It did not take long for the markets to react to Fed Chairman Bernanke’s communique and subsequent clarifications following the Fed Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. The result; two successive days in which the Dow Industrial Average, and more importantly the Canadian equity markets, fell sharply only to stage a minor...
The year has been challenging for technicians. That’s the abbreviated term for technical analysts who attempt to predict market moves based on chart patterns. In the old days – twenty years ago – I use to kid that technical analysts did two things well; 1) they always provided an explanation as to why markets did not move...
Option traders have been enjoying a period of low implied volatility for quite some time now. Periods of low implied volatility make option buying attractive as premiums trade at relative lows comparative to periods when implied volatility is high. In order to understand the implied volatility variable, we first have to...
The US Jobs report that was released on Friday painted an almost perfect goldilocks scenario. Something for everyone! Enough new jobs were created to support the thesis that the US economy is growing, albeit at a tepid pace. At the same time, the unemployment rate rose from 7.5% to 7.6% as more people entered the labour force....
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, the broadest measure of blue chip stocks in Japan, fell more than 7% during the Thursday (i.e. Wednesday night in North America) trading session, providing investors with another data point evidencing the fickle nature of sentiment and perhaps, more importantly, the influential role of hedge funds in...
Word from China is sending mixed messages to the world. GDP appears to be picking up particularly over the last quarter. Good news for a world in dire need of stimulus! At issue is what’s behind the growth? The debate centers around a massive infrastructure construction boom that has lead to overcapacity in residential real...
As we traveled across Canada over the last month on behalf of the M-X, I met many retail investors concerned about the markets and the fate of their portfolios. While some were concerned about the risk associated with individual holdings, many were skeptical as to how much longer the stock market in general could hold up. While...
Since the European Union (EU) bailout programs began there has been an austerity pre-condition. Mostly the result of German strong arm tactics designed to get member States to restructure social programs so as to level the playing field in a way that supports a single eurozone currency. The challenge is how does one deal with...