The past few trading sessions have been plagued with worries both abroad and within our own borders. While investors scrambled to get out of equities, gold has seen a spark of life as the precious metal hit an all time high of $1,600 per ounce in intraday trading yesterday, pointing to a lack of investor confidence in the the current U.S. debt situation. With our nation currently struggling to stay afloat amid the enormous pressure that our $14+ trillion in debt has caused, markets have faltered. Though 2011 started off strong, the past few months have been riddled with political instability in the Middle East, and debt crises in Europe and on the home-front, which are aiming to destroy the progress major equities have made this year [see also SICK vs. CURE: Direxion Rolls Out Leveraged Health Care ETFs]. [click to continue…]
U.S. equity markets started the week in the green as solid news from blue chips Caterpillar, Microsoft, and Wal-Mart helped to carry indexes higher in Monday trading. The Dow finished the day ahead by 0.6% while the broader indexes trailed the DJIA, gaining 0.5% each in comparison. Meanwhile, commodity markets rebounded again in Monday trading as [...]
Direxion continued the expansion of its already robust lineup of leveraged and inverse ETFs on Wednesday, debuting two pairs of 3x daily products along with an inverse fund offering short exposure to an index replicated by one of the most popular U.S. equity ETFs. The latest additions to the ETF lineup include:
Sector rotation techniques have been around for decades, a relatively simple strategy often used by investors seeking to capitalize on short-term mispricings in order to generate alpha. In its most basic form, sector rotation involves segmenting the equity universe by industry, and moving into and out of various sectors depending on relative attractiveness from a [...]
American equity markets initially soared Monday on news that Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan, but lost momentum after lunch and finished the day in the red. The Dow finished the day down by three points while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted losses of 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively. Commodity markets also [...]
The health care sector has been in the middle of major political and economic debates since the Obama administration began pushing its aggressive health care law last year. Since that time, many haved argue over how to move forward in the space, and over economically viable ways to provide care to the citizens of our [...]
With health care remaining a major issue in today’s political and financial world, big pharmaceutical firms have been under the microscope for some time. Legislation earlier this year from Washington created quite a buzz, as the bill executed an overhaul of our entire health care system. On top of this, many big pharma firms who [...]
As emerging markets have raced ahead of their developed counterparts in the last two years, investors around the globe have begun to tilt portfolios more heavily towards securities that many have historically perceived to be excessively risky. The inflows into equity ETFs serve as one piece of evidence of this trend; through the first seven [...]
U.S. equity markets continued their plunge on Tuesday after extremely weak housing data sent markets tumbling. The Dow finished down 1.2% while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted losses of 1.3% and 1.5% respectively. This pushed investors into safe havens such as gold and Treasury bills which once again saw gains; gold prices finished [...]
There is no denying that the ETF boom is in full swing, as billions of dollars continue to flow into the industry every month despite a difficult economic environment. As individual investors and advisors alike become more informed on the nuances and potential benefits of ETFs, usage has surged. Part of the impressive surge in [...]
After staying flat for much of the trading session, equity markets fell in the final hour to finish the day lower. The Dow reported modest losses of 0.4% while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq showed steeper losses of 0.7% and 1% respectively. Commodities finished the day flat as investors bought up T-Bills and pushed [...]
