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President Donald Trump has escalated his sudden rupture with Elon Musk by implying the government could sever ties with the tech titan’s businesses.

‘The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it,’ Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social.

Various estimates have been put forward about just how much Musk’s firms, primarily SpaceX and Tesla, benefit from U.S. government contracts and subsidies. The Washington Post has put the figure at $38 billion, with SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell estimating that company alone benefits from $22 billion in federal spending. Reuters has reported that the true figure is classified because of the nature of many of the contracts Musk’s firms are under.

NASA relies on SpaceX to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The agency’s only other option at the moment is to pay around $90 million for a seat aboard Russia’s Soyuz capsule.

Last year, SpaceX was selected to develop a vehicle capable of safely de-orbiting the International Space Station in 2030, when NASA and its partner space agencies agreed to end operation of the orbiting laboratory. SpaceX is also expected to play a major role in NASA’s efforts to return astronauts to the moon and eventually travel beyond to Mars.

Later Thursday afternoon, Musk posted that he would begin ‘decommissioning’ SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which regularly flies astronauts and cargo to the ISS, in response to Trump’s threat.

NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens said the agency ‘will continue to execute upon the President’s vision for the future of space.’

‘We will continue to work with our industry partners to ensure the President’s objectives in space are met,’ she said in a statement on X.

Tesla, meanwhile, has benefited from approximately $11.4 billion in total regulatory credits aimed at boosting electric-vehicle purchases, though that figure also includes state-level subsidies. Musk has claimed he no longer needs the credit, which he says now primarily benefits rivals.

Following Trump’s threat, shares in Tesla, which had already fallen 8% on Thursday as the tit-for-tat escalated on social media, declined as much as 15% following Trump’s post. SpaceX is privately held and its shares do not trade on the open market.

Trump’s warning came as part of a stunning exchange with Musk — who spent more than $250 million to help him get elected — that erupted into public view.

Earlier in the day, president told reporters in the Oval Office that he was disappointed in Musk’s criticism of the Republican policy bill that is making its way through Congress. Musk has blasted the bill, calling it a ‘disgusting abomination,’ amid concerns it would worsen the U.S. fiscal deficit.

Musk, who officially left his White House role last week to spend more time on his companies, spent much of Thursday launching into a tirade on X, his social media platform, where he posted a variety of critiques of Trump, the bill and other Republican politicians.

A make-good on Trump’s threat would come at a sensitive time for Tesla, which has seen global sales plunge partly in response to Musk’s very involvement with the Trump campaign. Year to date, its shares are down some 25%.

Trump’s warning also raises the specter that Trump could resurface pending government investigations into Musk’s firms. According to a report in April from Democratic staff of the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Musk’s firms were facing $2.37 billion in potential federal liabilities when Trump took office in January.

Since then, many of those actions have been paused or outright dismissed alongside the rise of the previously Musk-helmed Department of Government Efficiency, which gutted many of the agencies looking into Musk’s businesses.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

Israel is arming local militias in Gaza in an effort to counter Hamas in the besieged enclave, officials say, as opposition politicians warned that the move endangers national security.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the covert enterprise on Thursday, calling it “a good thing.” In a video posted on social media, Netanyahu said Israel had “activated clans in Gaza which oppose Hamas,” and that it was done “under the advice of security elements.”

Former defense minister and Netanyahu rival Avigdor Liberman divulged the move on Israel’s Ch. 12 News on Wednesday, saying that Israel was distributing rifles to extremist groups in Gaza and describing the operation as “complete madness.”

“We’re talking about the equivalent of ISIS in Gaza,” Liberman said one day later on Israel’s Army Radio, adding that Israel is providing weapons to “crime families in Gaza on Netanyahu’s orders.”

Meanwhile, Hamas said the plan revealed “a grave and undeniable truth.” In a statement, the militant group said: “The Israeli occupation army is arming criminal gangs in the Gaza Strip with the aim of creating a state of insecurity and social chaos.”

One group that has received weapons from Israel is the militia led by Yasser Abu Shabab, officials said. Abu Shabab heads an armed group that controls some territory in eastern Rafah and he has posted photos of himself holding an AK-47 rifle with UN vehicles behind him. Though Abu Shabab has denied receiving weapons from Israel, Hamas has accused him of being a “traitor.”

“We pledge before God to continue confronting the dens of that criminal and his gang, no matter the cost of the sacrifices we make,” Hamas said on Thursday.

