Wall Street managed to march higher early last week, however, domestic equities settled into range-bound trading for the remainder of the period given a lack of upbeat economic news and overall pessimism stemming from the situation in Egypt. Political instability and civil unrest in the region continue to put pressure on financial markets around the globe, especially as fears grow over the riots spreading to other countries in the area. Commodities have been quite volatile, with oil managing to slip just below $90 a barrel on Friday, while gold managed to hold support and inch higher. On Friday, the markets wobbled between positive and negative territory as investors digested a mixed jobs report, with data showing that job creation is still stagnant, despite a reduction in the overall joblessness rate to 9.0%. [click to continue…]
As a variety of bailout related programs are paid back, some are beginning to believe that the American economy is finally in recovery mode thanks to tame inflation levels and optimism from major retailers over holiday season spending. One classic example of this trend is General Motors which has come roaring back to life from [...]
As the value of the U.S. dollar continues to slide, many investors have embraced commodities as an opportunity for generating solid returns in an uncertain environment. ETNs and ETFs tracking various commodities have performed extremely well over the past few months, as concerns over QE have combined with ongoing supply worries in a variety of [...]
As the ETF industry has exploded on to the scene in recent years, sponsors have aggressively launched funds in an attempt to gain market share. While many of these new ETFs have attracted sufficient investor funds to justify continued operation, some have failed to garner a level of investment necessary to support an active, liquid market [...]
