YCP ETF and Mutual Fund Rankings

Fund Rankings Update, 8/3/2012

Weekly Average Momentum Index (AMI) rankings of HSA, SSPP, RSP, SELECT, ETF, iETF, sETF have been posted at http://sites.google.com/site/ycprankings

Trading signal occurs in iETF model portfolio: Sell Cash, Buy EWW

US Economy added 163,000 new jobs in July according to Friday's job report. This surprised Wall Street on the upside and ended four days of slide in stock prices. SP 500 index closed the week at 1390, up 0.36%. Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.16%, and Nasdaq composite index increased 0.33%.

Rising tide lifts all boat. After few weeks of slow rally, the global indices also turn positive. The negative AMI in iETF was pushed out below the 7th rank in the ranking table, and a trading signal was issued for our iETF model portfolio to move from cash position to EWW (Mexico). For US domestic sectors, telecom and consumer staple sectors are gaining momenta. As S&P 500 index's technical picture is still in bull's favor, we will see this rally continues.

Fund Rankings Update, 7/27/2012

Weekly Average Momentum Index (AMI) rankings of HSA, SSPP, RSP, SELECT, ETF, iETF, sETF have been posted at http://sites.google.com/site/ycprankings

Consumers and companies affected by worries about European financial crisis and slow job growth in US reduced their spending in the second quarter. The second quarter US GDP slowed to a growth of 1.5% less than the 2.0 % growth in first quarter and 4.1% in the fourth quarter of 2011. However, boosted by the hope that the slow economy growth will prompt FED's stimulus action and the comment from European Central Bank president about preserving euro, stocks shook off the bad economy reports and advanced higher. SP 500 index closed the week at 1385, up 1.71%. Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.97%, and Nasdaq composite index increased 1.12%.

The technical picture of S&P 500 index stayed the same as previous weeks. The index is above its 28 week moving average and trending higher. The momentum indicator is above 50 and gaining strength.

Fund Rankings Update, 7/20/2012

Weekly Average Momentum Index (AMI) rankings of HSA, SSPP, RSP, SELECT, ETF, iETF, sETF have been posted at http://sites.google.com/site/ycprankings

Trading signal occurs in HSA model portfolio: Sell IUTIX , Buy MDDVX.

Even with Friday's sell-off due to worries about Spain's debt situation, stocks still manged to post small gains for the week. SP 500 index closed the week at 1362, up 0.43%. Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.36%, and Nasdaq composite index increased 0.58%.

As I pointed out last week that the major indices are flirting around their 28 week moving averages and gaining momenta. Stocks may continue grinding higher as their technical pattern stay the same. Next week, investors will focus their attention to the earning reports from major companies such as McDonald, Apple, Facebook, etc.. Depending on their earning and revenue outcomes, stocks are expected to experience higher volatility than normal.

Fund Rankings Update, 7/13/2012

Weekly Average Momentum Index (AMI) rankings of HSA, SSPP, RSP, SELECT, ETF, iETF, sETF have been posted at http://sites.google.com/site/ycprankings

Effects from European debt crisis have impacted company performance as reported in the company earning announcements. Most of the companies also expect the slow down to last to the end of the year. This negative outlook caused 6 consecutive down days in Wall Street before Friday's big rally to save the week. SP 500 index closed the week at 1356, up 0.16%. Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.04%, while Nasdaq composite index decreased 0.98%.

The silver lining in this market full with negative sentiment is that in the weekly chart, the momentum of S&P500 index is still above 50 and rising. The index, after spending most of the week below its 28 week moving average, closed the week above the support. As the support holds, it may grind higher from here.

Fund Rankings Update, 7/6/2012

Weekly Average Momentum Index (AMI) rankings of HSA, SSPP, RSP, SELECT, ETF, iETF, sETF have been posted at http://sites.google.com/site/ycprankings

Weak US jobs report Friday wiped out the gains from previous 3 days. SP 500 index closed the week at 1354, down 0.55%. Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.84%, while Nasdaq composite index increased 0.08%.

Earnings season for the second quarter started this coming Monday. We will know how companies performed during this global slowdown period and what to expect for the next couple quarters. Stock markets tend to be more volatile during the earning report seasons.

We had a vacation trip this past week and here are some pictures from our 6-day trip (Home-->Kingston/1000 thousands-->Boston-->Albany-->Niagara Falls-->Home):

City Hall, Kingston

Thousand Island Boat Tour

The smallest international bridge between US and Canada

Boldt Castle, 1000 Islands

Old State House, Boston

Quincy Market, Boston

The famous Lobster Roll and Clam Chowder

Long line outside Mike's Pastry for cannoli, North End Boston

Boston Streets

We took a tour on USS Constitution

USS Constitution sailed at Boston Harbor

Air show for July 4th at Boston Harbor

Whale Watching Tour

We saw a mother humpback whale and her cub

NY State Capital, Albany

The egg (performance art center) at Empire State Plaza, Albany

Niagara Falls viewed from Table Rock Center, Canada

Maid of Mist

Niagara Falls

Fund Rankings Update, 6/29/2012

Weekly Average Momentum Index (AMI) rankings of HSA, SSPP, RSP, SELECT, ETF, iETF, sETF have been posted at http://sites.google.com/site/ycprankings

Friday's relief rally after European leaders reached a deal to aid their troubling banks turned the major stock indices around. SP 500 index struggled for the first four day of the week but closed the week at 1362, up 2.03%. Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.89%, while Nasdaq composite index increased 1.47%.

In the past few weeks, stock markets have slowly turned around. In the weekly chart below, S&P 500 has been gaining momentum although still flirting around 28 week moving average. The index is about 100 points above the low 4 weeks ago. The close of 1362 is right at the short term resistance of 1360 level, which can be see in the daily chart. If the index can hold at this level, the next short term target will be 1390.

On the sector front, the defensive sectors, such as utility, health care, and real estate are still dominating the ranking tables. Rotation from defensive sectors to more aggressive sectors will happen after the uptrend is more established.

In case you did not notice, last week was the 8th anniversary of this website. You can see from SSPP model trading log that the Dow Jones Industrial Average went from 10395 on 6/24/2004 to 12880 last Friday with only 23.9% gain, and Nasdaq composite index went from 1994 to 2935 with 47.19% profit. Our momentum ranking system outperforms both indices handily with 98.39% gain, averaging 12.96% a year!

Fund Rankings Update, 6/22/2012

Weekly Average Momentum Index (AMI) rankings of HSA, SSPP, RSP, SELECT, ETF, iETF, sETF have been posted at http://sites.google.com/site/ycprankings

Weak economy news and rating downgrade of all the major US banks spooked investors and plummeted stock markets on Thursday. All major stock indexes lost more than 2% on Thursday wiping out the gain since Monday. SP 500 index closed this week at 1335, down 0.58%. Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.99%, while Nasdaq composite index still managed to increase 0.68%.

As seen in the weekly candle stick chart below, bulls and bears are fighting for control around the 28 week moving averages at 1338 with bears had the upper hand last week. The last candle shows the price action during the week: The index opened the week above the 28 week MA, bulls pushed the index to the high of 1370 while bears pulled it down to the low of 1325. Finally bulls came in but still failed to push the index back up and the index ended up closed at 1335, a bit below the 28 week MA. This type of candle (with long wick and short body) indicates the indecision of the market, and sometimes the short term pause or direction change.