Opposition politicians ripped Netanyahu for the plan to arm militias and the secrecy around it, lambasting it as a continuation of the Israeli leader’s decision to allow millions of dollars in cash to travel from Qatar to Gaza beginning in late 2018. They accused him of strengthening Hamas in the past as an alternative to the rival Palestinian Fatah faction, and now arming gangs as an alternative to Hamas.

“After Netanyahu finished handing over millions of dollars to Hamas, he moved on to supplying weapons to groups in Gaza affiliated with ISIS – all improvised, with no strategic planning, and all leading to more disasters,” opposition leader Yair Lapid said on social media.

Netanyahu has not laid out a plan for who will govern Gaza in the future and has hardly made clear any of his post-war intentions for the coastal enclave. Part of Israel’s war goals include the complete disarmament of Hamas and the end of its ability to govern in the territory.

The arming of militias in Gaza appears to be the closest that Netanyahu has come to empowering any form of alternate rule.

Despite nearly 20 months of war, Israel has not been able to dislodge Hamas completely from large swaths of Gaza, and the militant group – classified as a terrorist organization in Israel, the United States, and the European Union – has clung to power.

Yair Golan, head of the left-wing Democrats party, said in a post on social media: “Instead of bringing about a deal, making arrangements with the moderate Sunni axis, and returning the hostages and security to Israeli citizens, he is creating a new ticking bomb in Gaza.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

Ukraine’s shock drone strike on Russia’s strategic bomber fleet this week has generals and analysts taking a new look at threats to high-value United States aircraft at bases in the homeland and abroad – and the situation is worrisome.

“It’s an eyebrow-raising moment,” Gen. David Allvin, the US Air Force chief of staff, said at a defense conference in Washington on Tuesday, adding that the US is vulnerable to similar attacks.

By “unhardened,” Shugart means there aren’t enough shelters in which US warplanes can be parked that are tough enough to protect them from airstrikes, be it from drones or missiles.

Ukrainian military officials said 41 Russian aircraft were hit in last Sunday’s attacks, including strategic bombers and surveillance planes, with some destroyed and others damaged.

Later analysis shows at least 12 planes destroyed or damaged, and reviews of satellite imagery were continuing.

The Ukrainian operation used drones smuggled into Russian territory, hidden in wooden mobile houses atop trucks and driven close to four Russian air bases, according to Ukrainian sources.

Once near the bases, the roofs of the mobile houses were remotely opened, and the drones deployed to launch their strikes.

The Russian planes were sitting uncovered on the tarmac at the bases, much as US warplanes are at facilities at home and abroad.

“We’ve got a lot of high-value assets that are extraordinarily expensive,” McChrystal said.

The Ukrainians said their attacks destroyed $7 billion worth of Russian aircraft. By comparison, a single US Air Force B-2 bomber costs $2 billion. And the US has only 20 of them.

Shugart co-authored a report for the Hudson Institute in January highlighting the threat to US military installations from China in the event of any conflict between the superpowers.

“People’s Liberation Army (PLA) strike forces of aircraft, ground-based missile launchers, surface and subsurface vessels, and special forces can attack US aircraft and their supporting systems at airfields globally, including in the continental United States,” Shugart and fellow author Timothy Walton wrote.

War game simulations and analyses show “the overwhelming majority of US aircraft losses would likely occur on the ground at airfields (and that the losses could be ruinous),” Shugart and Walton wrote.

A report from Air and Space Forces magazine last year pointed out that Anderson Air Force Base on the Pacific island of Guam – perhaps the US’ most important air facility in the Pacific – which has hosted rotations of those $2 billion B-2 bombers, as well as B-1 and B-52 bombers, has no hardened shelters.

Allvin, the USAF chief of staff, admitted the problem on Tuesday.

“Right now, I don’t think it’s where we need to be,” Allvin told a conference of the CNAS.

McChrystal said the US must look at how to protect its bases and the aircraft on them but also how it monitors the areas around those facilities.

“It widens the spectrum of the threats you’ve got to deal with,” McChrystal said.

The cost of ‘playing defense’

But all that costs money, and Allvin said that presents the US with a budget dilemma.

Does it spend defense dollars on hardened shelters and ways to stop drones and missiles from attacking US bases, or does it use more resources on offensive weapons that take the fight to the enemy?

“If all we are doing is playing defense and can’t shoot back, then that’s not a good use of our money,” Allvin told the CNAS conference.

