With the second quarter underway, investors will be glued to important economic data from around the world to get a feel for how markets could behave in the coming three-month span. One thing that many will hope for is the continued radio silence on European issues that dominated headlines for the better part of 2011. With constant worries over a Greek bailout and how the surrounding region would handle the crisis, stocks were held in limbo until fears subsided and investors shifted their gaze to earnings and strong economic data. Keeping fears of Europe at bay will be key in the next few months and one of the best ways to do that is to have strong data [see also ETFs That Should Be Commission Free But Aren’t]. [click to continue…]
Euphoria returned to Wall Street once again as encouraging development from the overseas currency bloc gave the bulls a reason to stampede. Investors cheered on the debt swap in Europe as Greek bondholders pushed forward with the proposed bailout helping to ease many of the looming uncertainties. The Nasdaq took the lead, gaining 1.18% on the day, while [...]
The bears made an appearance on Wall Street on Tuesday as resurfacing Euro zone debt woes sparked a global sell-off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave into selling pressures, shedding a dismal 1.57% on the day, while the Nasdaq fared slightly better, turning in a loss of 1.36%. Gold failed to take on safe haven [...]
Most investors looking to generate alpha and accumulate wealth over the long term spend the bulk of their time determining which asset classes should be included in their portfolio, either as long-term building blocks or shorter-term tactical allocations. But sometimes the most effective means of generating excess returns is not identifying and overweighting the top [...]
Equity indexes broadly drifted lower throughout the day, although a last-hour rally on Wall Street helped many benchmarks to end the day in green territory. Investors expressed their concerns over lackluster retail sales data at home coupled with looming debt-deal drama in the currency bloc overseas. On the home front, the Dow Jones Industrial Average [...]
Stocks endured yet another bumpy trading session as indexes oscillated between gains and losses for most of the day thanks to mixed economic developments. On the home front, Exxon Mobil posted strong quarterly earnings, although lackluster home prices data overshadowed the energy giant’s profits. The Nasdaq proved to be most resilient, gaining 0.07% on the [...]
Equity markets got off to a choppy start as major indexes oscillated between minor gains and losses throughout the first trading day of the week. Investor sentiment turned for the worst on Monday as resurfacing Greek debt woes brought the limelight onto the debt burdened currency bloc once again. Stocks tipped to the downside as [...]
The tug of war between domestic economic data releases and developments overseas in the debt burdened currency bloc continues. Stocks fluctuated between minor gains and losses on Thursday as investors digested worse-than-expected employment data at home, along with an encouraging debt auction on the other side of the Atlantic. The Nasdaq led the way higher, [...]
2011 was the year of the euro, but most investors are hoping for the opposite to be true this year. Rather than focusing on the issues overseas, investors would like to keep their minds occupied by the slew of encouraging data from recent U.S. reports. But for now, the euro zone remains under the microscope [...]
Equity markets extended losses yet again as Euro zone fears dictated selling pressures on Wednesday. The Nasdaq led the way lower, sinking 1.55% on the day, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was a bit more resilient, giving up 1.10%. Investors gave into fear as Italy’s borrowing costs surged to a recent all-time high, while [...]
Markets faced a brutal start to the week as the world decided that the recent euro deal was only prolonging the inevitable and not taking a step in the right direction. The Dow sank 162 points while the S&P 500 lost 1.5%, the most of any major index. 10 year bond prices surrendered just over [...]
