Archive for 2010

A Look At The Week Ahead

Sunday, October 10th, 2010 by ARTS Team No Comments »

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MONDAY: Blackberry suspension goes into effect in UAE; Microsoft Windows phone launch; Nobel prize in economics; NY Fed Pres Dudley Speaks

TUESDAY: NFIB small biz index; employment trends index; employment optimism index; Kansas City Fed Pres Hoenig speaks; CFTC hearing on high frequency trading and flash crash; 3-year note auction; FOMC meeting minutes; P&G shareholder meeting; Earnings from Intel and CSX

WEDNESDAY: Weekly mortgage applications; import & export prices; 10-year note auction; Richmond Fed Pres Lacker speaks; Earnings from JPMorgan

THURSDAY: International trade; PPI; weekly jobless claims; oil inventories; 30-year bond auction; Minnesota Fed Pres Kocherlakota speaks; OPEC meeting; Earnings from Google and AMD

FRIDAY: Atlanta Fed Pres Lockhart speaks; Bernanke speaks; CPI; retail sales; Empire State mfg survey; consumer sentiment; credit card default rates reported; Earnings from GE and Mattel

Popularity: 31% [?]

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Market Musings From The ARTS Team

Sunday, October 10th, 2010 by ARTS Team No Comments »

U.S. stocks surged last week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing above 11,000 for the first time in five months.

The Dow finished the trading session at 57.90 points or up 0.5 percent on expectations the Federal Reserve will buy more debt to spur the economy after a weak jobs report.

YTD Stock Market Performance

This last time the Dow was over 11,000 was May 3rd, 2010. The benchmark index reached its highest point of the year on April 26 when it hit 11,205. The first time the Dow touched 11,000 was May 1999.

The S&P closed 1.7 percent higher for the week closing at 1,165.15. The S&P is also at its highest level since May.

The Nasdaq rose 0.8 percent on Friday to 2,401.91. The Nasdaq was up 1.3 percent for the week.

The US dollar fell against the euro and the yen while gold prices continued to rise ending the Friday session at $1,345 an ounce.

The US benchmark 10-year bond was unchanged rising slightly to yield 2.39 percent.

Popularity: 38% [?]

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Advantages Of Stock Trading Programs

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010 by ARTS Team No Comments »

If you’ve been thinking about using one of today’s high-tech stock trading programs, you should definitely go for it. These programs are based on the latest innovations in technology and the oldest mathematical wisdom out there. While not all these programs are created equal, some of them can give you some huge advantages for your stock trading.

The number one advantage of stock trading programs is that they give you a disciplined way to make decisions about your stock investments. There really are not many people in this world who can get by in the stock market by simply going with their gut feelings. Those who do are simply lucky. If you want more than luck in your stock trading, you need a system. A trading program offers you a system by which you can make all your choices, taking much of the worry out of trading in the stock market.

Another major advantage is that you can look back on the history of different trading systems to see how well they’ve performed. Just like choosing a high-performing mutual fund, you want to choose a program that has performed above the average for its users. Although the program won’t be making your investing decisions for you, it will be giving you suggestions on where to place your money. You only want to use a system whose suggestions work most of the time.

Finally, this type of system allows you to worry less about researching the stock market. Real investors who also have real lives and real jobs can be hard pressed to process all the information they need to make good choices. Stock trading programs can do the information processing for you so that you just need to use the signals they send to invest at certain times.

Popularity: 41% [?]

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Identifying The Best Market Trading Systems

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010 by ARTS Team No Comments »

Identifying the best market trading systems is essential to becoming a profitable investor. There are many ways to pick the best stocks, markets or ETFs to buy while having a keen idea of the goals and objectives for your investment portfolio. Stock market trading systems are  designed to make your investment experience strictly mechanical – eliminating the emotion from the process.

Many strategies for identifying the top stock trading system can be found on the internet today. It is essential to  make sure that you are choosing the right one. Often, successful market trading services are designed with complex algorithms designed to analyze the market trends, virtually eliminating the need for any type of market research. By applying the rules and trading instructions provided by the system, plus having an idea of good money management, you can become a successful trader.

