By Andrew Segal, Lind Plus Senior Market Strategist There are a number of factors that influence the price of gold, but none more important than the value of the U.S. dollar. I think continued weakness in the dollar and technical chart formations have positioned gold for a potential breakout to the upside. December gold futures [...]

Stocks Decline, But Indicators Looking Better By Jeff Friedman Stock index futures are down this morning amid bleak news globally on the manufacturing front, but the big question on many people’s minds is whether the bottom is in after a strong finish to November. The past couple months have been a bloodbath, but there seems [...]

The Federal Reserve didn’t wait until its regularly scheduled month-end policy meeting to take action, and announced an emergency half-point interest rate cut, bringing the Fed funds rate to 1.5% from 2%. In coordinated fashion, six other global central banks also cut their key interest rates, but a knee-jerk rally in stock index futures faded [...]

S&P futures closed sharply higher on Monday in the wake of news the government would bail out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae but are mixed in early trade. The September futures moved above 1278 Monday, which marks the 20-day moving average and key resistance, but profit-taking took back some gains by day’s end.September S&P futures [...]

S&P 500 futures were down in early trade, last trading at 1281.75 after the Commerce Department reported U.S. retail sales fell 0.1% in July, the first decline in five months. Gloomy earnings outlooks and an uptick in crude oil aren’t helping matters. Lind Plus Senior Market Strategist Jeff Friedman said for day-traders, the trend looks [...]

Second-quarter GDP came out lower-than-expected at a 1.9 percent annualized rate, according the Commerce Department. First-quarter GDP was at 0.9 percent. The Commerce Department also reported a recession may have begun in the final three months of 2007, as GDP was revised downward to show a contraction of 0.2 percent. It marked the first drop [...]

Stock index futures are edging up after the holiday break as crude oil eases slightly. Lind Plus Senior Market Strategist Jeff Friedman said if September S&P futures can stay above 1255, the market might be trying to bottom, but given earnings season is approaching and crude oil has tended to find buyers on dips–maybe not. [...]

It’s “quadruple-witching” day, marking the expiration of June stock index futures, stock index options, stock options, and single stock futures (SSF). Senior Market Strategist Jeff Friedman says these types of expiration days can be volatile, so watch your back. Stock indexes may be headed for their third weekly decline amid more negative news in the [...]