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NEW YORK, June 23 (Reuters) – Jefferies & Co on Tuesday recommended that investors reduce their exposure to natural gas companies, arguing that the market was overly optimistic about the potential for higher gas prices.
The recent drop in stock, gold, and silver prices has largely been credited to a stronger US dollar. Is there a relationship between the Greenback and other asset classes? Will the US dollar continue to surge? If so, are new lows next for US stocks?
Brazil has emerged as the most widely traded emerging market from an options standpoint, and it continues in that vein today.
Six-week lows were on tap for gold prices during the overnight hours as investors kept up the selling pressure following Monday’s intra-day slide. The $915 support was briefly breached before the market regained some composure and clawed back to the $920s early on Tuesday. The gold ETF reported a small decline in balances as of the 22nd – a first change in positions since June 5th
Welcome to another in a series of articles that examines the thought process behind a variety of strategies using stock, index, and/or exchange-trade fund (ETF) options. This column will examine a strangle, the pros and cons of putting on a strangle, and the profit and loss potential of this position. So, let’s jump into this interesting strategy.
Just as leveraged ETFs are prompting warnings from regulatory agencies and drawing criticisms from U.S. investors, these controversial funds are enjoying tremendous popularity in Europe, where ETF Securities has launched the first complete platform of 2x leveraged and 2x inverse leveraged funds tracking Europe’s most popular equity indexes. The funds offer both leveraged bull and bear market exposure to the following indexes:
Financial stocks recovered a bit on Tuesday after the previous session’s drubbing on a bleak global economic forecast, as investors focused on home sales and the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting, with a statement to be issued Wednesday by the regulator.
The benchmark financial sector exchange traded fund, the Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) was last up 0.6% to $11.42.
The ETF fell nearly 6% Monday after the World Bank said the world economy would shrink 2.9%, deeper than the 1.7% contraction predicted in March.
There would be no Tuesday-morning bounce back for Wall Street, which has continued to reel in the face of Monday’s economic-related blow-out
The cost of mining real money (i.e. Gold) out of the ground is about to decrease relative to the cost of Gold (again). Fundamentals DO NOT immediately translate into stock price changes, but they lay the groundwork for stock prices to change at some point in the future. I am intermediate-term bearish on senior Gold mining stocks, but will be looking to buy more once I think the current correction is over. The fundamentals are about to become even more supportive than they are already
Since March, 2008, temperatures around the world have been below average. Cool weather conditions are starting to impact grain crops, particularly in North America. The possibility of a world grain shortage exists. The U. S. Depart ment of Agriculture (USDA) monthly World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimate report revealed last week that corn reserves at the end of August, 2010, are expected to fall 9.4% to the lowest level in five years. In addition, analysts are forecasting soybean supplies on August, 2009, at 113 million bushels, down from 130 million bushels estimated by the USDA in May and down from 205 million bushels a year earlier. Reserves will be the lowest since 2004. Wheat production for the crop year ending August is forecast by the USDA to remain stable near 2.02 billion bushels.
Bullions remained choppy, as weaker dollar against euro helped gold to retain upside momentum but investors awaited direction from the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting starting later in the day. The dollar held steady against a basket of major currencies, and traders said the U.S. currency’s strength was weighing on bullion. The global economy is expected to shrink 2.9% this year as per the World Bank said more than the 1.7 percent contraction it predicted in March. The inflationary figures of various economies are still near all time lows and since gold is considered as a hedge against inflation the prices can further remain subdued. The investor demand also remained low this month as the holdings with the world’s biggest ETF remained unchanged.
In May, real estate developers met in Las Vegas to discuss the future of the American shopping mall. Judging by The New York Times‘ account of the conference, many developers were reluctant (or unwilling) to entertain the idea that the post-financial crisis world could be much different than the environment that preceded it. Not only were they less-than-attentive to environmental and sustainability concerns, they seemed indifferent to the fact that consumer spending had fallen off a cliff and is likely to remain subdued for years to come. Many, though not all, were waiting for things to get back to normal–the way they were before the crash.
United States Commodity Funds LLC, known for bringing us funds such as the U.S. Oil Fund ( USO), the U.S. Gasoline Fund ( UGA), the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) and the U.S. 12-Month Oil Fund (USL), is seeking approval for its second “12-month” commodities fund. The proposed fund’s objective is to invest in natural gas—or rather, the futures contracts that promise delivery of natural gas to Louisiana’s Read more…
ETF BASIC NEWS, UGA, USL, USO
CNBC did a segment this morning further chronicling the evolution of the ETF. They brought on Tom Lydon (etftrends) as a guest to discuss the topic. Thy explore what is behind the ETF, as an asset class, controlling about 40% of daily trading volume. Bob Pizani states that, “ETF’s are a fast, efficient, and easy way for self directed investors to get involved in the stock market.” Read more…
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