Bespoke Investment Group

Apple (AAPL) Breaks Out To New Highs

Apple (AAPL) broke out to new all-time highs once again today.  The stock had struggled over the past couple of months, but it has come roaring back over the last week.

On Tuesday, we posted the chart below and said that the stock looks good from a technical standpoint.

The post also coincided with a Trade of the Day that we put out to Bespoke Premium members saying to buy the stock.  The traders definitely bid the stock up after it broke its downtrend.

Click here to subscribe to Bespoke Premium today.

Valuation Ticks Higher

The most recent new high for the S&P 500 has been accompanied by a big tick higher in the trailing 12-month P/E ratio.  We'll definitely need to see some earnings growth in 2010 for this rally to continue.

Don't miss the 2010 Bespoke Roundtable. 

S&P 500 Performance Before and After Christmas

Below we highlight the historical performance of the S&P 500 on the trading day before and after Christmas over the last 25 years.  While both days have a positive bias, the day before Christmas has the edge with an average gain of 0.21% and positive returns 64% of the time. 

Subscribe to Bespoke Premium to receive more in-depth research from Bespoke.

 

Google Nearing Two Year Highs

While Google (GOOG) has practically been hitting 52-week highs on a daily basis, the stock is nearing two year highs after breaking through a level that some thought would provide resistance.  The stock broke through 600 today, which was a level that coincided with the Spring 2008 highs.  Will GOOG follow in AAPL and AMZN's footsteps and march on to new all-time highs?

Oil Inventories Working Their Way Back to Average Levels

While they are likely to remain above their long-term average for the rest of the year, oil inventories have been dropping like a stone in recent weeks.  This week, stockpiles fell 4.8 million barrels, marking the third straight week where inventories declined by more than 3.5 million barrels.  While inventories were running more than 20 million barrels above normal at the start of the quarter, current levels are now less than 6 million barrels above average.

Subscribe to Bespoke Premium to receive more in-depth research from Bespoke.

Ford: Zero (Nearly) to Double Digits in 13 Months Flat

It's hard to believe that just 13 months ago this week, shares of Ford (F) nearly broke the buck.  Today, the company is trading above $10 per share for the first time in over four years, and it's the envy of all other American car makers (or what's left of them).  Amazingly, Ford (F) is one S&P 500 company that is actually higher today than it was when the S&P 500 peaked in October 2007.

Subscribe to Bespoke Premium to receive more in-depth research from Bespoke.

Financial Sector Breaks Downtrend

The S&P 500 made a new bull market closing high today, but the action in the Financial sector was probably even more important.  The S&P 500 Financial sector has been underperforming the overall market lately, and it is a main reason why the major indices haven't been able to break out of their trading ranges.  Today, however, the Financial sector broke above its short-term downtrend line, which is a very positive technical formation.  If the Financials start moving higher again, the market should have no trouble making another leg higher.

Steak and Shake Reverse Splits and Soars

Steak n Shake (SNS) announced a 1 for 20 reverse split on December 14th, and since then the stock has soared 37.8% (+$90 on a split adjusted basis).  Reverse splits rarely seem to do much for stocks, but in this case, it has sure helped Steak n Shake, at least in the short term.

Subscribe to Bespoke Premium to receive more in-depth research from Bespoke.

S&P 500 A/D Line At New Highs For the Year

With the S&P 500 within a point of a new 2009 intraday high, one factor working in the bulls' favor is that cumulative breadth has broken out of its recent range and is at new highs for the year. 

Subscribe to Bespoke Premium to receive more in-depth research from Bespoke.

Apple (AAPL) Breaks Downtrend

Yesterday, Apple Inc. (AAPL) broke out of the short-term downtrend that it had been in since November.  The stock also managed to closed above its 50-day moving average along with the high it made a couple of weeks ago.  From a technical standpoint, the stock now has some room to run in the coming days.

Subscribe to Bespoke Premium to receive more in-depth research from Bespoke.

S&P 500 Stays in the Range While Nasdaq Breaks Out

While the Nasdaq was finally able to break out of its long-standing range today, the S&P 500 once again traded to the top of its range and then pulled back.  That makes it 29 trading days that the S&P 500 has now traded in a 36-point range between 1083 and 1119. 

Subscribe to Bespoke Premium to receive more in-depth research from Bespoke.

Natural Gas ETF (UNG): Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

While the shortcomings of ETFs that track commodities have been well documented, the discrepancy between the price of natural gas and the ETF that is meant to track its price provides a great reminder of why many of these more exotic vehicles should be avoided.  As always, investors should know what they own and look into these vehicles before investing in them. 

The chart below compares the YTD performance of the front month natural gas futures contract and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG).  Through the end of August, natural gas and UNG were both down similar amounts and had tracked each other relatively closely.  Since then, however, natural gas has made a major reversal and is actually up on the year.  UNG, on the other hand, remains down over 55%.  In essence, UNG holders have missed out on the entire rally.

While the explosion in popularity of ETFs has had many positive effects and created numerous efficiencies for investors, the boom in the industry hasn't been void of some individual busts.

Subscribe to Bespoke Premium to receive more in-depth research from Bespoke.

Three Week Losing Streaks in Gold

After three straight down weeks, the price of gold isn't showing any sings of rebounding today.  The current streak represents the sixth three-week losing streak for gold since the start of 2008.  As shown below, based on the five prior periods, the fourth week hasn't been especially strong.  While gold has been up during the fourth week three times, the average return has been a decline of 0.26%.

Subscribe to Bespoke Premium to receive more in-depth research from Bespoke.