“We’ve always known that hardening our bases is something we needed to do,” Allvin said, but other items have been given budget priority.

Hardened aircraft shelters aren’t flashy and are unlikely to generate the headlines of other defense projects, including planes like the new B-21 bombers, each of which is expected to cost around $700 million.

And US President Donald Trump said recently the Air Force will build a new stealth fighter, the F-47, with an initial cost of $300 million per aircraft.

“The F-47 is an amazing aircraft, but it’s going to die on the ground if we don’t protect it,” Allvin said.

Meanwhile, a hardened shelter costs around $30 million, according to Shugart and Walton.

Last month Trump revealed another form of air defense for the US mainland, the Golden Dome missile shield, expected to cost at least $175 billion.

Despite the huge price tag, it’s designed to counter long-range threats, like intercontinental ballistic missiles fired from a different hemisphere.

Vastness as a weakness

In Russia’s case, the vastness of its territory was seen as a strength in its war with Ukraine. One of the air bases hit in Ukraine’s Operation “Spiderweb” was closer to Tokyo than Kyiv.

But now Russia’s size is a weakness, writes David Kirichenko on the Ukraine Watch blog of the Atlantic Council.

Every border crossing may be an infiltration point; every cargo container on every highway or rail line must be treated with suspicion.

“This is a logistical nightmare,” Kirichenko said.

And there is a direct analogy to the United States.

US Air Force bomber bases are usually well inland, but accessible to vehicles large and small.

For instance, all 20 B-2 bombers are stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. It’s about 600 miles from the nearest coastline, the Gulf of Mexico, but only about 25 miles south of Interstate 70, one of the main east-west traffic arteries in the US, with thousands of commercial vehicles passing by daily.

Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, one of the homes of US B-1 bombers, sits just south of another major east-west commercial artery, Interstate 20.

“Think of all the containers and illegal entrants inside our borders,” said Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center.

“That connection will trigger alarm in some US circles,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the Pacific, even better US offensive firepower, like Gen. Allvin would like to have, might not be enough in the event of a conflict with China.

That’s because the PLA has made a concerted effort to protect its aircraft during its massive military buildup under leader Xi Jinping, according to the Hudson Institute report.

China has more than 650 hardened aircraft shelters at airfields within 1,150 miles of the Taiwan Strait, the report says.

But Shugart and Walton argue the best move Washington could make would be to make Beijing build more – by improving US strike capabilities in Asia.

“In response the… PLA would likely continue to spend funds on additional costly passive and active defense measures and in turn would have less to devote to alternative investments, including strike and other power projection capabilities,” they said.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

Mexican prosecutors are investigating a widely shared surveillance video of the former boss of murdered woman carrying a suspicious bundle up a flight of stairs.

Lorena Jacqueline Morales, who lived in the city of León in the central state of Guanajuato and worked at a food store, was reported missing by her family on May 23, according to authorities.

The 28-year-old’s body was found on Tuesday, June 3, inside a suitcase, according to prosecutors. Her murder has shocked the country and has underscored violence against women in Mexico.

Prosecutors arrested the alleged perpetrator, her former boss, that same day.

The surveillance video showed Morales’ former boss going into an apartment building and climbing a flight of stairs with a covered-up object. Later, the man is seen next to a car struggling to load a heavy suitcase into the trunk.

The timestamp in the upper left corner of the video suggests it was filmed on May 22. It’s unclear what happened before and after the footage was recorded.

Guanajuato Gov. Libia Dennise García Muñoz said the case should be investigated as a femicide.

Mexico has long struggled with high levels of both homicide and violence against women.

While not all homicides involving women are femicides, many are. In 2020, a quarter of female killings in Mexico were investigated as femicides, with cases reported in each one of Mexico’s 32 states, according to Amnesty International.

Last year, there were 847 reported cases of femicide nationwide – and 162 in the first three months of this year, according to Mexican government figures.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 summit in Alberta later this month, an invitation Modi accepted despite strained ties between the countries.

The countries expelled each other’s top diplomats last year over the killing of a Sikh Canadian activist in Canada and allegations of other crimes.

The invitation prompted anger from the World Sikh Organization of Canada, which wrote to Carney in May asking him not to invite Modi. Tensions remain high between Canada and India over accusations about Indian government agents being involved in the murder of a Canadian activist for Sikh separatism in British Columbia in 2023.

