The top 5 posts from the month of June are below:

1. 10 Great Retirement Stocks to Buy Today

2. 5 Great Ratios that Help Detect Accounting Scandals

3. Roubini, 3 Big Reasons Why This Rally Will Fail

4. Why Trade Options?

5. 5 Sentiment Indicators Every Investor Should Know

Tomorrow the market is closed which means more time to spend with family and friends. So with that said, we hope everyone has a happy and healthy 4th of July weekend!

See you on Sunday with the latest edition of EPIC Insights Weekly.

Today’s CNN Money features their top 10 which is worth a read. Our favorites from the list:

GM Partners With Segway

It became clear this spring that General Motors was going to have to get smaller to survive, but this was ridiculous. A week after President Obama gave the company a 60 day deadline to avoid bankruptcy, GM took time out from its turnaround efforts to unveil the PUMA, a two-seat vehicle being developed with Segway that looked more like a rickshaw than a car.

The vehicle, capable of going only 35 mph and traveling 35 miles between charges, got lots of attention, but did little to change popular opinion about the company that had ridden large SUVs to the cusp of failure. On June 1, GM filed for bankruptcy.

Grassley to AIG Execs: ‘Commit Suicide’

Indignation over AIG bonuses was all the rage in March, but no one took more offense than Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who infamously told an Iowa radio station that AIG executives should consider committing hara-kiri:

“The first thing that would make me feel a little bit better towards them is if they’d follow the Japanese model and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say I’m sorry, and then either do one of two things — resign, or go commit suicide.”

A spokesperson for Grassley later said the senator was only speaking “rhetorically.”

Geithner Gives Few Details, Tanks the Market

In February, President Obama used his first White House press conference to alert the public to a momentous event. “Tomorrow, my Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, will be announcing some very clear and specific plans for how we are going to start loosening up credit once again,” he said.

But when Geithner appeared at Treasury the next day, on Feb. 10, he offered few plans of any sort, let alone clear and specific ones, which helps to explain the stock market’s 5% plunge that day. Since then Geithner has loosened up, with the help of a media trainer — and the market has bounced back. Coincidence?

For juice lovers when reading the bit on Tropicana’s redesign blunder just simply remind yourself that nothing is worse than Coke’s launching of the “New Coke”.

Read the rest at today’s Yahoo Finance.

Related Posts:

• 7 Great Questions to Ask When Choosing a Financial Adviser
• 10 Great Retirement Stocks to Buy Today
• 3 Ways to Fix Your Retirement Account
• 10 Best Iphone Applications for Finance and Investing
• 10 Best Stock Performers Since 2000
• 12 Great IRA Tips for Success

Source:
Dumbest Moments in Business 2009…Midyear Edition
Jon Birger, CNNMoney.com
Yahoo Finance, Tuesday, June 30, 2009

If so you need to read the list below. This list consists of 10 best ETFs that are all high fliers over the past month and have still performed well even with the market’s sideways action. Note: ETFs must trade atleast 50,000 shares per day to be included. Data provided by WSJ.

Top 10 ETFs For June 2009

1. Direxion: Tech Bull 3X, Symbol TYH, up 18.14%
2. ProShares: Ult Tech, Symbol ROM, up 12.28%
3. ProShares: Ult Rus2K G, Symbol UKK, up 10.90%
4. Direxion: 30Y Trs Bull 3X, Symbol TMF, up 10.16%
5. Direxion: Sm Cap Bull 3X, Symbol TNA, up 9.73%
6. SPDR S&P Biotech, Symbol XBI, up 9.39%
7. iShares: Nasdaq Biotech, Symbol IBB, up 9.16%
8. iPath ETN S&P GSCI CTR A, Symbol OIL, up 8.86%
9. iShares: Dow US Med Dev, Symbol IHI, up 8.76%
10. ProShares: Ult QQQ, Symbol QLD, up 8.63%

Pretty noticeable to see that the majority of ETFs are ultra etfs (2x) or triple leveraged etfs (3x). These ETFs are the most volatile of their kind and are inherently extremely risky. We suggest only trading these types of ETFs if you are an active day trader or a risk taking “son-of-a-gun”!

