But these are very good 'free advice' to consider. I know one of my boss at work pays few bucks/yr for subscriptions to follow one online trader religiously; about half of his portfolio are similiar to the trading ideas sponsored by this online firm. Funds-newsletter is also very good, I find there are great similiarities between two in term of trading and fundamental ideas behind how much you should be in stock/cash, etc...
Michael D. Ruccio, AAMS Senior Vice President -Financial Advisor 25 Hanover Road Florham Park, NJ 07932-1407 (p) (866) 248-0096 (f) (973) 966-0309 [email protected] michaelruccio.com
rbc investments commentary
Market Week: May 7, 2012 The Markets The Dow hit its highest point in more than four years on Tuesday, but it was basically downhill for equities after that as investors decided to take some of their year-to-date profits off the table in advance of key European elections over the weekend. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, Russell 2000, and Global Dow all had their worst week of 2012, and the Dow's 168-point loss on Friday gave the industrials their second worst week of the year. The selling helped the 10-year Treasury yield hit its lowest level since early February as prices rose. Meanwhile, oil prices slid below $100 a barrel, while gold reversed the previous week's gains, falling almost $30 back to $1,634.
Equities data reflect price changes, not total return.
Last Week's Headlines Unemployment fell to 8.1% in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, that was not necessarily good news, as the drop was largely the result of people leaving the work force. The economy created only 115,000 new jobs; that's substantially lower than the 154,000 jobs added in March or the 252,000 monthly average between December and February. Off with his head: The frustration about Europe's finances that has previously brought down heads of state in Greece, Spain, and Italy took its toll on French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The election of François Hollande, who campaigned against the fiscal austerity and budgetary discipline measures supported by "Merkozy" (German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Sarkozy), creates uncertainty about the future of those measures. The political parties that comprise Greece's ruling coalition suffered losses in the country's parliamentary elections, raising questions about whether a reorganized government would support the austerity program required for future bailout assistance. Spain's gross domestic product contracted for the second quarter in a row. That officially put the financially troubled country into recession; coupled with Spain's struggle to implement austerity measures, a recession could make it more difficult for the eurozone's fourth largest economy to reduce its budget deficit and meet sovereign debt guidelines. The country also received a second piece of bad news when Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit ratings of 11 Spanish banks. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 1%. The Bureau of Economic Analysis said consumer spending rose 0.3% in March and incomes grew 0.4%, helping to nudge the savings rate up slightly to 3.8% of disposable income. The U.S. services sector grew in April, but the 53.5% reading by the Institute for Supply Management was 2.5% lower than the one in March. However, the ISM's manufacturing index was up 1.4% from March for a reading of 54.8% and a 33rd consecutive month of expansion. U.S. construction spending rose 0.1% in March despite a 1.1% decline in spending on public construction such as state and local highways and schools. According to the Department of Commerce, private construction was up 0.7% from the previous month, roughly evenly divided between residential and nonresidential projects. Fixed-rate mortgages have hit record lows once again, according to Freddie Mac. The 3.84% average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was almost a percentage point lower than the 4.71% of a year ago, and 15-year mortgages were at 3.07% compared to 3.89% last year at this time.
Eye on the Week Ahead In a week that's light on economic data, investors will attempt to gauge the impact of French and Greek elections on the eurozone's willingness and ability to enforce austerity measures and debt guidelines.
Key dates and data releases: international trade, import/export prices, U.S. Treasury budget (5/10); wholesale inflation (5/11).
Comments
Personally do you follow the newsletter's strategy ? Just curious.
Hi Sven, not really. But these are very good 'free advice' to consider. I know one of my boss at work pays few bucks/yr for subscriptions to follow one online trader religiously; about half of his portfolio are similiar to the trading ideas sponsored by this online firm. Funds-newsletter is also very good, I find there are great similiarities between two in term of trading and fundamental ideas behind how much you should be in stock/cash, etc...
the site is http://invivoanalytics.com/
Michael D. Ruccio, AAMS
Senior Vice President -Financial Advisor
25 Hanover Road
Florham Park, NJ 07932-1407
(p) (866) 248-0096
(f) (973) 966-0309
[email protected]
michaelruccio.com
rbc investments commentary
Market Week: May 7, 2012
The Markets
The Dow hit its highest point in more than four years on Tuesday, but it was basically downhill for equities after that as investors decided to take some of their year-to-date profits off the table in advance of key European elections over the weekend. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, Russell 2000, and Global Dow all had their worst week of 2012, and the Dow's 168-point loss on Friday gave the industrials their second worst week of the year. The selling helped the 10-year Treasury yield hit its lowest level since early February as prices rose. Meanwhile, oil prices slid below $100 a barrel, while gold reversed the previous week's gains, falling almost $30 back to $1,634.
Market/Index 2011 Close Prior Week As of 5/4 Week Change YTD Change
DJIA 12217.56 13228.31 13038.27 -1.44% 6.72%
Nasdaq 2605.15 3069.20 2956.34 -3.68% 13.48%
S&P 500 1257.60 1403.36 1369.10 -2.44% 8.87%
Russell 2000 740.92 825.47 791.84 -4.07% 6.87%
Global Dow 1801.60 1946.39 1893.39 -2.72% 5.09%
Fed. Funds .25% .25% .25% 0 bps 0 bps
10-year Treasuries 1.89% 1.96% 1.91% -5 bps 2 bps
Equities data reflect price changes, not total return.
Last Week's Headlines
Unemployment fell to 8.1% in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, that was not necessarily good news, as the drop was largely the result of people leaving the work force. The economy created only 115,000 new jobs; that's substantially lower than the 154,000 jobs added in March or the 252,000 monthly average between December and February.
Off with his head: The frustration about Europe's finances that has previously brought down heads of state in Greece, Spain, and Italy took its toll on French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The election of François Hollande, who campaigned against the fiscal austerity and budgetary discipline measures supported by "Merkozy" (German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Sarkozy), creates uncertainty about the future of those measures.
The political parties that comprise Greece's ruling coalition suffered losses in the country's parliamentary elections, raising questions about whether a reorganized government would support the austerity program required for future bailout assistance.
Spain's gross domestic product contracted for the second quarter in a row. That officially put the financially troubled country into recession; coupled with Spain's struggle to implement austerity measures, a recession could make it more difficult for the eurozone's fourth largest economy to reduce its budget deficit and meet sovereign debt guidelines. The country also received a second piece of bad news when Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit ratings of 11 Spanish banks. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 1%.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis said consumer spending rose 0.3% in March and incomes grew 0.4%, helping to nudge the savings rate up slightly to 3.8% of disposable income.
The U.S. services sector grew in April, but the 53.5% reading by the Institute for Supply Management was 2.5% lower than the one in March. However, the ISM's manufacturing index was up 1.4% from March for a reading of 54.8% and a 33rd consecutive month of expansion.
U.S. construction spending rose 0.1% in March despite a 1.1% decline in spending on public construction such as state and local highways and schools. According to the Department of Commerce, private construction was up 0.7% from the previous month, roughly evenly divided between residential and nonresidential projects.
Fixed-rate mortgages have hit record lows once again, according to Freddie Mac. The 3.84% average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was almost a percentage point lower than the 4.71% of a year ago, and 15-year mortgages were at 3.07% compared to 3.89% last year at this time.
Eye on the Week Ahead
In a week that's light on economic data, investors will attempt to gauge the impact of French and Greek elections on the eurozone's willingness and ability to enforce austerity measures and debt guidelines.
Key dates and data releases: international trade, import/export prices, U.S. Treasury budget (5/10); wholesale inflation (5/11).