Carney extended the invitation to Modi in a phone call between the two leaders on Friday. The summit runs from June 15 to 17.

Carney noted Canada is in the role of G7 chair and said there are important discussions that India should be a part of.

“India is the fifth-largest economy in the world, the most populous country in the world and central to supply chains,” Carney told reporters, adding that there has been some progress on law enforcement dialogue between the two countries.

“I extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi and, in that context, he has accepted,” Carney said.

Carney said there is a legal process underway in the killing of the Canadian Sikh activist and said he would not comment on the case, when asked by a reporter if he thought Modi was involved.

The tit-for-tat expulsions came after Canada told India that its top diplomat in the country is a person of interest in the 2023 assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and that police have uncovered evidence of an intensifying campaign against Canadian citizens by agents of the Indian government.

Modi said he was glad to receive a call from Carney and congratulated him on his recent election victory.

“As vibrant democracies bound by deep people-to-people ties, India and Canada will work together with renewed vigour, guided by mutual respect and shared interests. Look forward to our meeting at the summit,” Modi said in a social media statement.

Nijjar, 45, was fatally shot in his pickup truck after he left the Sikh temple he led in Surrey, British Columbia. An Indian-born citizen of Canada, he owned a plumbing business and was a leader in what remains of a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland.

Four Indian nationals living in Canada were charged with Nijjar’s murder.

Balpreet Singh, legal counsel and spokesperson for the World Sikh Organization of Canada, called Carney’s invitation to Modi a “betrayal of Canadian values.”

“The summit to which Mr. Modi is being invited falls on the anniversary of the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar two years ago,” he said. “So for us, this is unacceptable, it’s shocking and it’s a complete reversal of the principled stand that Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau had taken.”

Canada is not the only country that has accused Indian officials of plotting an assassination on foreign soil.

In 2023 US prosecutors said an Indian government official directed a failed plot to assassinate another Sikh separatist leader in New York.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

Russia bombarded Ukraine’s second-largest city with massive strikes in the early hours of Saturday, its mayor said, one night after Moscow carried out one of the war’s largest aerial assaults on Ukraine.

Russia has conducted extensive attacks on Ukraine in recent days, in what is being viewed as retaliation for an audacious drone operation by Kyiv that debilitated more than a third of Moscow’s strategic cruise missile carriers.

The northeastern city of Kharkiv – which sits about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Russian border – was shaken by “at least 40 explosions” on Saturday, killing at least two people and wounding more than a dozen, according to a Telegram post by Mayor Igor Terekhov.

“Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war,” Terekhov said. “The enemy is striking simultaneously with missiles, (drones) and guided aerial bombs. This is outright terror against peaceful Kharkiv.”

Video released by emergency services showed a large fire burning in a multi-story apartment block in the Osnovyanskyi district in the city’s southwest, where Terekhov said two people had died.

One person was also killed in a strike that hit a house in the Kyivskyi district to the north, he said.

A day earlier, in the apparent retaliation to Ukraine’s drone swarm, Russia launched a barrage of drones and ballistic missiles across broad swaths of Ukraine, killing at least six people and injuring dozens of others.

“They gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night,” US President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One late on Friday.

Trump had earlier warned Russian retaliation was imminent, after speaking with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear if Putin intends to further escalate Moscow’s retaliation.

Trump is eager to bring an end to the three-year war, but has been reluctant to impose new sanctions on Russia while the US pushes the warring nations to strike a ceasefire deal.

On Friday, he said he will use further sanctions against Russia “if necessary.”

“If I think Russia will not be making a deal or stopping the bloodshed… I’ll use it if it’s necessary,” he told reporters.

Officials from Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul on Monday for a second round of peace talks, but the meeting lasted barely over an hour and the only real outcome was an agreement to work towards another prisoner swap.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

Silver just hit a 13-year high, breaking above a key resistance level that could ignite a major bull run. Some metals analysts now say a rally to $40 isn’t a long shot, but a matter of time. So, are the odds finally shifting in favor of the bulls?

And, more importantly, is now the time to capitalize on silver’s breakout?

To answer, let’s break down the key technical levels and explore the fundamental factors that may (or may not) fuel silver’s next major move.

Gold vs. Silver: A Look at Intermarket Momentum

In the StockCharts Market Summary, the Intermarket Analysis panel highlights various commodities and indexes. You’ll notice that SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) is leading the group with the largest positive three-month price change and StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR) score.