Read more on ETFs:

• 40 Inverse ETFs For Bearish Investors
• 24 Ultra Long ETFs For Bullish Investors
• ETFs vs ETNs, the Difference
  
• Full list of Currency ETFs
• Invest in Water ETFs
• Explore Alternative Energy ETFs

The auction is held once a year hosted by Ebay. The winner gets to have lunch with Warren Buffett (arguably the greatest investor of all time) and up to seven friends at the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in New York. The yearly auctions began in 2000.

Last year 2008 the winner was Hong Kong-based investor Zhao Danyang who paid a record $2,110,000 for the lunch with Warren.

Results table below:

• 2009 – $1,683,300
• 2008 – $2,110,000
• 2007 – $650,100
• 2006 – $620,100

This year’s auction’s proceed went to the Glide Foundation which is based out of the San Francisco Bay area.

(Screenshot from the 2009 ebay auction page)

See Also:

• 5 Great Warren Buffett Myths Debunked
• Berkshire Hathaway
• Most Expensive Stock in the World

As of this issue Sean’s portfolio is showing a return of 24.0% vs the S&P 500’s decline of -5.1% over the same period!

Sean’s free weekly newsletter is broken down into six main sections:

1. The Week Ahead – Identify key economic reports, earnings releases, and other events that could lead to swings in stock prices.
2. Technical Trades – Trade ideas via technical analysis.
3. Fundamental Trades - Trade ideas via fundamental analysis.
4. Option Trades – Trade ideas through options.
5. General Comments – Sean and his team share their general market thoughts.
6. Current Recommendations – Track Sean’s recommendations to see how they would perform each week in a live portfolio.

Sean designed the newsletter to be beneficial for all investors. It is a fantastic read and should become a Sunday night routine for any investor wanting to stay on top of the market.

View/Download EPIC Insights Weekly, 35th Issue in PDF Format ***Link now available***

IMPORTANT NOTICE: To receive this Newsletter’s stock picks on Sunday you must be subscribed to the free StockTradingToGo Newsletter. Otherwise we will post the direct link to the pdf on Tuesday for those not subscribed.

***CLICK TO READ PREVIOUS ISSUES***

The following analysis is of the Dow Jones Industrial and is designed for the technical trader. Mitchell uses a variety of technical tools to analyze the movement of the Dow. Hopefully you benefit from his research.

General Overview

The Dow closed Friday at 8438.39. The Dow closed down for the day by 34.01 points or 0.40%.

Moving Averages
- The Dow Closed below the 50 MA on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday.
- The Dow closed above the 50 MA on Thursday and found support at the 50 MA on Friday
- On Friday, the Dow came down to test the 50 MA and then closed above it, which is at 8405.91
- After having the 20 EMA provide support since early March, the 20 EMA is providing resistance.
- Six points separate the 200 MA and the 20 EMA. The 200 MA is at 8494.32 and the 20 EMA is at 8500.48.
- These two MA’s are providing tremendous resistance for the Dow. The Dow would need a big day on Volume to break above this resistance.
- With the 20 EMA, the 50 and the 200 MA converging, the Dow will likely have a sharp break.

Daily Chart Analysis

Click to Enlarge

- Big sell off on Monday, over economic concerns. The Dow closed lower by 204 points breaking through the 8496 level of support.
- Tuesday and Wednesday the markets were indecisive, as represented in the upper and lower shadows to the candlesticks on those days.
- Wednesday support was found at the 8259 level.
- On Thursday, the 8259 level was tested again before the Dow closing up 200 points for the day.
- The Dow found resistance at the 8496 level on Thursday, which was support on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday of last week. The Dow closed lower on Friday.
- The Dow appears to have re-entered the range it traded in during most of May.
- Since peaking on 6/11, the Dow has established two successive Lower Highs and Lower Lows – Bearish.

Weekly Chart Analysis

View Chart 2 and Chart 3.

- The Dow Weekly chart was down by 101.34 points or 1.19%. The Dow was up 12 out of the last 16 weeks.? The Dow was down 3 out of the last 6 weeks, being down triple digits two weeks running.
- This is the second week the weekly chart had a Lower High and a Lower Low – Bearish.

