Equity markets have taken investors for a wild ride over the past three months with chaotic trading dominating virtually every nook and corner of Wall Street. Amidst the volatility, investors have been seeking out refuge and fleeing to “safer” asset classes; although rational, this approach inevitability overlooks certain corners of the market that may in fact be a lot less riskier than most investors might think. Currency exposure in particular is often times overlooked, especially when stock markets are unfriendly, due to preconceived notions about the risks and rewards associated with this misunderstood asset class.
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Monday marked the second straight major winning day for equities, as a number of earnings reports and good news from overseas propelled markets forward. “Five shares rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange” write Stan Choe and David K. Randall. The S&P 500 posted gains of 1.3% while the NASDAQ [...]
Stocks drifted higher on Tuesday following a positive home-builders confidence report along with better-than-expected earnings from Bank of America. The real story of the day, however, was the impressive last-hour rally on Wall Street, fueled one again by optimism over the euro zone debt situation. Stocks surged on high-volume just an hour before the closing [...]
This week started on a down note as investors once again reassessed the likelihood of a European contagion, pushing equities broadly lower in the process. The Dow finished the day lower by about 2.1% while the broader benchmarks turned in slightly better performances as the tech heavy Nasdaq fell by about 2.0% in comparison while the S&P [...]
The impressive pace of expansion in the ETF industry over the last several years has been well documented; continuous product development has resulted in the launch of more than 250 so far in 2011, and there are now more than 1,300 names in the ETF lineup. But while the depth of the ETF space has [...]
September was one of the worst months in years for global equity markets. Volatility swept throughout every corner of the financial markets as escalating Euro zone debt woes worried investors of an impending crisis. Investor confidence has been slowly eroding given the concerning global economic outlook, prompting many to pull out of the markets all [...]
Despite the death of American icon and former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, American stocks rose yet again in Thursday trading, as investors bought up shares of securities across the board thanks to solid data and more hope from the ECB. The Dow gained about 1.7% on the session while the S&P posted a 1.8% jump [...]
Yesterday’s strong markets were only temporary, as today aimed to erase Tuesday’s forward progress in a number of asset classes. Markets began the day relatively flat, only to crash upon hearing the Fed’s plans for “Operation Twist”, which seems to have done little to convince investors that the economy can turn around in the near [...]
The last week was a welcome change of pace for investors, as markets generally cruised higher despite a lack of meaningful good news that traditionally accompanies such rallies. Attractive entry points finally drove some back into risky assets, though significant uncertainty remains over the outlook from here–especially with parts of Europe now precariously teetering on [...]
U.S. equities got off to a rough start this week, opening lower and managing to climb out of the hole only in the final hours of trading. Fears of Greece defaulting are permeating every corner of the financial market as investor uncertainty continues to remain elevated and a lack of action from European lawmakers is [...]
Global equity markets went on a wild ride during the month of August, and judging from September’s roaring start, many investors are probably scratching their heads in disbelief. At home, economic data indicators have started to show a trend of deceleration,while the debt crisis overseas seems to dominate headlines and spark sell-offs of all sorts [...]
