The bear market in gold may not be over, but one precious metal is a buy now. Before getting to that buy, I want to talk about Japan. Two weeks ago, I explained how trading once every two weeks can increase returns. Last week’s market crash in Japan immediately put that theory to the test. With detailed testing, I have found that trading as little possible with a relative strength (RS) system… Read More

The bear market in gold may not be over, but one precious metal is a buy now. Before getting to that buy, I want to talk about Japan. Two weeks ago, I explained how trading once every two weeks can increase returns. Last week’s market crash in Japan immediately put that theory to the test. With detailed testing, I have found that trading as little possible with a relative strength (RS) system can generally increase returns. In a RS strategy, the idea is to hold winning trades as long as possible.#-ad_banner-# This often means holding even when the market pulls back or suffers a sharp decline. In hindsight, many of these pullbacks will turn out to be buying opportunities in a long-term uptrend. Sometimes, the decline is the start of a bear market and the RS system will confirm that with a sell signal within a few weeks of the top. In testing, I found that holding after a sharp drop in price is almost… Read More

Volatility is often assumed to be a useful indicator. Many traders follow the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) because they expect it to help them spot changes in the direction of price trends. VIX is helpful in finding turning points in the S&P 500 index because futures on that index are used to calculate VIX. In general, traders look for high levels as… Read More

Volatility is often assumed to be a useful indicator. Many traders follow the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) because they expect it to help them spot changes in the direction of price trends. VIX is helpful in finding turning points in the S&P 500 index because futures on that index are used to calculate VIX. In general, traders look for high levels as a sign of a market bottom and low levels as a sign of a potential top. While VIX provides information about the general market, it doesn’t say much about specific stocks in the market. To find the right stock at the right time, traders need an indicator like VIX that can be calculated for any stock. So we created one: the Income Trader Volatility (ITV) indicator, a tool Amber Hestla-Barnhart uses in her Income Trader… Read More

Intermarket relationships, rules that explain how one market affects another, work in the long term and unfold over months. For example, stocks and bonds are competing for investment dollars. If interest rates move up, bonds may become more attractive than stocks for some investors and stock prices could fall as investors move their dollars from one market to… Read More

Intermarket relationships, rules that explain how one market affects another, work in the long term and unfold over months. For example, stocks and bonds are competing for investment dollars. If interest rates move up, bonds may become more attractive than stocks for some investors and stock prices could fall as investors move their dollars from one market to the other.#-ad_banner-# One of the more reliable relationships is between lumber and homebuilders. New-home sales are strong right now, but lumber prices tell us that weakness probably lies ahead. Months before a home is built, the builder will place orders to buy lumber. Strength in the lumber market should precede strength in homebuilding, while weakness in lumber signals a potential slowdown in homebuilding. That’s where we are now, with lumber in a bear market… Read More

Intermarket relationships, rules that explain how one market affects another, work in the long term and unfold over months. For example, stocks and bonds are competing for investment dollars. If interest rates move up, bonds may become more attractive than stocks for some investors and stock prices could fall as investors move their dollars from one market to… Read More

Intermarket relationships, rules that explain how one market affects another, work in the long term and unfold over months. For example, stocks and bonds are competing for investment dollars. If interest rates move up, bonds may become more attractive than stocks for some investors and stock prices could fall as investors move their dollars from one market to the other.#-ad_banner-# One of the more reliable relationships is between lumber and homebuilders. New-home sales are strong right now, but lumber prices tell us that weakness probably lies ahead. Months before a home is built, the builder will place orders to buy lumber. Strength in the lumber market should precede strength in homebuilding, while weakness in lumber signals a potential slowdown in homebuilding. That’s where we are now, with lumber in a bear market… Read More

Every down day brings calls of a market top. But based on a rare buy signal, there appears to be very little risk in the S&P 500 at this time. S&P 500 Shrugs Off Japan’s Plunge On Thursday morning, traders in the United States awoke to news of a sell-off in Japan that drove the benchmark index for the country down by more than 7%. After a weak open, U.S. Read More

