S&P 500

A year ago, Wall Street was giddy and called for a strong up year for stocks. I was also in that camp, but thought technology and small-cap stocks would be the market drivers. Fast forward a year and here we are at the Christmas break…and it has not…

Yes, I know all the news today is about the audacity of a Greece Referendum on getting free money (I talk about that in “Michael’s Personal Notes” below), but there are two stock market-related important news items I want to share with my readers first. The third quarter…

It was not what traders were hoping for, as the second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) came in at a meager 1.3%, well below the 1.7% estimate. And making matters worse was a downward revision in the previous first-quarter estimate to a dismal 0.4% from 1.9%. My economic analysis…

Since the financial crisis, the global equity markets have shown a solid turnaround before witnessing some sort of risk aversion during 2011, as the European problems continued to worsen. Asian equities have been the worst-performing markets year to date, whileU.S.markets ranked amongst the top performers. The year also…

There was finally some good news on Tuesday after the latest reading from the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index of 20 major metropolitan areas in the United States showed a bounce from the recent lows. In March, the housing market had fallen to a double-dip recession. The April reading…

A month ago, I expressed my concerns with the S&P chart and thought stocks were set for additional weakness. My investment advice was to be careful and not to chase stocks. Even after the one-day surge last Tuesday, I thought it was largely due to an extreme oversold…

The six-day losing streak finally came to an end on Thursday, but I sense that the buying was likely more to do with oversold buying than a change in market sentiment. The charts continue to show fragility and exhaustion, with the near-term view being bearish on weak Relative…

My stock market advice to you at this time is to be careful. Stock picking is about trading the right direction, but also making sure you have a defensive strategy in place should the trade turn against you. The sentiment in the market remains bullish, as stocks continue…

If you are looking for value in this stock market, you’ll be hard-pressed to find it. Stock-picking is tough when the market’s already gone up and finding good deals is even more difficult. At the speculative end of the stock market, I would say that U.S.-listed Chinese stocks…

My view on the state of the stock market is that the S&P 500 Index will hit 1,500 this year. That’s about a 15% gain from the current level and would represent a gain of about 20% for the entire year. The stock market’s due for a break,…

It is not as if this is something hard to find; stocks in pain, that is. But I thought it might be interesting to shed some light on stocks not battered as much in the financial press—those that depend on federal spending, such as health and defense stocks.…

The stock market is due for a correction. It might not happen next week or next month, but the market is looking a little stretched right now. Investment risk remains high for taking on new positions. If you pull up a long-term chart on the S&P 500 Index,…

The S&P 500 eyed key chart support at 1,130 on September 28, but managed to hold at 1,132. That was a key development, as the index broke above a key chart marker at 1,150 last Thursday and is looking to close above for the first time since May…

The S&P 500 retrenched below a chart top at 1,225 to 1,130 last Thursday, but managed to bounce back on Friday. The DOW and NASDAQ are managing to hold just above their chart tops. Markets are trading at a critical juncture. Should the chart tops be broken, we…

If you're looking for some downside protection in this market, one of the most popular instruments is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) called the ProShares Short S&P 500 (NYSEArca/SH). Basically, this security tries to mimic the S&P 500 Index 100% in the opposite direction. So, if the stock market…

At this point of the market correction, I hope you are not one of those investors or traders who were caught by surprise as a result of the recent market backlash. The reason why I want to briefly talk about risk management is my sense that there are…

— "Calling the Trend" Column, by George Leong, B.Comm. It was looking like a good start to the year, but things have changed. Stock markets lost over three percent in value last Wednesday and Thursday following the gains on Tuesday. More importantly, the major market indices have breached…

— "Ahead of the Street" Column, by Mitchell Clark, B. Comm. It is difficult to be bullish on the stock market right now. While the general expectation is for the economy not to get any worse, it really is difficult to imagine business taking off to the upside…

— by Michael Lombardi, CFP If a company takes on too much debt, and then needs to borrow money to pay back loans, or worse, borrows money just to make interest payments on its old loans, what eventually happens to that company? Yes, it goes broke, because at…

— Calling The Trend Column, by George Leong, B.Comm. The current market environment requires prudence and careful monitoring, as the downside risk continues to be high despite the recent rally from the March lows. The major market indices have made a minor correction. From its mid-June highs, the…