ETF Prophet

Although the week offered a mixed performance on behalf of the majors, the broad S&P 500 (SPY) ultimately finished lower yet again by -0.3%. Normally I’d look for change of month buying coming into the markets early next week (especially with the VIX so bullishly stretched and given the end-of-month sell), but the fourth challenge [...]

Markets pushed through various potential resistance zones last week to challenge yearly highs.  This action left the S&P 500 (SPY) higher +1.4% and Emerging Markets (EEM) up a whopping +4.5%.  The last major resistance level is just about here at those prior highs, and a look under the hood at the RSI-2′s of our Style [...]

Equities made an explosive rebound to new highs off of the Egyptian dive, led by Materials (XLB) up +4.7%, and with Treasuries conversely finishing down -3.0% on the week.  Save the Dow, the major indices aren’t terribly overbought, although the VIX is becoming stretched relative to it’s intermediate moving average.

(Click Image to Enlarge/ ETF Rewind Glossary) The major U.S. indices finished mixed on the last week of the year, with the S&P 500 (SPY) posting a slight +0.1% gain.  Volume was unsurprisingly the weakest of 2010, causing wild oscillations towards the end of the atypical full pre-holiday Friday session. Looking ahead, Dollar weakness has [...]

(Click Image to Enlarge/ ETF Rewind Glossary) Major U.S. indices put in a strong weekly performance in-spite of a disappointing Friday Jobs Report, with the S&P 500 (SPY) finishing higher by +3.4%.  In  fact, within our tracked indices, only Treasuries (TLT) and the U.S. Dollar (UUP) finished lower, by  -1.9% and -1.4%, respectively. From a [...]

(Click Image to Enlarge/ ETF Rewind Glossary) The major U.S. indices put in a flat week with the S&P 500 (SPY) finishing higher by just +0.1%.  Notable outliers, including Real Estate (IYR -1.9%), Midcap Growth (PWJ +2.3%) and Agriculture (DBA +2.0%), underscored the low volatility in their slight absolute magnitude. Interestingly, Agriculture now represents the [...]

August seemingly withdrew July’s promise of a nascent recovery into the second half of 2010 as the words “double dip” came back into common parlance. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials and NASDAQ 100 cash indices finished lower for the month by -4.74%, -4.31%, and -5.18%, respectively. This left the three major indices down on [...]

June’s economic data provided little respite for those doubting the global slowing theory.  The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials and NASDAQ 100 cash indices again finished lower for the month by -5.39%, -3.58%, and -6.11%, respectively. The holiday-shortened first week of July provided a solid reversal, however, and traders will be undoubtedly be keenly watching [...]

After a rocky April, May was a veritable cascade reminiscent of Fall 2008, featuring an all-in retrace now well past a 10% “official” correction here at the mid-month on sovereign debt contagion and building double-dip worries. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials and NASDAQ 100 cash indices all finished lower for the month by -8.20%, [...]

Although April finished the month near bull-run highs, equity prices began to show signs of increased volatility towards the top as the specter of sovereign debt downgrades came back to the fore along with a whole host of additional worries [also see February]. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials and NASDAQ 100 cash indices nevertheless [...]

Marching Along was an apt descriptor indeed for last month’s consistently bullish market behavior with up days outpacing down by more than two to one.  The powerful move left US equities at fresh rally highs with the VIX at lows not seen in years. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials and NASDAQ 100 cash indices [...]

Hey Gang, sorry this is a bit late getting out.  I know many of you are religious about archiving these — which is precisely their purpose — so here it is in shortened form.  Early February was all about fear of a sovereign debt domino effect on the prospect of a default by Greece. However, [...]

In spite of a relatively decent earnings season, mixed economic readings, domestic political turmoil and an emerging sell-the-news mentality left cracks in the foundation of the ten-month old bear market recovery. This January, the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials and NASDAQ 100 cash indices finished down across the board by -3.70% , -3.46% and -6.41%, [...]

Short of a sovereign debt downgrade or two, last month provided remarkably steady sleighing  as the majority of economic reports continued to come in ahead of expectation.  For the month, all tracked indices finished higher with the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials and NASDAQ 100 cash indices up by +1.78% , +0.80% and +5.26%, respectively. [...]

Horrid internet connectivity issues last month meant that I had to recreate a good deal of the November news table — my apologies for the delay. In spite of some Dubai induced gyrations towards the end-of-month, November yielded bountiful results leaving the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials and NASDAQ 100 cash indices all much higher [...]

October finally put a halt in the road for equities’ historic seven-month run off of the March lows, leaving the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials and NASDAQ 100 cash indices mixed at -1.98%, +0.00% and -3.02%, respectively.  The month also ended with the VIX back in the low thirties for the first time in a [...]

Last month I questioned whether equities were “Running on Empty,” and perhaps I could pose that very same question this early October after a rash of less than stellar economic reports.  Nevertheless, September undeniably put in more healthy returns for the year with the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials and NASDAQ 100 cash indices up [...]

[GRAPHIC FIXED -THANKS!] Equities put in another august performance last month, but in some ways discussed below, the rally started to feel as if it were slowly running out of gas. For August, the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials and NASDAQ 100 cash indices once again posted positive results of +3.36%, +3.54% and +1.36%, respectively, [...]