FIGURE 1. MARKET SUMMARY INTERMARKET ANALYSIS PANEL. Gold is significantly outperforming other commodities.

While silver is missing from this panel, the intermarket analysis chart to the right of the panel, which plots a one-year chart of intermarket performance, allows you to add silver to the group.

FIGURE 2. ONE-YEAR CHART LAYING OUT THE INTERMARKET ANALYSIS COMPONENTS. iShares Silver Trust (SLV) (color-coded gray) and its latest intermarket performance reading is highlighted by the magenta box.

Is Silver Undervalued? Understanding the Gold-to-Silver Ratio

Note the wide performance gap between GLD and SLV. Let’s look at a chart illustrating the gold-silver ratio ($GOLD:$SILVER).

FIGURE 3. 15-YEAR CHART OF GOLD-TO-SILVER RATIO. The ratio is above both averages, suggesting that silver is undervalued.

Take a look at the blue and green bands. Both represent the common gold-to-silver ratio levels that many, if not most, analysts use.

  • The blue band (60:1 to 65:1) reflects the long-term post-1971 average.
  • The green band (70:1 to 75:1) reflects the 10-year modern average.

When the ratio is above these bands, silver is typically undervalued relative to gold. This can signal three possible outcomes:

  • Silver rises while gold declines.
  • Both rise, but silver outpaces gold.
  • Both fall, but silver falls less.

The key question now: If silver is undervalued, does the technical setup support an actionable bullish resolution?

SLV Breaks Out: Key Support and Resistance Levels to Watch

In the daily chart below, SLV recently broke above key resistance at $31.75, exiting a wide trading range that stretched down to $26.25. The Quadrant Lines symmetrically divide the entire zone, providing more clarity to the trading volume and price behavior.

FIGURE 4. DAILY CHART OF SLV. Support levels are highlighted within the four quadrants dividing SLV’s 8-month trading range.

Here are a few key insights to consider:

  • The Stochastic Oscillator is reading “overbought,” suggesting that a pullback is likely in the coming sessions.
  • Buying pressure is stronger than at any point over the past year, according to the Chaikin Money Flow (CMF), suggesting that SLV, even in the case of a pullback, may have enough volume-driven momentum to drive prices higher.
  • The first quadrant, shaded green, marks the breakout level and top of the eight-month trading range.
  • The second quadrant, shaded yellow, marks the highest concentration of trading activity and various levels of support and resistance.
  • The third quadrant, shaded red, marks another level of support before the bottom of the range, which also marks the lowest support level over the last eight months.

If SLV pulls back but investor conviction remains strong, a bounce is likely within the first two quadrants, particularly the second (yellow) quadrant. However, if SLV drops below the second quadrant and enters the third (shaded red), it signals weakening sentiment and suggests the breakout has failed, pulling SLV back into the trading range that has dominated over the past eight months.

Will Silver Hit $40? Forecasts and Fundamental Tailwinds

Some analysts are expecting $SILVER to rise to around $40 an ounce. SLV’s price equivalence is around $37–$38 per share.

From a technical perspective, historical resistance levels are often target zones for those looking to take profit or unload positions. Here are the historical resistance levels to watch in SLV (pull up a 20-year chart of SLV to see these levels):

  • $36.44 – the February 2012 high
  • $42.78 – the August 2011 high
  • $48.35 – the April 2011 high

These are the levels reached since the last major silver boom in 2011. SLV may (or may not) reach these levels, but it’s important to see the proverbial “roof” before you hit it.

What This Means for SLV Traders Going Forward

With silver breaking out and momentum accelerating, SLV could be setting up for a sustained move. So watch the depth of the pullback, if it happens. You will want to see a bounce above $29 (the lower part of the second quadrant); movement below that is not favorable to the bulls. And, last but not least, remember things can change quickly as geopolitical developments and economic news unfold.


Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.

Most religions of the world have the fundamental beliefs that are strikingly similar to the Ten Commandments. History has taught humanity that life does not seem to work well without such guiding principles. As responsible parents, we should have a parallel foundation of ten life skills that we impart part to our children. Your list will vary from mine, of course, but these are the ten essential precepts which I imparted to my son.

