Nicholas Vardy
Buying an Alternative Precious Metal
With global stock markets seesawing each day, and Asian markets down overnight, this week’s Global Bull Market Alert shifts its focus away from stocks toward commodities.
Global Stock Investor Hotline 50
Stocks started off the week with a bang Monday, making back some of the prior week’s heavy losses as the European Union announced a $1-trillion rescue package for the euro. The Nasdaq soared 4.8%, the S&P 500 rose 4.4% and the Dow climbed 3.9%. Those were the major indices’ best one-day gains since March 2009. By Tuesday, stocks had steadied across the board. Volatility was still out in full force and safe-haven assets like gold hit record highs.
The Global Bull Holds Its Breath
Last week’s decision to pull in your investment horns turned out to be a good one.
The Global Bull Pulls in Its Horns — For Now
Global markets now are in their biggest correction since their sharp pullback in early February. With the extent of the current correction still unclear, let’s keep our financial powder dry until markets settle.
Global Stock Investor Hotline 49
Yesterday was the toughest day for global stocks since the sharp corrections of early February, as Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greece’s debt to junk status and cut Portugal’s credit rating by two notches. That development, combined with Goldman Sachs’ shaky testimony in front of Congress, hit the market hard. All of the major U.S. indices were down more than 2%. And you can expect little respite today, as all the major Asian markets are down overnight as well.
Betting on the eBay of Latin America
Even the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation of Goldman Sachs couldn’t divert the U.S. bull from its relentless trek upward last week. The S&P 500 rallied 0.7%, the Dow 0.6% and Nasdaq 0.4%. All three major indices hit new highs for the year. The Dow has now been up eight weeks in a row — its strongest performance since the market bottomed last March. With 172 of the S&P 500 companies reporting, 83% have beaten earnings expectations. S&P 500 earnings are on track for a 50% gain — 32% excluding financials. Analysts only expected 37% growth overall as recently as April 1.