Around a year ago, world markets witnessed all time low figures (after global crisis). On March 9, 2009, MSCI all-economy world index exhibited numbers that are rarely seen throughout the world. In less than 16 months, value of stocks fell by around 60%, which is a considerable fall in any market. This year, however, the stocks rallied back and recovered around 80% till January 2010. And people started becoming optimistic about the fundamentals that drove the market. With worries about Euro debt, equity markets are definitely not optimistic today, which now questions the recovery of the US economy and futility of several stimulus packages. Post January, we have seen a gradual fall in the market. It seems that MSCI index is going through tough times. Probably it needs few more stimulus packages. Few experts, on Tuesday, commented about current market instability. From Odey Asset Management,  [...]

The cyclic nature of our market, bullish and bearish, is currently replaced, or rather pulled, by other sources it seems. Essentially dominated by fundamentals, the market is now run by technicals. The market is not reacting to any astonishing news, good or bad, and is operating independently. This is nothing but an outcome of technicians-run-market. It is like a boat sailing on the sea, ignoring the signals of the radar. And obviously, this trend wouldn’t last long. However, such market behavior is affecting investor’s profit. People generally buy before good news and expect good returns. Or inversely, they sell before a bad news is publicly declared to reduce their loss. But they get nothing more than being deceived. Hence, here are few things that you can do when such situation prevails. Focus on your long term goals Changing your goals with every uncertain movement in  [...]

Although Apple (AAPL) is launching extremely interesting products, most of them useful for every individual, the stock seems to be on the verge of violating the upward movement. AAPL is almost ready to hit the 52 week low mark. No, I ain’t a pessimist. The products, especially iPad, are very useful but they can defy the law of market. In the next few months, we will definitely see a plunge in the stock price. And there are many reasons that compel me to say this. The market in which apple is operating is crammed with competitors and it’s tougher than ever to derive maximum revenue. iTunes is a convenient way to purchase MP3. However, the same business model has been adopted by many companies, which is quijte similar to the Apple ones. Moreover, the content, music that is, isn’t Apple’s production. You will get the same content all over the web. Though iPhone is an incredibly  [...]

Many averages witnessed a substantial rise in volumes traded during the day due to the encouraging and healthy economic data revealed by the government. However, the market also witnessed another round of sale in tech industry, swathing all the companies red. The report said the US economy grew by 5.7% and the Emplyment Cost Index (ECI) grew by 0.5%; better than the experts prediction of 4.7% and 0.4% respectively. Because the data was released an hour before the market opened, all major averages started with a rise. Before the investors could tag it as an opportunity to sell their holdings, the market started tumbling, mostly due to tech stocks. Opening quite higher at $30, Microsoft (MSFT) later saw a plunge of 4.5% and closed at $27.62. The quarter earnings for giant software maker were much better than their anticipation; however, the CFO mentioned quite clearly that the 2010 IT spending  [...]

If Tuesday was considered to be Brown Rally, can we tag today as “Obama Sell Off?” It is possible that Mr. President is bothered about boosting his approval ranking after a harsh reproach from the electorate. However, today he has dropped a bomb, if not an atomic one, on the banks. He peacefully declared his new measures to border the risk taken by US banks. However, the Wall Street was very far from being peaceful. Most stocks hammered immediately after he unveiled his new bank plan, which was almost a surprise to Wall Street. It seems that President Obama smacked US banks directly between the eyes. DJIA lost 213 points, almost 2%, and concluded at 10390. This is its worst plunge since October 30, 2009. S&P 500 lost 22 points to end at 1116 losing 1.9% and Nasdaq Comp dropped 26 points or 1.8% to 2266. Crude prices dropped, Treasurys surged, while dollar saw no change. The  [...]

People all over the country, in fact, all over the globe are expecting the financial crises to conclude. Investors are picking up favorite stocks as they are being as optimistic as the news channels. Truly, one cannot a pessimist after hearing few good news like big banks paying back TARP money, stabilization of unemployment rate, and correction in major economies around the world. If the US economy stabilizes anytime soon, people would start spending more on everyday products, which means the brands producing daily items will see a decent hike in their stock price. So which are the companies that will benefit from the rise in spending of mass population? Almost every company, I can say. However, the major benefit would be to companies like Coca Cola – KO McDonald’s – MCD Wal-Mart – WMT Procter & Gamble – PG And Johnson & Johnson – JNJ Why? Coca  [...]

On Thursday stocks declined sharply mainly as a consequence of increase in the value of dollar which gained on the back of Fed’s comments that economy still continues to be weak. The Dow Jones industrial average declined by 133 points (1.3%) to close at 10,308.26 points with 28 of the 30 Dow components registering a decline. Other indices also declined with the S&P 500 index declining by 13 points (1.2%) to close at 1,096.08 points. The Nasdaq composite also declined by 27 points (1.2%) to close at 2,180.05 points. Sector wise all sectors declined on Thursday with the materials and financials registering the maximum decline of 2.3% and 1.8% respectively. Material stocks were under pressure mainly on account of increase in the value of dollar. Among the financial stocks leading the decline was Citigroup whose stocks were down by 7.5%. American Express stocks declined by 2% while JPMorgan  [...]

On Wednesday stock market moved upward thanks to the optimism provided by falling dollar and an improvement in wholesale inventories data. The Dow Jones industrial average increased by 51 points( 0.5%) to close at 10,337.05 points. The S&P 500 index increased by 4 points (0.4%) to close at 1,095.95 points while the Nasdaq composite increased by 11 points (0.5%) to close at 2,183.73 points. Sector wise except for consumer discretionary which registered a decline of 0.2%, all other sectors were either unchanged or showed an increase. The advancing sectors for the day were materials (increased by 1.3%), technology (increased by 0.9%), Health Care (increased by 0.6%), Financials (increased by 0.4%), Utilities (increased by 0.4%) and Energy (increased by 0.1%). The sectors which were unchanged include Consumer Staples, Industrials and Telecom. Like before dollar and stock markets continued  [...]

On Tuesday US stock markets declined mainly due to weak global markets, a rising dollar, falling oil and gold prices, and some disappointing profit news from 3M, McDonald's and Kroger. The Dow Jones industrial average declined by 104 points (1%) to close at 10,285.97 points. Other indices also declined with the S&P 500 index declining by 11 points (1%) to close at 1,091.94 points. The Nasdaq composite declined by 17 points( 0.8%) to close at 2,172.99 points. Sector wise all sectors registered decline on Tuesday with the energy and materials declining the maximum by 1.7% each. Other sectors which declined include industrials (decline of 1.3%), consumer staples (decline of 1.2%), telecom (decline of 1.0%), financials (decline of 0.9%), consumer discretionary (decline of 0.8%), technology (decline of 0.8%), health care (decline of 0.8%) and utilities (decline of 0.4%). Stocks declined  [...]

The week started on a positive note with Dow reaching its highest level in more than a year. The markets were helped by a strong housing report and increase in commodity prices. The Dow Jones industrial average increased by a huge 133 points( 1.2%) to end at 10,450.95 points. This is Dow’s highest level since October 2, 2008. In early trading Dow increased by 177 points to reach 10,495.61 which is the highest trading level since Oct. 3, 2008. Other indices also showed an increase.  The Nasdaq increased by 30 points (1.4%) to close at 2,176.01.The S&P 500 increased by 15 points(1.4%) to close at 1,106.24. Since reaching its 12 year low on March 9 the Dow has increased by approximately 60% while Nasdaq and S&P have increased by 69% and 64% respectively. Sector wise all sectors registered gain on Monday with Telecom, Technology and Energy gaining the most of 1.6%. Other sectors  [...]