U.S. Stocks Gain on Sharp Oil Recovery, Fed Remarks The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 152 points on Friday, helped by a strong recovery in oil prices and Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s upbeat comments on the U.S. economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped to as high…

Dow Jones Industrial Average Brushes Good Data The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) tumbled on Thursday as a fresh slump in oil prices and a sharp drop in the U.S. dollar against the yen overshadowed a positive report on U.S. jobless claims. At 2:39 p.m. in New York,…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) opened lower on Friday following another drop in oil prices, brushing aside a strong March jobs report. As of 9:36 a.m. in New York, the Dow Jones index fell 0.6% to 17,573.33. Twenty stocks were declining and 10 issues were advancing. The…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was little changed before the close of trading on Thursday, heading to end a volatile quarter with a nearly 1.6% gain. The Dow Jones index was flat at 17,717.21 as of 3:50 p.m. in New York. 17 shares were declining and 13…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) advanced for a fourth session in a row on Wednesday, helped by higher oil prices and on the heels of Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s careful approach to hiking interest rates. The Dow Jones index added as many as 157 points before…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was trading higher on Tuesday, following a better-than-forecast ISM manufacturing report. The Dow Jones Index was up one percent at 16,686.47 at 10:27 a.m. in New York, after reaching as high as 16,693.97 earlier in the session. Twenty-eight issues out of 30…

This may be a bold prediction, but it shouldn’t be overlooked: the Dow Jones Industrial Average could drop to 12,500. That’s about 20% below where it currently stands. As you may have read in these pages before, my prediction is that the Dow Jones will retreat to halfway…

This Could Lead to a Stock Market Crash in 2016 Investors are cheering on the stock market after such a strong performance in recent years, but problems are brewing beneath the surface. These three trends should terrify shareholders everywhere and could lead to a stock market crash in…

Pope Francis’s Endorsement Could be Boost for Fiat-Chrysler Stock After Pope Francis’ Alitalia Airbus 300 arrived from Havana, he was picked up in an official Fiat 500L. This contrasted sharply to the giant GM Suburban vehicles that escorted the Italian car, making it appear almost Lilliputian in their…

Despite a few years of weak gold prices, China’s currency depreciation could be the tipping point that drives gold above $5,000. The yellow metal skyrocketed between 2001 and 2011, and another decade of similar growth is not unfeasible. Let me explain. A series of events in China have…

Trading volume on the stock market is plunging. In classical technical analysis, rising stock prices on low trading volume are usually a warning sign of lower prices for stocks ahead. Why? Lower volume suggests there is not much investor participation in the stock market advance. The chart below…

Stock Markets Still Near Record-Highs In my previous commentary last week, I suggested the stock market would likely go higher by year-end. But I also warned that investors keep their guard up and enjoy some profits. Now here we are, a week later, and the stock market is…

In terms of stock market direction, the Dow Jones Transportation Average recently pushed through to another new record-high. The index retrenched along with the broader market in early October, but it fought back hard to just over 8,800. Within the index, countless stocks have been doing well. Alaska…

The demand and supply situation for gold bullion, something I’ve often talked about in these pages, has taken a new course…one very favorable to gold bulls like me. Gold buying in India is up 450% in the first nine months of 2014 compared to the first nine months…

Over the past few months, I warned my readers the stock market had become a risky place to be. While I also suggested euphoria could bring the market higher than most thought possible—to the point of irrationality—the bubble has now burst. Key stock indices are falling and fear…

Now that the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen 1,035 points (six percent) from its mid-September peak, the question investors are asking is “how far will she go?” For small-cap investors, the drama is greater, as the Russell 2000 Index has fallen 12.5% from its July peak. Since…

In these pages, I have been very critical about stock buybacks by companies on the key stock indices. I see them as nothing more than a form of financial engineering used to manipulate per-share corporate earnings…and a bad investment for the companies buying their stocks back. According to…

With nine months behind us this year, today we look at how two popular forms of investment have done in 2014 and where I think they are headed for the remainder of the year. Starting with stocks, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed yesterday up 2.8% for the…

FedEx Corporation (FDX) just bounced off a new record-high on the stock market and is an important component of the Dow Jones Transportation Average. In its fiscal first quarter of 2015 (ended August 31, 2014), the company’s sales and earnings surged. It was a great quarter and a…

Getting a sense of where stocks are going to go in the year ahead is always difficult with the major indices at their all-time highs. The fundamental backdrop is still very favorable for equities. While the Federal Reserve has put off raising interest rates for the near future,…