Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are such a great versatile tool every Trader/Investor needs to have some in their portfolios. They trade instantly, there’s no waiting for the day’s closing price at 4 p.m. You can buy them in an IRA or 401k and thus can short stocks that way, benefiting from falling prices with a rising price in the short ETF....

Well folks we finished out a crazy month of March on a high note.  It looks like investors loaded up on the Financial and Tech stocks. Stocks ended off their highs of the day but managed to extend a three-week rally that has drove the Dow up 21 percent since hitting 12-year lows in early March. Close around 800 is constructive, for now. Range between...

March 31 (Bloomberg) — Investors should buy put options on financial companies because derivatives-market trading suggests the industry will retreat after a 45 percent surge since March 6, Citigroup Inc. said. “Despite the rally, credit and option markets are pricing in increased downside risk,” New York-based Citigroup strategist Alvin Wang...

Crude oil plays such an integral part in our lives whether we care to admit it or not. This one source of energy drives the US economy and indeed the world’s economy. So what’s ahead for the new black gold? After seeing this market move to its best levels in some time, we have seen a sharp pullback from the recent highs as the crude oil market appears...

For banks JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Citi (C), and BofA (BAC) to proclaim their profitability in January and February is about as close to criminal hypocrisy imaginable. And again who funded this situation? The taxpayers fund this “one time profit”, which causes a market rally allowing the big boys to promptly turn around and start selling...

SANTA CLARA, California (Reuters) – Intel has unveiled its newest and most powerful family of microprocessors, the Xeon, announcing more than 70 customers for a more energy-efficient chip targeted at an increasingly crowded server market. The world’s largest chipmaker officially announced its Xeon chip for servers and workstations on Monday,...

March 30 (Bloomberg) — A former Bank of America Corp. customer service representative pleaded guilty to running a $14 million Ponzi scheme that promised investors 24 percent annual returns, the third criminal case he has admitted to. Antoine David Haroutunian, 47, of Glendale, California, pleaded guilty to mail fraud at a hearing today in federal...

The Russians and others are calling for the US dollar to be replaced by a basket world currency less dependent on the mighty dollar. The BIG G20 meeting in London this week will likely see these demands come center stage and could lead to some strength in the Gold market. Last week Gold was under pressure with profit takers and was down 3.2% for the...

If you are a trader or investor or even for that matter just a tax payer you must watch this 12 minute video! This will be a travesty if Turbo Tax Tim’s plan gets passed!

March 30 (Bloomberg) — Chrysler LLC said it, Fiat SpA and Cerberus Capital Management LLC have reached an agreement on a global alliance. Chrysler said it still has “substantial hurdles to resolve” and that it is “committed to working closely with Fiat” and U.S. officials.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Monday that neither General Motors nor Chrysler has proposed sweeping enough changes to justify further large federal bailouts, and demanded “painful concessions” from creditors, unions and others as their price for survival. Obama also raised the possibility of a controlled bankruptcy...

As we talked about over the weekend here comes the selling. Of course it didn’t help having all the GM news out there plus Morgan Stanley coming out saying to sell stocks. The 790 level on the S&P is pretty big. If we fall below that we could be in for a test of the 740 area. Gold is basically flat so if you haven’t got your fill of...

EBay Inc.’s (EBAY) Skype unit plans to release a version of its Internet-based phone software for Apple Inc.’s iPhone. The move, set to be announced Tuesday, puts Skype more directly in competition for wireless voice services with network operators such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless. Skype’s software, which can be downloaded...

March 29 (Bloomberg) — Investors should sell U.S. stocks following the steepest rally since the 1930s, according to Morgan Stanley. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has advanced 21 percent in the past 14 trading days, the most since 1938. It closed at 815.94 last week. “We cannot see large upside for the S&P 500 above the 825- 850...

Automaker’s CEO of eight years reportedly asked to leave by Obama “Wagoner’s departure is part of the restructuring agreement between GM and the U.S. government, which will clear the way for the company to receive further federal loans, the reports said, all of which cited an unnamed administration official” I’m certainly...