Technology SPDR (ETF)

• Sector Analysis: Cyclicals Away!

  By Declan Fallon - May 20, 2013 | Tickers: XLY, XLF, XLK

  The strength of a rally can be gauged by how sectors are performing relative to one another. These relationships can determine if a rally has room to run, or if things are about to turn. Rallies are best fueled by the support of cyclical sectors, but typically struggle when monies are channeled into defensive sectors.

  Sector performance can be viewed from two perspectives: the past six months, when this phase more »

• These Two Markets May be Bullish Post Election

  By John Mylant - September 26, 2012 | Tickers: UUP, SPY, GLD, XLK

  With the election coming soon plus the QE3 taking affect, watch the markets in the short term remain neutral to mildly bullish. There are reasons for this and also nice investment opportunities. Let’s take a look at what is influencing the markets through the end of the year and some investing advice based upon how QE3 will affect certain markets. Take a look at gold and the tech industry more »

• Five ETFs to Beat the Markets in the Long Term

  By Andrés Cardenal - September 12, 2012 | Tickers: EEB, QQQ, XLK, VWO, DEM

  ETFs are perhaps the biggest revolution affecting retail investors over the last years. These instruments provide the possibility to diversify your holdings in a very simple and cost effective way, and they are also excellent vehicles to bet on different economic sectors, regions, or investment ideas. Keeping this in mind, here are some interesting possibilities in ETFs positioned to outperform the markets in the long term.

  It would be hard more »

• You Can Get A Slice Of Apple For Just $30. But Should You?

  By John-Erik Koslosky - September 4, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, IYW, QQQ, XLK, VGT

  One of the complaints about Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) I hear from investor friends is that the stock is just “too expensive.”
  They’re not talking about the price-to-earnings multiple, which is anything but expensive at about 15.8.
  They’re referring to the share price, which is an imposing $670.
  Many lay investors put money into the market in dribs and drabs. A few hundred bucks here. A few hundred more »

• Three Technology ETFs Delivering Transparency and Cost Efficiency

  By Jeff Stouffer - September 4, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, FSLR, HW, IBM, NSPH, PXN, RYT, XLK, WDC

  During the internet and telecommunications boom of the late 90’s, the concept of investment diversification in this area was nothing more than holding seven or more high technology funds. Concurrently exchange-traded funds were new and the concept of portfolio transparency was not in vogue. After the bursting of the bubble, then all of a sudden investors wanted to know more about the holdings of mutual funds. It became evident more »

• Revenue Increases Masking Growth Rate in Earnings

  By Edgar Ambart - July 24, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, FB, GOOG, MSFT, QCOM, SNDK, XLK

  The technology sector continues to lift stocks with technology. The SPDR ETF XLK is showing bullish momentum since last week.  Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) missed earnings results but shot up 3% with the aid of UBS's "buy confirmation" anyway, Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) is not able to keep up with increased demand in its smart phone products,  and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) posted its first recorded $6 billion loss due to a more »

• Three ETFs to Outperform the Markets in the Long Term

  By Andrés Cardenal - June 27, 2012 | Tickers: MOO, XLK, DGS

  An investor who buys an individual stock is tied to that company's future until the time of sale, for better or for worse. This means the possibilities to achieve extraordinary returns are much higher with stocks than with Exchange Traded Funds - ETFs -, but so are the chances of severe loses if the company doesn't do as expected.

  ETFs; on the other hand, provide broad diversification at a conveniently more »

• 3 Ways to Play Next Week's Semiconductor Book-to-Bill Announcement

  By Maxwell Kirchhoff - March 14, 2012 | Tickers: IMOS, QTEC, INTC, NVDA, XLK |

  On March 22nd, SEMI will release its monthly macroeconomic indicator--the semiconductor book-to-bill ratio.  This ratio offers insight into the health of the technology sector as most anything from a cell phone to a computer utilizes semiconductors (chips) to function.  As of late, the tech sector has been on a tear--as a point of reference, the S&P technology sector index has outperformed the Dow by 9.05% YTD:

  Accordingly, the more »

• Technology ETFs to Outperform the Market

  By Andrés Cardenal - February 21, 2012 | Tickers: SKYY, IXN, IGV, QQQ, XLK

  It´s not necessary to choose an individual stock to outperform market indexes, certain sectors can show strong over performance records over the long term, and positions taken via ETFs usually have lower risk and volatility than individual stocks. The tech sector has many desirable characteristics that make it a convenient alternative for a sector bet from a risk and reward perspective for the middle and long term.

  First of more »

• Get in While it's at $500

  By Edgar Ambart - February 10, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, XOM, GOOG, XLK

  While investors are looking in all the wrong places to find cheap stocks below $5 with improved fundamentals, there’s a company that has managed to return shareholders 28% in the last three months with very little risk. And even though it's now on its way to a market cap of half a trillion dollars, if you want the year of the dragon to pay off, then consider reducing more »

• Stocks Leading Dow to 13,000

  By Edgar Ambart - January 23, 2012 | Tickers: CAT, MSFT, XLK

  The market's generosity is fading away as great equities were being scooped up at great discounts in recent weeks.  Since bears are not able to tilt the boat either, some stocks are continuing to charge forward and attract new fund interest.  Take a look at Caterpillar's (NYSE: CAT) 1 month chart, in which the stock has surged from $90 a share back in the end of December to more »