Investing

What do 1929, 2000 and 2007 all have in common? Those were all years in which we saw a dramatic spike in margin debt. In all three instances, investors became highly leveraged in order to "take advantage" of a soaring stock market but, of course, we all know what happened each time. The spike in margin debt was rapidly followed by a horrifying stock market crash. Well guess what? It is happening again.

The most dangerous, wealth-destroying investment in the world is leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs). On the surface, these ETFs promise to double or triple the movements of the underlying markets they track...but they'll do anything but. You see, double- and triple-leveraged ETFs (whether long or short) pack a nasty surprise. It's almost unbelievable, actually, and particularly in this volatile market, theses ETFs are hardwired for losses. Here's what I mean.

Over the past 6 years, when the yield on high yield bonds (junk bonds) broke above resistance of bullish falling wedges, the S&P 500 ended up declining between 17% & 50%. Will it be different this time?

As investors we crave a specific plan of attack for every conceivable market scenario so here are five alternative courses of action (other than cash) to consider in the current market. (Yes, it’s possible to put the market volatility to work for us.) So writes Louis Basenese (www.wallstreetdaily.com) in edited excerpts from his original article* entitled The Five Smartest Responses to the Stock Market …

Don't give in to your flight instinct in response to the latest stock market volatility. Running for cover in cash right now promises to be the worst possible move. I know, I know. Cash is supposed to be the ultimate safe haven. A riskless investment, if you will but, in truth, cash is the proverbial "Death Star". [Let me explain why and show you some irrefutable proof.] Words: 544; Charts: 3

Stocks rallied through May this year mostly on expectations of continued easy money from the Federal Reserve but after the Fed indicated last week that tapering could begin as early as this fall, coupled with concerns about Chinese growth, stocks sharply reversed course and Treasury yields spiked. I expect market volatility to last through the summer as investors remain uncertain about the future of monetary policy and the strength of the global recovery. That said, I wouldn’t advocate abandoning stocks. Here's 3 reasons why.

There are many, many different takes on why the stock market has been ripe for a fall and why it has finally happened. Below are 30 of the best-of-the-best such analyses to help you come to some sort of resolution.

The rubber band of Mr. Market has been stretched tight and is ready to release. The problem is that it is impossible to know which end is going to snap. Will it snap up or snap down?

How could everything be selling off at once? Aren’t the various different asset classes (stocks, bonds, gold) meant to be hedges against each other? The simple answer is that although it would be great if that were the case, it isn’t — it never was.

Eiffel tower patterns can be very important to your portfolio construction & management because, when you experience the left side of the tower, you often experience the right side as well which often results in declines of as much as 50% from the peak. Currently it would appear that three specific assets could well be forming such patterns.