Stocks are the place to be, the only place to be. The performance chart below shows the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) up a whopping 15.21% year-to-date. 99.99% of fund managers would kill the other .01% for an annual return like this, not to mention a six month return. Oil and the Dollar are up slightly, but really just flat since January. Treasuries and the Euro are pretty much flat as well. Gold is the only other big mover with the Gold SPDR (GLD) down double digits for the year. Even though stocks look overextended and ripe for a correction, the short, medium and long-term uptrends are strong and show no signs of weakness.
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Key Reports and Events (all times Eastern):
Tue - May 07 - 15:00 - Consumer Credit
Wed - May 08 - 07:00 - MBA Mortgage Index
Wed - May 08 - 10:30 - Oil Inventories
Thu - May 09 - 08:30 - Jobless Claims
Thu - May 09 - 10:30 - Natural Gas Inventories
Fri – May 10 – 08:00 - TGIF
Charts of Interest: Tuesday and Thursday
This commentary and charts-of-interest are designed to stimulate thinking. This analysis is
not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or sell short any security (stock ETF or otherwise).
We all need to think for ourselves when it comes to trading our own accounts. First, it is
the only way to really learn. Second, we are the only ones responsible for our decisions.
Think of these charts as food for further analysis. Before making a trade, it is important
to have a plan. Plan the trade and trade the plan. Among other things, this includes setting
a trigger level, a target area and a stop-loss level. It is also important to plan for three
possible price movements: advance, decline or sideways. Have a plan for all three scenarios
BEFORE making the trade. Consider possible holding times. And finally, look at overall market
conditions and sector/industry performance.
About the author:
Arthur Hill, CMT, is the Chief Technical Strategist at TrendInvestorPro.com. Focusing predominantly on US equities and ETFs, his systematic approach of identifying trend, finding signals within the trend, and setting key price levels has made him an esteemed market technician. Arthur has written articles for numerous financial publications including Barrons and Stocks & Commodities Magazine. In addition to his Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation, he holds an MBA from the Cass Business School at City University in London.
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