Wall Street continued its wild ride last week as equity indexes sank lower after a discouraging downgrade of Ireland to junk status and ongoing worries about the debt ceiling on the home front. Alcoa started the week with upbeat results and Google left investors smiling on Friday as shares soared upwards of 10% after the internet giant crushed analyst expectations. Gold emerged as the strongest performing asset class yet again; the precious metal continues to ride higher as financial markets across the globe largely remain uncertain and last week’s futures prices climbed to record highs of $1,594 an ounce. Our trade recommendations for this week include a defensive position with international exposure in the fixed-income market, while our other two picks are positioned to gain from a rally in select corners of the equity-market from across the globe.
Weekly Outlook
The coming week is fairly sparse with economic data on the international front, while earnings kick-into high gear at home as investors position themselves for the second week of corporate performance results. Goldman Sachs among other financial and banking giants will report this week, and volatility in the financial sector has historically translated into broad-based sell-offs and rallies. Below we highlight ETFs that may see an increase in trading activity as relevant market data is released and evaluated by investors:
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This week has marked a rare departure from international headlines, as media attention has been centered around numerous government data announcements in the US. For starters, many are growing concerned over the federal budget, as several political officials have outlined numerous spending cuts or tax hikes that could have a drastic impact on various corners [...]
Over the past three months, ETFs in the financial sector have surged higher thanks to declining fears over European debt crises and solid bank earnings that have managed to keep loan losses in check despite slow growth levels in many developed markets. However, just when everything seemed to be back to normal in the banking [...]
After generally impressive earnings reports sent markets higher for much of the last week, Friday’s shocking allegations against Goldman Sachs ensured that the week ended on a down note. The SEC filed fraud charges against the Wall Street giant on Friday, alleging that the firm failed to make important disclosures surrounding a subprime mortgage product [...]
March 9, 2009 is a date etched into the memories of many investors. After months of unprecedented volatility, depressing statistical releases, and countless false bottoms, that’s the day most equity markets finally hit their lows. It also marked the beginning of an impressive rally that saw most major indexes climb steadily for the remainder of [...]
The banking industry has been on a wild ride over the past few years, as the unprecedented economic environment of 2008 resulted in a wave bankruptcies and bailouts that many figured would forever change the business. But less than two years removed from the disaster, many financial institutions have staged an impressive return to glory, [...]
Sean O’Hara is the President of RevenueShares Investor Services. He recently took time out of his busy schedule to talk about weighting methodologies, alpha, and more with ETF Database.
When the financial bomb went off in the fall of 2008, it damaged or destroyed nearly everything in its path. Banking stocks (and banking ETFs) were near the epicenter of the blast, and therefore suffered significant damage. But even within the banking sector, there is a huge discrepancy in the returns generated by various types [...]
When Citigroup (C) agreed months ago to accept federal bailout money, the move came with more than a few strings attached. And now one of those strings is pulling on traditional market capitalization-weighted equity indexes, as well as the ETFs that track them, to make some interesting moves. Despite a relatively stable share price, Citi’s [...]
Over the past year, the financial sector has been a favorite target of criticisms, frequently accused of outrageous greed that sparked the mortgage meltdown in the U.S., eventually spreading to nearly all corners of the global economy. Moreover, the volatility of financial companies has skyrocketed, perhaps best evidenced by the fact that Direxion’s 3x leveraged Daily [...]
