Energy Policy and Green Energy have been in the news recently. Here is a cartoon poking fun at the situation. It's called "Feeding the Federal Furnace."
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.
The S&P 500 Index had its biggest weekly drop of the year last week, with a less-than-whopping fall of 0.50%.
Yep, half a percent. Moreover, it was only the second week of the year out of twelve in which the index posted a decline. Results like that make traders fat, dumb and happy.
With a year to date gain of more than 11%, the S&P 500 is on pace for its second consecutive quarter of 10%+ gains. According to Bespoke, if this holds, it will be just the 12th time in the index's history that it has posted double digit percentage gains in back to back quarters.
Here is a chart showing the daily performance of the Index.
Note the area circled in red. That marks where price came back inside the upper Bollinger Band. Technical analysts might expect that the first likely target would be the mid-line (marked by the dotted blue line). In this case, it also corresponds with likely support at the short-term up-trend line (marked by the green arrow). Add the weak volume of the recent decline ... and you might have the recipe for a new rally?
The S&P 500 Index is entering a seasonally bullish period. The chart below shows the predicted turning points based on the past five years of historical data.
Something potentially different this year is that the S&P 500 Index has performed pretty well year-to-date. In fact, it is up 12.17% so far ... and things look pretty strong until May.
However,the chart below should serve as a reminder that there a lot other markets worth trading too. For starters, the DAX is up 21.18% so far this year.
The chart shows the top-ten performing markets for the past few years. Click the chart to see an expanded version of this data.
Note how much diversification there has been in the top-ten throughout the years.
That is the funny thing about markets ... something is always working. The trick is finding it while it's working.
I spent part of last week at the Inc. Magazine GROWCO Conference.
If you're not still learning ... your dying. So, consider continuing education part of your perpetual youth plan.
Plus, there are plenty worse places to be then New Orleans ...
With that said, I know I'm getting older because after walking through the French Quarter - the part of me I most wanted rubbed were my feet. (I wish I was joking).
The first speaker was the Mayor of New Orleans. He explained that one of the key decisions they made after Katrina wasn't to re-build the city ... instead, it was to build the city they always wanted New Orleans to be.
Bill Clinton was there, too. He was articulate, charismatic and clever. But the star of the show (based on audience response and the rush of people to get his autograph) was Daymond John (of FUBU and Shark Tank fame).
Daymond talked about his five Shark Rules: 1. Set Goals; 2. Do your Homework; 3. Always do what you love; 4. Remember you are the brand; and 5. Keep moving.
He stressed that the secret to power is to be decisive.
He also shared that the money they invest on the Shark Tank show really comes from each of them; however, only about 20% of the deals actually get to a closing.
Daymond said that he invests in people, not companies. Moreover, he claims that each of Sharks know who they will invest in within the first minute of the presentation (and he suspects that is how most business-people make decisions). Interesting.
Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading
Here's a bumper sticker slogan that rings true more often than you might want.
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.
Lighter Links:
Trading Links:
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