Identifying the best market trading systems can be vital for all investors. Your gains depend on a system that works. After-all, the primary objective for using a market trading system is simple; consistently outperform the markets.

Depending on the goals that you set forth, your primary objective should be to find a reputable market trading system that is robust, technologically advanced as well as one that consistently out-performs the major market indices. More importantly, any trading system you are considered must be independently verified by a third party auditor that can authenticate all past performance data.

Popularity: 31% [?]

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A Look Ahead At The Week Of October 4, 2010

Sunday, October 3rd, 2010 by ARTS Team No Comments »

MONDAY: Pending home sales; Factory orders; Ford dealers meeting; Earnings from Mosaic

TUESDAY: ISM non-manufacturing index; Intel CEO Otellini speaks; Earnings from Yum Brands

WEDNESDAY: Weekly mortgage applications; Challenger job-cut report; ADP employment report; weekly oil inventories; CTIA Wireless; Earnings from Costco and Monsanto

THURSDAY: Monthly chain store sales; BoE announcement; ECB announcement; Kansas City Fed Pres Hoenig speaks; Consumer credit; Mosaic shareholder meeting; Earnings from PepsiCo and Alcoa

FRIDAY: Monthly non-farm payroll; Wholesale trade; NY Comic Con; IMF, World Bank annual meeting

Popularity: 30% [?]

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Market Musings From The ARTS Team

Sunday, October 3rd, 2010 by ARTS Team No Comments »

US stocks modestly for the week ending October 1st ending a previous month surge that was the best performing September since the 1930s and the best month since April 2009.

The S&P 500 was basically flat on Friday trading rising 0.44 percent to close at 1,146.24. The S&P is up 2.79 percent year-to-date.

YTD Stock Market Performance

The S&P has been edging closer to technical resistance levels which could mean a greater surge as it finds a new trading range. The index has been trading between a 1,140 and 1,150 level but has fallen from the top-end of that range in the last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 41.63 points, or 0.39 percent, to 10,829.68. The Dow closed lower for the week dropping 0.28 percent after four consecutive weeks of gains. The Dow is up 3.85 percent year-to-date.

The Russell 2000 Index of small companies increased 0.57 percent.

The Nasdaq is holding on to a 4.48 percent gain for the year. It rose 2.13 percent on Friday to close at 2,370.75.

On the NYSE there were 2,080 (66%) advancers for every 940 (30%) decliners. Four percent of stocks remained unchanged.

Gold prices surpassed a previous high, reaching more than $1,317 an ounce. As gold surged, the U.S. dollar weakened.

The US benchmark 10-year bond was unchanged rising a slight 0.01 percent to yield 2.53 percent.

Popularity: 22% [?]

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Market Briefing

Monday, September 27th, 2010 by ARTS Team No Comments »

US stocks rose for the week ending September 24th, the fourth consecutive week of gains on the benchmark indexes.

The S&P 500 rose 2.1 percent this week to 1,148.67. The S&P is up 9.5 percent in September and closed above the 1130 resistance level twice in the past week.

It should be noted though that financials continue to underperform the broader markets.  It will be difficult for the markets to move meaningfully higher without their participation.

Popularity: 21% [?]

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Market Musings From the ARTS Team

Monday, September 27th, 2010 by ARTS Team No Comments »

The week ahead:

MONDAY: Chicago Fed national activity index; Texas manufacturing outlook survey, 2-year note auction, Schapiro, Breeden, Pitt on future of SEC; BlackBerry’s Devcon 2010, FedEx shareholder meeting

TUESDAY: S&P/Case-Shiller home price index; Richmond Fed survey; consumer confidence index; 5-year note auction; Atlanta Fed Pres Lockhart speaks; Barnes & Noble shareholder meeting; HP analyst meeting

WEDNESDAY: Weekly mortgage applications; oil inventories; Minneapolis Fed Pres Kockerlakota speaks; Philadelphia Fed Pres Plosser speaks; Boston Fed Pres Rosengren speaks; 7-year note auction

THURSDAY: Reading on GDP; Weekly jobless claims; Corporate profits; Chicago PMI; Hearing on J&J recalls

FRIDAY: Personal spending; NY Fed Pres Dudley speaks; Consumer sentiment; ISM manufacturing index; Construction spending; Monthly auto sales; BP’s Hayward steps down

Sept. 26, 2010 – Market Recap

US stocks rose for the week ending Septmeber 24th, the fourth consecutive week of gains on the benchmark indexes, as investor confidence in the economy was buoyed by improving demand for capital goods and technology products.

