Some early soggy action allowed buyers to step up and put a green finish to the markets for the day. However, it was an overall boring session. Boring, as it turns out, especially for a Monday after a nice bounce back, should be taken as a positive. As a result, traders could switch off CNBC, Bloomberg or Fox and tune into Comcast’s (CMCSA) NBC Sports to catch the first round of Olympic Womens’ Curling. Frankly, I am looking forward to the men’s Russia – Norway match today, though not so much from a sporting point of view but for the fashion.
Janet Yellen to Testify on Capitol Hill
FOMC Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to give testimony on Capitol Hill today, her first since taking over at the FOMC from Ben Bernanke. While the transcript of her official statement will be released before the committee meeting takes place, the real action will come during the Q&A session.
McDonald’s (MCD) was in the news yesterday as the company opened its first restaurant in Vietnam and also reported soft January sales figures. Recall that recently I sold out of my decade long investment position in McDonald’s, but still hold tiny positions in a smaller Low Volatility / High Dividend strategy. McDonald’s shares dropped over a point in Monday trading.
Problems Continue for Bitcoin
Bitcoin continues to run into problems. The pseudo currency is getting picked off one country at a time. It is only a matter of time until Bitcoin gets outlawed in the United States. Just take a look at what happened to Charlie Shem recently and you can see the future of Bitcoin in this country.
I expect that the S&P 500 (SPX) will recapture the 1,800 plateau and hold above it by the day’s close. The NASDAQ is coming alive and I bought some of the Power Shares QQQ (QQQ) which is a proxy for the NASDAQ 100 (NDX) index.
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Disclosure: At the time of this commentary Scott Rothbort, his family and/or clients of LakeView AssetManagement, LLC was long QQQ — although positions can change at any time.
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