Tuesday, January 31, 2012

3 Stock Picks on BNN Yesterday

Here are my three Top Picks from a segment that aired on 1/30/12 on BNN.

  • Vanguard Information Technology ETF ($VGT) -Invests in over 400 technology stocks; the top three are Apple, IBM, and Microsoft.
  • True Religion Apparel ($TRLG) - Maker of $300 jeans and other apparel. They may not be the big thing anymore in the US, but overseas they are still a big deal. And techincally and fundamentally they remain strong.
  • Oceaneering ($OII) - Supplies equipment and services for deep water drilling. With more oil needed and lots of ocean to explore, $OII should be a winner. Stock not far from an all-time high.

Greece - Best Performing Country in 2012?

The 4.5% gain in the S&P 500 during the month of January is more than impressive, but the Greeks are laughing at the US today.

The Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF ($GREK) is up 37% so far in 2012 and easily outpacing all other single-country ETFs. The ETF is made up of 20 Greek stocks that got decimated in 2011 as the financial crisis in the country hit full-tilt.

The two stock in the top ten in the ETF that trade on a major US exchange are Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co. ($CCH) and National Bank of Greece ($NBG), they are up 12% and 82%, respectively.

The rest of the Top 5 Single-Country ETFs in 2012:
  1. iShares S&P India Nifty 50 ETF ($INDY) up 21%
  2. iShares MSCI Turkey ETF ($TUR) up 18%
  3. iShares MSCI Poland ETF ($EPOL) up 18%
  4. Market Vectors Vietnam ETF ($VNM) up 16%

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Market Recap - Home Sales Disappoint and Commodities Rise

Today saw some profit-taking with the S&P 500 falling 0.5% from a multi-month high set early in the session. Gold was up again (+1.25%) and oil closed just below the century mark, up 0.5%.

Tonight's recap will be short and to the point. It was a fairly boring session for most investors and therefore I will concentrate on 5 stocks/ETFs that look pretty darn good right now on the charts.

  • Air Methods ($AIRM) - Bouncing off support at the $80 area and just generated an RSI Crossover Buy Signal.
  • FTI Consulting ($FCN) - Breaking out of a week-long consolidation pattern and closed above the 50-day moving average for the first time in nearly two weeks.
  • Seniorhousing Properties Trust ($SNH) - Rallying from a consolidation pattern that occurred on its 50-day moving average; pays a 6.8% dividend.
  • True Religion ($TRLG) - A stock that continues to defy all logic, however its fundamentals are strong and it has been consolidating on support at the $34 area.
  • iShares High Dividend Equity ETF ($HDV) - Consolidating as stocks take a breather; love the dividend on this ETF. Time to buy is between $54 and $55.

Dividend Plays Attracting Money

After Ben Bernanke hinted that interest rates will remain near historic lows for at least another year or two it sent stocks higher yesterday. Today the major indices are flat, however stocks and ETFs that pay above average dividends are doing well, in general.

A few of the outperformers include:

  • SPDR Utilities ETF ($XLU) - 4.3% dividend
  • iShares S&P National Municipal Bond ETF ($MUB) - 3.0% dividend
  • iShares Corporate Bond ETF ($LQD) - 4.1% dividend
  • Lockheed Martin ($LMT) - 4.9% dividend
  • iShares Realty Majors ETF ($ICF) - 3.3% dividend
  • Vanguard Intermediate Term Bond ETF ($BIV) - 3.6% dividend
  • Teekay Offshore Partners ($TOO) - 7.5% dividend
  • GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) - 4.8% dividend

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Market Recap - FOMC Fuels Rally, Gold Surges

A nearly 1% rally for the S&P 500 has the index at the best level since late July 2011 and investor optimism is starting to override the fears in Europe. The move today has the index only 3% from a new 3-year high - hard to believe with all the black clouds hanging over the market. But as I have said many times in the past, there will always be black clouds, but not all of them will bring rain!

INTERESTING STORIES

  • Apple ($AAPL) reports blockbuster earnings and rallies today on the news. The stock was up 6% to a new all-time high and is now the largest company in the US by market cap. And more amazing is that it could see another $150 on the upside before it is fairly valued.
  • FOMC Meeting - Bernanke and his cohorts announced that interest rates will remain near historic lows into 2014 and that gave equities a boost. May are calling this the next round of quantitative easing or QE 2.5. Either way, low rates are good for corporations and stock valuations.
  • Gold - Gold surged as the US Dollar fell after the FOMC news. More easing will lower the value of the Dollar and PowerShares US Dollar Index Bullish ETF ($UUP) fell by 0.45% today to the lowest level in over a month. This fall sent gold ($GLD) to the best level in over one month. {$GLD remains Penn Financial Groups largest holding.}
  • New Highs - HOLDRS Biotech ETF ($BBH), Digital Realty Trust ($DLR), FEI Company ($FEIC), Pool Corp ($POOL), Weis Market ($WMK)

Gold Surging after FOMC Statement

The price of gold surged today after the FOMC announced it would keep interest rates near historical lows into 2014. The policy can be viewed as another round of quantitative easing by some. PIMCO's Bill Gross referred to the move as QE 2.5.

Whatever you make of it, the more important point is that the market liked the comments as did investors in precious metals. Gold rallied back to the $1700 area and the SPDR Gold ETF ($GLD) surged to the best level in over a month - up over 2%.

The gold ETF continues to be my largest holding for clients and as I stated when the metal pulled back in December - Do not give up on it! And thankfully I did not and hopefully you did not either.

There may be a bit of resistance for $GLD at the $165.50 area, which is the top of the gap formed in December, but longer term I like the ETF to retest the high of $185/share.

Talking the US Economy on GBTV

My State of the Union on GBTV