  1. Learn the basic life skills such as hygiene, cooking, cleaning, etc.
  2. Develop and maintain positive relations with friends and family.
  3. Keep a positive ‘can-do’ attitude exuding confidence and good self-esteem.
  4. Have strong ethics and values centered around honesty, morality and empathy for others.
  5. Develop strong communication skills, both verbal and written.
  6. Develop strong problem solving skills, curiosity, education, and rational thinking.
  7. Set goals and maintain the motivation to overcome life’s inevitable challenges.
  8. Appreciate the spiritual side of life.
  9. Keep healthy habits pertaining to diet, exercise, and lifestyle.
  10. Understand the tenets of financial literacy relating to money, saving, budgeting, and spending.

Many parenting books have been written on each of these ten topics, but I’d like to highlight the last one – #10. I propose that financial literacy alone has 10 essential skills that we should cultivate in our children. Giving them the gift of a money-wise toolkit along with your time will go along way to ensure their long-term success. It will be the proud legacy you leave and how you’ll be remembered.

These are my Ten Financial Commandments to teach your offspring.

  1. Start early and encourage your kids to embrace investing as a hobby. It’s intellectually stimulating and they’ll meet great people.
  2. Invest consistently and regularly. Don’t try to time the market. As of yet, no one has successfully created that algorithm.
  3. Warren Buffet famously described the magic of compounding as “the eighth wonder of the world.” He likened it to a snowball rolling down a long hill, accumulating more snow as it rolls. Do the math; it’s true.
  4. Avoid debt and leverage. Buying a house or college loan aside, credit card debt and onerous fees can ruin you.
  5. Ignore fads and hot tips. You’ll be inevitably late, pay too much and experience the bursting of the bubble eventually.
  6. Day trading is not investing, and it’s important to understand the difference. If you are an adrenaline addict and absolutely must day trade, then allocate a small percentage of your portfolio to this activity and consider it your “funny money” that’s expendable. Trading is indeed part of successful investing, but overtrading is not.
  7. Pay attention to fees. One percent a year may not sound like much, but when you do the calculations and look at a 10-15 year timeframe, you’ll lose out big-time. Fees represent your money that doesn’t get reinvested or compounded for you over the span of those 15 years.
  8. Be careful which assets you marry. Some have long-term handcuffs, high fees, unattractive risk-to-reward ratios and low probabilities of making you wealthier. I’ve never forgotten this famous quote from John Bogle, who founded Vanguard: “Don’t look for the needle in the haystack; buy the haystack.” In other words, buying the S&P 500 Index (SPY) is a reasonable strategy.
  9. Investing is a marathon, not a sprint. Young people often think that if they lose big, they’ll have many years to recover. My point is, why lose at all? Asset protection should always be a paramount objective throughout one’s life. Start young.
  10. Be action-oriented. Start today. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t make excuses. Buy a good investment book. (I humbly suggest the one I wrote with my son.) Start a free trial at StockCharts.com. Do some paper trading. You might discover you are the second coming of Warren Buffett!

In a spirit of full disclosure, it’s important that I acknowledge the other half of the equation in writing about the ten basic life skills and financial commandments instilled in my son. He was also raised by a devoted and well-educated mother who has an MBA and understands the markets as well.

The bottom line: teach your children about money management. If you don’t, you are intentionally placing them instead into the hands of that merciless professor called “Experience”. The tutorial will be ruthless, and the lessons learned will be costly and late.

Trade well; trade with discipline!

Gatis Roze, MBA, CMT

StockMarketMastery.com

P.S. If you would like to be notified when I post a new Traders Journal blog, please submit your preference via the tile in the right column titled FOLLOW THIS BLOG.

All of our major indices continue to rally off the April 7th, cyclical bear market low. A couple, however, have broken out of key bullish continuation patterns that measure to all-time highs. I’ll focus on one in today’s article.

Russell 2000

The IWM is an ETF that tracks the small-cap Russell 2000 and it’s chart couldn’t be much more bullish right now. After setting an all-time high on November 25, 2024 at 243.71, the IWM fell into its own cyclical bear market, dropping to a low of 171.73 on April 7th. That represented a drop of 71.98 points, or 29.54%, well beyond the 20% cyclical bear market threshold. A bottoming reverse head & shoulders pattern formed and I’ve been awaiting for a breakout above neckline resistance at 211. We saw that on today’s open after nonfarm payrolls highlighted our somewhat resilient economy as jobs came in ahead of expectations and the unemployment rate held steady. Check out this chart on the IWM:

I’m not saying that we’ll see a straight up move to 249, and short-term direction could be impacted by how we finish today. A weak afternoon could lead to further short-term selling, possibly back to the rising 20-day EMA. But, ultimately, and during 2025, I’m looking for that all-time high. A strong finish this afternoon and close on or near the daily high would add more bullishness to this chart.