YTD Stock Market Performance

The S&P 500 rose 2.1 percent this week to 1,148.67. The S&P is up 9.5 percent in September and closed above the 1130 resistance level twice in the past week – a signal to some traders that the market is ready to trade in a higher range.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 252.41 points, or 2.4 percent, to 10,860.26. The Dow is now up 8.33 percent for the month – the largest gain in September trading in over 70 years. September is historically the worst month for stocks.

The Russell 2000 Index of small companies increased 3 percent.

The Nasdaq is poised for its best September since 1998 – holding on to a 12.6 percent gain for the month. It rose 2.3 percent on Friday to close at 2,381.22.

Gold futures surpassed a previous high, reaching more than $1,300 an ounce. The U.S. 10-year Treasury note fell, marking a 2.61 percent yield at the end of the Friday trading session. Fed Funds rate remained unchanged – as expected. As gold surged, the U.S. dollar weakened 2.6 percent for the week.

Popularity: 21% [?]

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Market Musings From The ARTS Team

Monday, September 13th, 2010 by ARTS Team No Comments »

US stocks close slightly higher on Friday boosted by news that wholesale inventories rose 1.3 percent in July, showing confidence in retail sales and consumer spending. A 0.5 percent rise was forecast.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 47 points Friday in very light trading following the Rosh Hashanah holiday. It was the seventh day of gains out of the past eight sessions at the New York Stock Exchange and the S&P.

YTD Stock Market Performance

The Dow rose 47.53, or 0.5 percent, to close at 10,462.77.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 5.37, or 0.5 percent, to 1,109.55, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 6.28, or 0.3 percent, to 2,242.48.

Energy stocks rose after a 3 percent rise in oil prices. The energy sector gained after news an Enbridge pipeline that delivers oil to Midwest refineries was shut down. Oil rose $2.20 to $76.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Bond prices headed lower on Friday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 2.80 percent from 2.76 percent on Thursday.

Popularity: 24% [?]

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Four Reasons Why Automation Will Be The Way The Markets Work A Decade From Now

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 by ARTS Team No Comments »

Timing is everything, in work, in life, and certainly in investing. The fact is that too early or too late on a certain position, and an investor can be out hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, all due to the timing of a stock market move. This is why there is a growing move toward automation in nearly all aspects of analyzing and trading on the stock market. Despite the warnings from some pundits, and human stock brokers or investment fund managers stuck in a 20th century market paradigm, the future looks surprisingly bright for the stock market, regardless of what the current financial headlines say.

Automation is taking a lot of the guesswork and risk out of investing in the markets, and it is able to do so through an accurate appraisal of market timing.

Timing is, in fact, something that is incredibly difficult for human analysts and brokers to manage and predict, but automated market timing software is incredible accurate at pinning down the necessary timing of any given stock market maneuver for maximum profit.

Here are four quick reasons why the stock market will be nearly fully automated in the years ahead.

Automated Timing Removes Human Error And Bias

Timing systems are able to work without the incredible limitations that come with being human. They do not possess any bias, nor are they prone to unfocused and unwitting errors that can completely derail an entire day’s or week’s worth of analysis.

Human Timing Systems Rely More On Guesswork Than On Analysis

Human operated market timing systems have been around for a very long time, but they are more reliant on guesses and gut instincts than anything else. Only the sophistication of automated algorithms have been able to take the standard timing systems and achieve optimal performance through them.

Automated Timing Systems Can Work Without Human Involvement

As these systems become more and more sophisticated from an automation standpoint, the fact is that human necessity is diminishing from the process with each and every year. Pretty soon, all human involvement will revolve around final approvals and maintenance issues only.

There Is No Practical Way For A Human Broker To Accomplish What Automated Systems Can

Human stock brokers and fund managers simply do not have the ability to work at the same rate of speed, performing the same level of analysis, as automated market timing software systems can.

Popularity: 26% [?]

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