Since the start of our newsletter we have been using a relative strength table that looked at Fidelity Select Sector Funds to show what industry groups are leading and which groups are lagging.  The relative strength calculation is similar to the style used by Bill Oneil and IBD but is slightly shorter term in nature. We used the Fido Funds due the their price history and breadth of different groups.  Now that there are not only enough different industry group ETF’s, but also the needed price history we have revamped the model to use ETF’s instead.

We publish one list for United States industry groups and one that is focused on global ETF’s with several country and a few sector specific ETF’s.  These tables are valuable in a few ways.  One is that we have developed a trading model based upon them that uses the rankings along

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With nearly $450 billion in assets and growing, exchange-traded funds may be ready for their turn in the spotlight. The number of ETFs has grown from 80 at the end of 2000 to 737 at the start of 2009. Although these investment vehicles have entered the mainstream, some investors may feel that ETFs are shrouded in mystery.

Yet once you demystify them and understand how they work, you will be in a better position to determine whether exchange-traded funds may be appropriate for your portfolio.

What Is an ETF?

Exchange-traded funds are unique investments that resemble mutual funds in some ways and behave like stock in other ways. ETFs are baskets of securities put together by investment companies. They are usually assembled to track an index, sector, or other group of stocks.

Individual shares of ETFs are similar to individual shares of stock in that they can be traded, causing prices of those shares

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People have been scratching their heads wondering why the price of oil has held up relatively well this year in the face of a global slowdown and decreased energy demand in the United States.

Fundamentalists will point to continued strong demand for oil from emerging markets like China and decreasing oil output from non-OPEC producing nations such as Russia and Mexico. But then we have the conspiracy theorists who say the only reason that oil prices are so high is due solely to huge quantities of oil being held offshore in tankers by those greedy oil companies in order to boost their profits.

First of all, why would anyone want to store oil in tankers and not sell it? After all, it costs money to charter those oil supertankers. Storing oil in tankers does make sense if the price difference between crude oil sold for immediate delivery and the price on oil

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Emerging Asia’s role in the market for high-end luxury goods is mushrooming, reflecting a shift eastward in the global balance of spending power. This shift has crept along for years but has accelerated recently due to the global economic crisis, which has hampered economic growth in many countries. US consumers ended up living beyond their means by borrowing against asset bubbles – housing, stocks, etc. – which have burst and may be weak for years.

By contrast, household spending by Asia’s developing nations is expected to increase as continued growth, rising populations and improving health/retirement provisions reduce the need for families to save for the proverbial rainy day. This is particularly true in China – which, unknown to most US investors, is already the third largest luxury market in the world, behind only the United States and Japan.

The Chinese Dragon Goes Upscale

China has a rapidly growing number of rich people –

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In the next 30 days, we’re going to see the stock market drop by 10%. And if you buy shares of the play I’m about to reveal, you could be in for as much as 20% profits as a result…

While that may sound like a very specific prediction for a market that’s been anything but predictable this year, thanks to our newest investing tool we’ve got a little bit of added insight into where the market’s headed in the short term.

A few weeks back, I wrote to you about the Small-Cap Recovery Index that Penny Stock Fortunes editors Greg Guenthner, Jim Nelson and I have been working on here at Agora Financial HQ.  The index was designed to use the predictive power of small-cap stocks and leading economic indicators to give us some clues as to when we might get our first glimpse at economic recovery.

That’s because historically, small-caps lead

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Housing Market Showing Signs of Stability? Puh-lease!

The mainstream press would have us to believe a real estate market rebound is imminent. They keep glomming onto any data that shows the slightest sign of stability.

For instance, Bloomberg jumped all over the July 1 report from the National Association of Realtors that showed pending sales for previously owned homes rose for the fourth consecutive month. Other outlets had a field day with the news out of the Mortgage Bankers Association that refinancings hit a three-month high in early July. And ditto for the news that foreclosures dropped 11% in the second quarter.

But these “signs of stabilization” are bogus. Or to beg, borrow and steal from value-investing legend, Whitney Tilson, they are the “mother of all head fakes.”

Fact is, these short-term improvements were fabricated. They materialized because of temporary factors like the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit (set to expire November 30),

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The U.S. Housing Market: Three (More) Reasons Real Estate Isn’t Rebounding

by Louis Basenese, Advisory Panelist

Editor’s Note: Yesterday we heard from Martin Denholm, the managing editor at Smart Profits, one of our affiliate publications which will be joining us over the next few weeks. We’ll be adding their experts to our esteemed panelists to give you the best investing ideas and advice out there. Today we follow Martin with outspoken favorite, Louis Basenese, who also gives us his take and concern for investors, on the housing market.

If ever an off-the-wall indicator existed to predict the fate of the U.S. housing market, I found it… You see, business is booming in one particular niche of the real estate industry - shrink-wrap.

That’s right. Contractors and developers are wrapping mothballed building projects in plastic, literally - from single-family homes to 25,000 square foot commercial properties.

The beneficiary? Privately-held Fast Wrap

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by Michael Janston

One investment plan for making profits on the stock exchange is trend following. In this strategy you wait for a trend to create itself and then following it, timing both your entrance and exit carefully. It’s a method that works in upturns or downturns in the market. Rather than trying to foretell the trends, trend disciples go with trends that are established. The figure to be invested is decided by the size of the trading account and how stable the issue appears to be.

Traders who use trend following use software that is programmed to exit when a surprising falling trend in their issue happens. Then the traders wait to determine if the trend gets back on track before re-entering. It’s really about staying with an established trend and getting out if the trend changes direction.

Price is the first rule of trend following. Other indicators …

by Chris Thompson

Online brokers are all over so it’s hard to figure out which one is really the best. I’ve compiled a list of the different ones out there and give a brief description of my thoughts on each.

Etrade is one of the earlier players in the discount brokerage and practically invented online brokerages. The user interface is amazing and the commissions are on the higher side in this day and age.

TD Ameritrade is also an early player and it’s main competition is Charles Schwab and Etrade. They have good advertising but the interface isn’t great and support is okay mediocre. However, they do have a solid following and trades are $9.99 no matter how much you trade or have with them.

Charles Schwab have been cleaning up in the last year or so, especially with the troubles of Etrade. Honestly, I’ve been thinking …

How trade triangles can help you trade in the ETF markets

Today we will be looking at our trade triangle technology and how it can help you time the ETF markets successfully.

In this short video I will show you exactly how to use our trade triangle technology in the ETF markets.

You can watch this video with my compliments and there is no registration requirements. I would love to get your feedback about this video on our blog.

All the best,

Adam Hewison President, INO.com Co-creator, MarketClub