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  • ETF Tracker Newsletter For October 18, 2019

    ETF Tracker StatSheet          

    You can view the latest version here.

    GLOBAL GROWTH FEARS STOP BULLISH MOMENTUM

    [Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

    1. Moving the markets

    This is an early and short version of Friday’s commentary, since I will be tied up this afternoon. The markets are still open and will be for another 3.5 hours.

    We saw early weakness in part caused by China’s worst GDP growth in 30 years registering 6%. As a result, stocks worldwide pulled back modestly but appear on track to close out the week on the plus side.

    Not helping matters was ECB’s Mario Draghi, who will leave office later this month, but couldn’t help himself to issue a warning that he sees “mild signs of over-stretched valuations in markets,” contributing to the early softness in stocks.

    Despite relatively upbeat earnings so far, it seems that a fresh stimulus for equities is needed considering slowing Chinese activity and the ever-changing stories about the upcoming Brexit and the US-China trade saga. After all, for the S&P to break through its overhead glass ceiling, I believe it will take more than your hyped news headlines to bring about a push of this bullish trend to new all-time highs.

    On a personal note, and the reason for this early release commentary is this. I saw my ophthalmologist a couple of days ago, and he performed an office procedure to fix a partially detached retina. At this time, it appears that it was not successful, and I will have to undergo surgery tonight. The final call will me made this afternoon. I expect to resume posting on Monday again.

    Please note that section 2 and 3 below contain yesterday’s data, and I hope to make the update sometime this weekend.

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