I came across this today. It's well worth the read. Any quack can get lucky in rising markets, but it takes a real manager to do right by his or her clients.
This is a good time to pause and reflect on whether the advice you are receiving is good/bad/average or just plain dumb.
http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/fraud-financial-markets-are-you-vulnerable
I'll point out that in our little blog, I pointed out an intermediate bottom for you last November and have kept you abreast on the latest states of major market trends. I've also given as many sides to the trend analysis as possible in my posts, which I admit may or may not have been helpful.
My current thinking is cautiously optomistic, as buy signals have been given. I am hedged with 3% of my portfolio in the VXX - so I have some confidence to buy core holdings now, like the SPY S&P 500 ETF, The Dow Jones Industrials ETF and the iShares S&P TSX/60 index fund. If there is a prolonged market correction (which is one of my suspicions), I'm protected. But if we continue the low volatility melt-up, I will have had the courage to buy in to the market, and will have only risked a small portion of my portfolio to gain that confidence. It's not a bad trade-off from my perspective, although I will need to remember that the VXX is not a long term play.
I am pursuing some value plays as well, such as Gold bullion holdings, Silver Bullion holdings, as well as the miners, whom are more oversold now (RSI 14/1wk) than they were in the throes of this sector's 2008 market bottom according to the GDX and XGD etfs. In fact, the GDX is below the critical level of 30, which indicates that it is oversold and is likely in the process of putting in a bottom.
Some of the Big name stocks in the Gold Space are also approaching oversold levels, and need to be watched. If their RSI levels dips below 30, this will indicate a buying opportunity. Be sure to use limit orders if you buy any individual stocks, and be sure to place orders for mutual funds during the day, so that you get the price you want.
Franco Nevada
Royal Gold
Yamana
