S&P Breaks Key Tecnical Mark

The S&P fell below its 200-day moving average, a key negative technical indicator. Investors should pay close attention to see if this level holds. See article here, yahoo

Dumb Money Pushing Treasuries

Demand for Treasury bonds pushes prices up and yields lower. Given that Treasury yields are at all-time lows, the implication is that demand for these securities has increased. Many attribute this to buying by the Fed, but this demand is really being driven by retail investors. For contrarian investors, this would be an indicator to sell Treasuries, as retail investors are often referred to as dumb money. See the article here, CNBC

ETFs that Mimic Buffet

Watch this video to facilitate discussion about ETFs that use criteria similar to those applied by Warren Buffet

How Many Stocks Are in the S&P500?

Traditionally, the answer is 500, as the index was constructed using the 500 largest companies. However, Google\u27s upcoming stock dividend will change all this. As of April 3, 2014, Google is undergoing a 2:1 split via a stock dividend, as owners of record will receive an additional share -- but of a different nonvoting class stock. This means that there will be two Google share classes being traded. To keep the value in place, the S&P will retain both share classes, meaning there will now be 501 stocks in the S&P500. See article and related video here, CNBC

Valuing Twitter\u27s IPO

Twitter recently announced (via a tweet) that they would be going public. While valuation is difficult in general, it is particularly problematic for an IPO. Read a good summary article here, Yahoo!

Even the Best Investors Can\u27t Time the Market

Warren Buffett is considered to be one of the greatest investors ever; however, even he is not perfect. In fact, his company (Berkshire Hathaway) is named after one of his failed investments. More recently, his timing on the purchase of GM stock has not worked so well. Fortunately, his holding period is generally very long, thus it could turn out to be a favorable investment over the long-term. See article here, Bloomberg

Alternative Alternative Investments

Typical Alternative Investments include such categories as commodities and real estate. However, some investors have branched out into more esoteric assets such as cars and collectibles. As such, there is a growing category of managers offering such funds. See the article here, Wall Street Journal

Income and Spending

Normally higher incomes lead to higher spending, but recent increases in income seem to be headed into savings. This creates a mixed picture for consumer stocks. See article here, LA Times

Yield Curve Irrelevant?

When longer term interest rates fall below shorter term interest rates (a so-called inverted yield curve), economists generally warn of an impending recession. However, with short term rates so low, the usefulness of this indicator may be fading. See article here, Bloomberg

IPO Advice

IPOs generally experience a positive first day return, so-called underpricing. However, this return primarily accrues to those who are fortunate enough to receive an allocation of shares at the offer price. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal provides some advice for those interested in investing in IPOs. See the article here