Every down day brings calls of a market top. But based on a rare buy signal, there appears to be very little risk in the S&P 500 at this time. S&P 500 Shrugs Off Japan’s Plunge On Thursday morning, traders in the United States awoke to news of a sell-off in Japan that drove the benchmark index for the country down by more than 7%. After a weak open, U.S. stock markets recovered and saw only small losses at the close. The ability to ignore bad news is generally bullish for the stock market. Although SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) lost 0.98% last week, the market still looks strong.#-ad_banner-# One reason to be bullish is a relatively unknown indicator that seldom offers trading signals. The economy alternates between contraction and expansion in a continuous business cycle. This cycle impacts… Read More

Every down day brings calls of a market top. But based on a rare buy signal, there appears to be very little risk in the S&P 500 at this time. S&P 500 Shrugs Off Japan’s Plunge On Thursday morning, traders in the United States awoke to news of a sell-off in Japan that drove the benchmark index for the country down by more than 7%. After a weak open, U.S. Read More

Every down day brings calls of a market top. But based on a rare buy signal, there appears to be very little risk in the S&P 500 at this time. S&P 500 Shrugs Off Japan’s Plunge On Thursday morning, traders in the United States awoke to news of a sell-off in Japan that drove the benchmark index for the country down by more than 7%. After a weak open, U.S. stock markets recovered and saw only small losses at the close. The ability to ignore bad news is generally bullish for the stock market. Although SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) lost 0.98% last week, the market still looks strong.#-ad_banner-# One reason to be bullish is a relatively unknown indicator that seldom offers trading signals. The economy alternates between contraction and expansion in a continuous business cycle. This cycle impacts… Read More

High-frequency trading works for a few large firms. They have access to special computer systems and high-speed data connections that allow them to enter thousands of orders a minute. The fastest firms can enter and exit trades in less than a second. Individuals cannot possibly compete with these firms and… Read More

The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as #google-ad# 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago.[1] The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE in present-day Pakistan and northwest India, was the first major civilization in South Asia.[2] A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture developed in the Mature Harappan period, from 2600 to 1900 BCE.[3] This Bronze Age civilization collapsed before the end of the second millennium BCE and… Read More

The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as #google-ad# 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago.[1] The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE in present-day Pakistan and northwest India, was the first major civilization in South Asia.[2] A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture developed in the Mature Harappan period, from 2600 to 1900 BCE.[3] This Bronze Age civilization collapsed before the end of the second millennium BCE and was followed by the Iron Age Vedic Civilization, which extended over much of the Indo-Gangetic plain and which witnessed the rise of major polities known as the Mahajanapadas. In one of these kingdoms, Magadha, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha were born in the 6th or 5th century BCE and propagated their śramanic philosophies. Most of the subcontinent was conquered by the Maurya Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. It became fragmented, with various parts ruled by numerous Middle kingdoms for the next 1,500 years. This is known as the classical period of Indian history, during which time India has… Read More

Today’s essay is a little different than you’re used to. I’m not going to talk about any specific investment. Nor am I going to tell you about a stock that I think is about to take off. Frankly, what I have to tell you is much bigger… and much more important to your success as an investor. It all begins back nearly three decades ago. You see, I began my investment career while I was still… Read More

Today’s essay is a little different than you’re used to. I’m not going to talk about any specific investment. Nor am I going to tell you about a stock that I think is about to take off. Frankly, what I have to tell you is much bigger… and much more important to your success as an investor. It all begins back nearly three decades ago. You see, I began my investment career while I was still in the U.S. Air Force. I spent 20 years in the service, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retiring. During those two decades I served in Spain, Germany, Japan, Korea (at least 10 times), Iceland and Guam. In my spare time, I earned my MBA and became more serious about investing. I taught myself the ins and outs and read anything about the topic that I could get my hands on. (When I was stationed in Iceland, I would study the Financial Times for hours on end while my station was… Read More

Traders have long admired the performance of Steve Cohen, the manager of hedge funds at SAC Capital. Recently, Cohen and his firm have been in the news because of an… Read More