Our purpose at the Stock Market Companion is to help you change how you view your investments, how you engage the markets, and help you dramatically improve your investment results.  We believe that by applying our SMC 15MinuteStocks Market Update and Watchlist over time, you should be able to see significant improvements in the performance of your investments, using no more than 15 minutes/day.

There is an old market adage that says, “Sell in May and Go Away.”  At the SMC, we work with the market we are given and generally do not allow such adages to influence our strategies, but in this case we did happen to sell our last holdings on April 29th, locking in an approx. +15% performance for the year and an approx. +51% return since inception last September 2009.  We engaged the market briefly toward the end of May with a sojourn in AK Steel Holdings Inc. for a +5.6% gain.  Good.

There can be good opportunities found during the summer, but so far the pickings have been very slim.

Today was a good example of some of the troubles the market is facing.  Overnight, the European markets were up +2.3% on expectations that the stress tests that the European Central Bank is using to test various banks will result in favorable outcomes.  Our markets were up strongly at the open and at one point this morning the DOW (DJ-30) was up approx. +172 points.  This represented 2/3 of the move that the Europeans were experiencing today.  As the day progressed however, our markets erased ALL OF THESE gains and until the final half hour looked as though they would close NEGATIVE for the day, trapping buyers who were looking for a bounce after almost 9 days of continuous selling and a -7% drop in the markets!

When overseas markets are up so strongly, and with our markets having sold off so hard over the past 2 weeks, AND STILL our markets CANNOT find buyers who stick around long enough to drink a cup of coffee, old adages like the “Sell in May and Go Away” start finding a chorus.

One of the key reasons for our markets losing traction today was the result of the Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Manager’s Index for June, released this morning at 10:00 AM.  The reading was 56.2%.  For those of you with the time for a brief summer read, check out their informative report here.

With the ISM Purchasing Manager’s Index, a reading above 50% indicates EXPANSION of the economy = growth.  However, this month shows additional signs of the economy Slowing Down.  The markets took this to heart and sold-off hard.

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Please remember – at the Stock Market Companion we do not and cannot give individual investment advice. According to the State of Washington RCW 21.20.005 the Stock Market Companion is not a Registered Financial Advisor and we do not render any advice on the basis of the specific investment situation of a particular individual. This information is for a wide readership and is not intended for any particular individual,  and under no circumstances should our SMC Intraday Update, SMC 15MinuteStocks Market Update or Watchlist be considered an investment recommendation or plan for any specific individual.  By accessing this material, you agree that the Stock Market Companion will not be held liable for any actions taken by a subscriber or other parties.  Please seek the council of a broker or other licensed investment professional for accurate pricing and concerning the suitability of all investments that you may be considering. Disclosure : Please understand that the Stock Market Companion may hold positions in the above mentioned securities.  Based on market related or personal events these positions may change without notice.

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