Leading Stocks in Leading Industry Groups

The small cap IWM is no different than any of our other major indices, like the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100. When you see an index breakout, you need to look to the leading stocks in that area in order to outperform the benchmark index. We started our Leading Stocks ChartList (LSCL) two weeks ago and the results have been absolutely phenomenal so far, which I would expect them to be. After last week, we produced our 2nd weekly LSCL and the results have been awesome once again. There were 43 stocks included and 32 of the 43 have outperformed the S&P 500 this week. That’s similar results to our first weekly LSCL.

Individual stock leaders from our LSCL included the following big winners as of 1pm ET today:

  • PRCH: +16.89%
  • DOMO: +15.75%
  • LASR: +15.40%
  • HOOD: +15.10%
  • QBTS: +13.17%
  • TTMI: +11.62%
  • ZS: +10.76%

These are exceptional returns when you consider the benchmark S&P 500 gained just 1.38% this week.

I want to provide all of our followers a SPECIAL OFFER to join our FREE EB Digest newsletter. Subscribe HERE with only your name and email address (no credit card required), and we’ll provide you a link and password to download this unique Leading Stocks ChartList (LSCL) and check it out for yourself. You need to be an Extra or Pro member at StockCharts in order to download the ChartList into your account. Basic members and non-members can view the ChartList and check out the stocks we include for next week.

Happy trading!

Tom

This week, we got a smorgasbord of jobs data — JOLTS, ADP, weekly jobless claims, and the nonfarm payrolls (NFP). Friday’s NFP, the big one the market was waiting for, showed that 139,000 jobs were added in May, which was better than the expected 130,000. Unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, and average hourly earnings rose 0.4% for the month.

The stock market rallied on the news. The S&P 500 rose above the 6000 level and closed slightly above it. That’s the first time the index has hit the 6K level since February. And the party wasn’t just in the S&P 500. All the major stock market indexes closed higher, and the Cboe Volatility Index ($VIX) closed below 17, suggesting investors are pretty complacent.

Sector Performance: Tech Takes the Lead

When you look at which sectors did best this week, it’s pretty clear that Technology was leading the charge. But is the leadership as strong as it was last year?

To answer, we can begin by taking a look at the MarketCarpet for S&P Sector ETFs below. It clearly illustrates the strength of the Technology sector.

FIGURE 1. WEEKLY PERFORMANCE OF THE S&P SECTOR ETFS. Technology is in the lead while Consumer Staples is the laggard.Image source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Now, if you drill down, it’s evident from the MarketCarpet of the Technology Sector that heavily weighted large-cap stocks, across the many different categories within the sector, displayed strong performance for the week.

FIGURE 2. WEEKLY PERFORMANCE OF TECHNOLOGY SECTOR. Large-cap heavily weighted stocks were in the green this week.Image source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Semis Grind Higher

Within tech, the semiconductors look especially strong, with several dark green squares in the MarketCarpet. This warrants a closer look at this industry group.

The weekly chart of the VanEck Vectors Semiconductors ETF (SMH) shows an upside move, with the ETF trading above its 40-week simple moving average. However, SMH is still underperforming the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is trending higher and is in better shape since the end of March, but needs to gain more momentum to push it into overbought territory.

FIGURE 3. WEEKLY CHART OF VANECK VECTORS SEMICONDUCTOR ETF (SMH). While the price action in SMH is leaning towards the bullish side, it’s underperforming the SPY and needs more momentum.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

If SMH continues to move higher with strong momentum, it would be a positive indication for the equity markets. However, there are several moving parts that investors should monitor.

Closing Position

While stocks are inching higher on low volatility, news headlines disrupt trends, sometimes drastically.

The weakening U.S. dollar and rising Treasury yields can sometimes signal headwinds for the stock market. Next week is going to be all about inflation, and we’ll get the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) for May.

With the job numbers in the rearview mirror, investors will be focused on inflation, especially since the Fed meets the following week. As of now, the Fed isn’t expected to make any changes to interest rates until perhaps their September meeting. Let’s see if next week’s inflation data changes the picture.

Watch the price action unfold by monitoring the StockCharts MarketCarpets and the StockCharts Market Summary page.


Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.