A
    Alan Valdes

    Alan Valdes

    Alan Valdes

  • Amazon to Santa Claus: You can finally retire

    All he needs is an internet connection! Yesterday, Cyber Monday, was the biggest online shopping day in history. Mobile device sales exploded to the upside totaling more than $5.23 billion, which is up over 17% from last year. Desktop computers seem to be going the way of black-and-white TVs as sales were not that strong.

  • Trump's tax cut promise is the cherry on a healthy earnings season

    The next six weeks are usually directionless, similar to the end of summer — especially with earnings season winding down. With 95% of S&P companies reporting third quarter earnings, 74% have had positive EPS surprises and 66% have beaten on sales. Overall, it’s been a very positive earnings season and a great way to end the year.

  • Stocks will keep rallying long past earnings season: NYSE trader

    Charges of corruption in Saudi Arabia has put $33 billion of personal wealth at risk. After Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s arrest on corruption charges, his Kingdom Holdings Company plunged, losing more than $1 billion in share value. The shake-up and uncertainty did just the opposite for oil prices, as black gold flies over $57 per barrel.

  • Soaring bond yields could halt the stock market rally

    Yesterday was the worst day for the Dow (^DJI, DIA) in two months, where earnings were the main driving force pushing the market down. Although some of the big S&P 500 (^GSPC, SPY) components beat on the top and bottom lines, it was the revenue and guidance that worried investors. Boeing (BA) also beat on its top and bottom lines, but net income slipped by 19% and the stock lost altitude closing down 3% to finish at $258.42 (but still up 65% for the year).

  • Lesson from the 1987 stock market crash: Never doubt American resiliency

    By the time traders entered the trading floor on that day at 9:00 a.m. (EST), they knew it was going to be a bad day and any hope of buyers stepping in to support Friday’s decline was fast fading. By the end of the trading day, the market had fallen an incredible 508 points.

  • Dow 24,000 by Christmas if Trump pushes through tax cuts: trader

    The start of Q3 earnings season has gone mostly as expected—a little bumpy for the markets, but still bullish enough to hit Dow 23,000.

  • Stocks are beating October's bad rap

    So far the Halloween month has been more of a treat than a trick!

  • Now is NOT the time for investors to sit on the sidelines: trader

    Still sitting on the side lines worried about the Tweets out of Washington?

  • Warren Buffett's 'Dow 1,000,000' call is likely spot on: trader

    Unfortunately, most eyeballs reading this note will not be around to wear those "Dow 1,000,000" hats they pass around at every milestone.

  • The Federal Reserve's ideal time to tighten is now: trader

    It might just be different this time.

  • Stocks grind to record highs on more tax talk

    Just a little talk about tax reform can really move markets. On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin spoke to reporters saying that tax reform may come this year. Wall Street would be happy with any cut down to 20% to 25%.

  • Investors shouldn't bet on Trump making nice with Congress

    The back-and-forth volatility will probably be with us for the time being.

  • For investors, September is living up to its bad reputation already: trader

    Fasten your seat belts. We could be in for a bumpy month!

  • Why your 401(k) is flat while the Dow is breaking records

    While the Dow (^DJI, DIA) was posting its ninth consecutive record close, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC, QQQ) trading above 6,000 and with the S&P 500 (^GSPC, SPY) holding above 2,400—you might think the whole market is on fire. The Russell 2000 (^RUT, IWM), the major index tracking the small cap stocks, shows a gain of 14.93% over the last year—not too bad. Since January 1, while the Dow is trading at new record highs almost weekly and the Nasdaq is up 18.59%, the Russell 2000 is up only 4.20%.

  • Stocks should tack on more summer gains after today's jobs report: trader

    The US economy added 209,000 jobs—far greater than the 180,000 analysts had been expecting. June’s numbers from the BLS were also revised higher to 231,000 from 222,000. The unemployment rate dropped from 4.4% to 4.3%, in line with analysts’ expectations. The closely-watched labor force participation rate rose slightly from 62.8% to 62.9%. Those out of the work force declined by 156,000 to 94.657 million.

  • Investors now see the flip side of low volatility

    This earnings season is getting more impressive by the day.

  • Earnings are strong but investors are on the sidelines: trader

    Surprisingly, it looks like many investors may stay on the sidelines this week to see where the earnings dust settles.

  • Stocks can rally on earnings, but Trump needs deliver on tax cuts

    US markets were rather quiet Monday, with traders focusing on a slew of earnings reports coming out later in the week. The Dow (^DJI, DIA) fell 8.02 points to close at 21,629.72. IBM (IBM) was the biggest drag on the index, as Big Blue closed down $1.23 to $153.01.

  • Fed Chair Yellen has some dangerous beliefs about markets

    Dr. Yellen’s testimony to Congress put markets in a euphoric mood. The Dow (^DJI, DIA) closed up 123.07 points to finish at 21,532.14 (a record) and hit an intraday all-time high of 21,580.79. The transports are a good harbinger of what’s going on at the ground level.

  • Stock market bears need to look at the facts: trader

    Here we are: 174 days until the new year and at the beginning of the third quarter. So far, it’s been a pretty predictable summer with dwindling volume, as we head into the heart and heat of the season. Expect to see volatility increase this quarter, as most trading in this light-volume environment will be done mainly by ETF and HFT guys.