April 16, 2010

Monster Market Review:

U.S. stock futures slipped Friday after six straight gains, as worries over tech-sector strength following Google and Advanced Micro Devices results offset better-than-expected results from Bank of America and General Electric.

U.S. March housing start numbers are comming in now and they are much better than forecasted which will help the banks here and home builders.  This uptrend is vital to the economy and a very important indicators.

 

European shares wavered between gains and losses as airspace in Northern Europe was shut for a second day.

The euro was weaker against the dollar on continued worries over Greece’s fiscal problems. Greek bonds plunged Thursday as the country requested talks over potential aid. Officials from the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund will travel to Athens Monday to discuss policies that could be put in place if Greece asks for assistance.

In Hong Kong, Chinese property stocks fell, after an announcement late Thursday that some say amounts to a policy shift, significantly tightening the supply of credit for home purchases and requiring cities to make much more land available for mass-market housing.

Stocks on Wall Street rose to fresh 2010 highs on Thursday, bolstered by a number of economic reports and an upbeat forecast from United Parcel Service. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 21.46 points, or 0.2%, at 11,144.57, a fresh closing high for the year. The S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq Composite Index also closed higher.

 

Monster Portfolio Review:

Its great to report another positive week during our weekly recap.  This week we managed to book 4 winning trades versus only one loss for 5% in xrtx.  Our current portfolio looks good and we may take profits in FIG today should the opportunity present itself.  Keep an eye on MBI as it could make a run at our target today.  Another position to keep a close eye on is HOTT.  HOTT has been receiving strong press and reviews the last two days, we strongly believe HOTT will be in the teens soon enough and we may raise our target here. 

Today could be a choppy session.  We may not release a new trade today as we would like to see how the market trades.  Earnings from BAC & GE, to us, were very positive. We want to make sure the “sell the news” theory will not take place here.  The potential is there for a strong rally over the next few days as investors are comming to the realization that our financial institutions may be a great investment again.  Should all the major banks (WFC, BAC, JPM, C, PNC) and the investment houses report strong earnings then we could be looking at a target of close to 1400 on the S&P by years end.  A strong report of earnings here would only fuel investor confidence which would spill over into the consumer.  The potential for a surge in the consumer over the summer months could be in play. 

Stay tuned for updates and new trades should any arise.