Volume - was down this week. Volume is less than half of the peaks from March, April and early May.
RSI – Peaked in early June. Has since trended lower, closing for the week below the 50 Line at 49.75 – Bearish.
CCI - Crossed below the 100 Line to 63.75 and trending lower – Bearish.
Stochastics – Is oversold – The Fast Line has crossed down through the Slow Line – Bearish – If Stochastics crosses below the 80 Line – That would be very Bearish.
Accumulation / Distribution - Appeared to be coming off a Double Top last week, which would be Bearish. This week we see Accumulation / Distribution stall and even tick up a tiny bit, no doubt due the big day on Thursday. If it breaks above the recent peaks, that would be very Bullish.
MACD - The Histogram ticked slightly lower again this week. Still well over the zero line at 157.054. The Fast Line, at -53.043 and the Slow Line at – 210.097, are still trending higher, but also appear to be leveling off – Neutral.
ADX – Heading lower. It closed at 25.38, suggesting the trend is weakening or consolidating. The Positive and Negative Directional Indicators have crossed – Bearish.

Happy Trading.

For more analysis of the market visit Mitchell’s website.

What makes the new Wikinvest site stand out is how it presents its data. Take for example company McDonald’s (MCD). Everyone can look up McDonald’s on Reuters or another site and find out its earnings, sales, debt, etc. but Wikinvest takes that data and then compares it to the rest of the industry or itself over a duration of 5, 10, etc. years. Furthermore all charts are easily embeddable. Here are two comparing company operated restaurants and highlighting operating expenses over the last 10 years:

Another cool feature is displaying visually to see what Analysts recommendations are for that given stock. You can see visually a comparison of the number of buys, holds, sells to the rest of the industry.

Overall we were very impressed with the new Beta site and look forward to seeing how the final product looks. Now we simply need to figure out how to sort through all of this data…

Head over to beta.wikinvest.com and check it out for yourself.

When we buy and sell stocks, we are not trading pieces of paper. We must always remember that a stock represents ownership in an underlying business. Although some may view purchasing shares of Apple (AAPL) as placing a bet on the change in its stock price each day, a fundamental trader is buying AAPL because he believes in the company’s management and business. By taking a stake, this investor will profit as AAPL’s business grows.

While the other investment approaches I’ve discussed rely upon big picture ideas and supply versus demand characteristics that present themselves in stock charts, the fundamentalist takes a longer view. By appreciating a company, how it is positioned in its industry, the business cycle, and future business prospects, fundamentalists are not pressured to constantly monitor their investment for small changes. Instead, comfort is placed in the process and the business is left to evolve.

I believe in the value of fundamental investing. While macro and technical models may win in the short-run, a fundamental approach stands the test of time. Fundamental investors are best served to understand the five main assumptions of this approach. They are:

1. Cash flow is king – Finance textbooks teach that the value of any asset is the sum of its discounted cash flows. Fundamental analysis practices this approach. Value is determined by understanding and predicting future cash flows based on how the business will perform and then discounting these cash flows by a risk factor that matches the riskiness of the company.

2. Numbers don’t lie – By standardizing reported numbers and comparing financial ratios we can come to solid answers about the health of a company. While some may argue over patterns in charts, financial ratios are clear-cut.

3. Business ownership yields an investment philosophy – More than other approaches, fundamental investors rely upon business ownership to justify their decisions. By taking a stake in a company, we can create an investment rationale that allows us to revisit ideas in the future.

4. Time demands are intensive – One major drawback of fundamental investing is the time needed to perform analyses. While websites and software can quickly give us ratios, only by studying financial statements and deconstructing footnotes can we understand a company, its business model, and its financial performance.

5. Patience pays off – When buying a business, time is on your side. If the company is operating well and deploys capital efficiently, there is no need to worry. Fundamental investors allow time to work in our favor and our wealth to compound.

When deploying capital, solid fundamental analysis allows us to determine the safety of our investment while contemplating potential gains. By understanding a business and its competitive factors, we have a rational basis upon which to assess performance at a later date.

See also 3 great profitability ratios, 3 great liquidity ratios for fundamental investing, and 5 ways to measure investment risk.

Sean Hannon, CFA, CFP is a professional fund manager. He runs EPIC Insights Weekly, the free Sunday newsletter, and also is the founder of EPIC Advisors, LLC. View Sean’s Full Bio.

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