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At record high, U.S. stocks look to extend breakout --Weekly Thread Feb. 16
Weekly investment & finance thread ^ | February 15, 2015 | Freeper Investors

Posted on 02/15/2015 9:51:16 AM PST by expat_panama

[excerpt from Yahoo Finance]

 

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks are poised for more upward momentum even as uncertainty over oil prices and Greek debt negotiations keeps the market on tenterhooks, analysts say.

Strong fourth-quarter U.S. company earnings and signs of an overall improving economy, alongside what appears to be the start of a bottoming in crude oil prices, have given equities support.

After starting 2015 with its sharpest monthly drop in a year and a spike in volatility, the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) hit an intraday record on Friday while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) reached its highest point so far this year.

As "stocks have found a footing, people aren't as afraid of the potential negative" stemming from recent instability in oil prices and Greece, said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at Phoenix Financial Services in New York.

"That's allowed stocks to start breaking out of the channel that they've been stuck in since the beginning of the year," he said.

Volatility seems to abating....

{snip]

...market participants will be paying close attention to developments in Greece - which, alongside oil prices, have been at the root of the volatility seen in the market this year.

Greece's new leftist government and euro zone finance ministers failed to agree this week on the next step for the country's bailout, leaving negotiations on the table for next week as they inch closer to a Feb. 28 deadline. The Greek government promised to do "whatever we can" to secure a deal with international creditors.

While U.S. exposure to Greek debt is "pretty minor," uncertainty over the situation and the impact on broader markets adds to volatility, according to Charles Lieberman, chief investment officer of Advisors Capital Management LLC in New Jersey.

"It's more in the nature of psychology than real substance," he said.

 

    

Also in the news:

[excerpt from NASDAQ Oil Prices: Freaking Investors Out for 150 Years and Counting.. ]

Whenever I read or watch financial media coverage of oil prices lately, the image that comes to mind is a bunch of kids who just ate half their weight in candy, washed it down with a gallon of Red Bull, and then run around the playground at warp speed. They both move so fast and sporadically that is almost impossible to keep up with them.

Here is just a small example of headlines that have been found at major financial media outlets in just the past week:

  • Citi: Oil Could Plunge to $20, and This Might Be 'the End of OPEC'
  • OPEC sees oil prices exploding to $200 a barrel
  • Oil at $55 per barrel is here to stay
  • Gas prices may double by year's end: Analyst

What is absolutely mind-boggling about these statements is that these sorts of predictions are accompanied with the dumbest thing that anyone can say about commodities: This time it's different .

No it's not, and we have 150 years worth of oil price panics to prove it.

[snip]

Also keep in mind, these are just the change in annual price averages. So it's very likely that these big price pops and plunges are even more frequent than what this chart shows.

Investing in energy takes more stomach than brains...

{snip]

...However, if you had made an investment in ExxonMobil in 1980 and just held onto it, your total return -- share price appreciation plus dividends -- would look a little something like this.

--and a super big hat tip to abb for getting the Yahoo Finace link to me just in time!!

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *  

This is the thread where folks swap ideas on savings and investment --here's a list of popular investing links that freepers have posted here and tomorrow morning we'll go on with our--

Open invitation continues always for idea-input for the thread, this being a joint effort works well.   Keywords: financial, WallStreet, stockmarket, economy.



TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: economy; financial; stockmarket; wallstreet
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To: expat_panama

“How much is enough, Gordon? When does it all end, huh? How many yachts can you water-ski behind? How much is enough, huh?”


61 posted on 02/20/2015 1:17:27 PM PST by abb ("News reporting is too important to be left to the journalists." Walter Abbott (1950 -))
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To: expat_panama

My CUSO advisor recommended today that I move a large sum of my retirement funds into PIMCO long/short and some into a gold fund. She seems convinced it’s time to bail. That begins to feel right, although “hanging tough” in equities for the last three years has paid well for me. Thoughts?

TC


62 posted on 02/20/2015 1:23:33 PM PST by Pentagon Leatherneck
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To: abb

But....I NEED to get ALPHA, 20% a year....thats what CNBC tells me every day. You mean they are wrong? //sarc


63 posted on 02/20/2015 1:40:51 PM PST by Vermont Lt (When you are inclined to to buy storage boxes, but contractor bags instead.)
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To: Pentagon Leatherneck

Without knowing your age, it would be impossible to tell. I would go light on the gold, although some is good. The demographics of the world do not support a huge move in gold.

I think we are near time to bail. I am 54 and I am just back to where I was before. Taking a much more conservative approach now.


64 posted on 02/20/2015 1:45:53 PM PST by Vermont Lt (When you are inclined to to buy storage boxes, but contractor bags instead.)
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To: Pentagon Leatherneck

Be careful on the bonds. Once interest rates begin to climb, they will be under pressure. I bought a short term bond fund about 3 months ago, and I’m already a little behind on that purchase.


65 posted on 02/20/2015 2:20:16 PM PST by abb ("News reporting is too important to be left to the journalists." Walter Abbott (1950 -))
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To: Pentagon Leatherneck; abb
Nobody knows for sure what direction prices will take tomorrow, next week or next month but as for 20 years from now it's a very safe assumption that stock prices will quadruple and gold will go pretty much nowhere --my reasoning is that's what's been happening for the past couple hundred years. Most of us would like to know more about what's going to be happening sooner than that so  these questions boil down to what we need and what we're willing to do. 

I'm able to check things through out the day so I can say I'll buy within 3 or 4 % of a good price and sell if it goes up 20% or drop it if it goes down 8%.  Other folks might be available for checking say once or twice a month, and off hand I'd imagine they'd be happier just opening a stock index fund and maybe monitoring longer term cycles. 

Longer term cycles seem to say we're in for a ten-fold increase over the next couple decades --OK, a few dips on the way but they should be followed by strong bounces.  There's never a guarantee on that but there's no guarantee the sun will come up tomorrow either.

66 posted on 02/20/2015 4:10:48 PM PST by expat_panama
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