By Mike Conlon

Sound As A Pound No More!

The British pound (GBP) was weak across the board Wednesday as BOE Governor King re-iterated that a weaker currency should lead to a recovery in the economy. This comes on the heels of a better than expected unemployment report, though not enough to buoy the sentiment for a rapid economic recovery.

By Mike Conlon

Right now in the markets, there are essentially 2 trades: Risk-taking and risk-averting. The risk-taking trade can be summarized as U.S. dollar and Japanese yen down, bonds down, everything else up. Risk-averting is just the opposite. Oh sure, you get the occasional stock that goes down because of blatant corporate mismanagement, but overall stocks will go up if the dollar declines. With this in mind, it still amazes me that people talk about individual company fundamentals when analyzing stocks as if it matters. In reality, the only thing one really needs to look at is the strength of the U.S. dollar.

By Mike Conlon

Currency Markets, Vegas-Style!

Let’s face it; the currency market is akin to the ultimate final table in the World Series of Poker. At that table, you have eight people sitting around, all trying to bluff one another. Some have large stacks of chips, while others are short-stacked. Some like to talk a little more than others, while others prefer to let their cards do their talking. Ultimately, there will be one winner.

By Mike Conlon

Market Shows Little Fear. Time to Be Worried?

The CBOE Volatility Index, otherwise known as “the VIX”, is commonly referred to as the fear index as it measures the market’s expectation of volatility using S&P 500 index options. Generally speaking, the value of the VIX at any given moment is the amount that the market thinks the S&P 500 can rise or fall over the next 30 days.

By Chris Vermeulen

Dow Jones Commodity Index Fund – This index tracks the entire commodity market as a whole. Over the past two years we have seen commodities drop in value substantially. The good news is that we could be seeing prices rise going forward from here.

By Chris Vermeulen

Commodities have and continue to be a fantastic trading vehicle for those who can stomach volatility. After last year's market crash most commodities pulled back to normal if not lower than normal trading ranges. This allowed us to enter the market at 10+ year lows for natural gas.

By Matthew Bradbard

When trading commodities, there are 2 basic ways to trade: Futures or options. Depending on the portfolio size, the risk tolerance and ultimate goals we will suggest assorted strategies to take advantage of the same anticipated move in an underlying commodity. That may mean an individual speculating on gold moving higher if they foresee inflation, a farmer buying put options in agriculture as a hedge or perhaps a combination of futures and options depending on the exact plan. Trading futures ultimately means one is trading on margin which some are not comfortable, with while trading options may offer an alternative without the sleepless nights.

By Mike Conlon

Well it looks like the cars are speeding up. Like a scene from a James Dean movie, the global game of chicken that has been taking place between the United States and China and the rest of the world is starting to heat up. Just yesterday an article from the UK Independent by a credible author claimed that secret meetings have been taking place to effectively end the U.S. dollar as the currency of choice for crude oil trading, thereby weakening its position as the world’s reserve currency.

By Hao Jin

One of the most popular ways for investors to select stocks is to focus on companies with long track records of increasing dividends. On Feb 27, 2009, General Electric (GE), once the most prominent dividend aristocrat, cut its dividend 68%, the first time since 1938.

By Chris Vermeulen

We have been waiting for gold to breakout above the 2008 high for almost 2 years. These charts show we are slowly working our way there.

By Hao Jin

The Fed is going to keep interest rates near zero for the foreseeable future. With 10-Year Treasury yields around 3.5%, solid blue chip companies offering decent dividends become popular. Not only do they offer current income and the possibility of capital gains, they also have better protection against inflation than regular bonds. No wonder Warren Buffett wrote, “Buy American. I Am.” in The New York Times last October.

By Mike Conlon

I’ve written recently about the strength of the Japanese yen and some of the reasons behind the move that brought JPY to an eight month high vs. the U.S. dollar ((USD)). Last week, Japan’s Finance Minister Fuji had voiced his opposition to government intervention to slow the strength of the Yen, but this week he may be changing his tune. And all of this comes on the heels of the G-20 meeting which wrapped up last week, where who knows what was actually discussed.

By Chris Vermeulen

The market continues to whipsaw traders out of positions as volatility rises. I mention a few charts to explain where each of these commodities is trading.

By Mike Conlon

On Tuesday, the Bank of England vote unanimously to leave the size of its asset purchase plan unchanged at 175 billion pounds and voted to leave interest rates unchanged at 0.5%. This is seemingly good news for the Pound in the near-term, as the currency markets are reflecting this morning with the British pound up vs. other currencies. But what is the outlook for GBP going forward?

By Mike Conlon

All eyes are on Bernanke and the Fed this week as investors are seeking a little more clarity over Federal Reserve Policy going forward and what they plan to do with regard to interest rates. Couple that with the G-20 meeting this week and growing concerns over the rising U.S. fiscal deficit and you have a potentially explosive situation.

By Mike Conlon

Tuesday’s claim that the Great Recession in the United States may be over is nothing more than an exercise in semantics. While it may be technically true, as a recession is commonly defined as “a decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two or more consecutive quarters, until we actually see positive GDP growth and not “less negative”, I for one will not be breaking out the party hats just yet.

By Bob O'Brien

“Trade wars in a global economy”? If that is not an oxymoron I don’t know what is! Every time there is a trade dispute with China it is amazing how everybody holds their breath. It is not hard to see why the U.S. is having trouble adapting to the global economy, because we have not yet fully accepted it.

By Mike Conlon

Happy Anniversary! One year ago today (Sept. 14) the collapse of Lehman Brothers kicked off the economic death spiral that nearly took down the world’s economy, and caused the U.S. government to take unprecedented action to prevent The Great Depression 2.0. Since that time we’ve been through a lot and now that the banks have been stabilized, what should we expect going forward?

By Mike Conlon

A lot is made about the safe-haven status of the U.S. dollar and the inverse correlation it has with stocks and commodities. When the economy is seemingly doing well, risk-takers look to sell dollars and buy higher-yielding, riskier currencies to earn interest. This is more commonly known as a “carry trade” and I described it in an article last week.