Category: INO.com Contributors

Crypto Update: This Major Coin Could Bounce

Posted on by Aibek Burabayev

It is time to update the crypto charts as I spotted one strong alert in a major coin for you.

Let me start with the charts showing the balance of power in the crypto-sphere. The two majors will be first.

Bitcoin vs Ethereum

Source: TradingView

In spite of the so-called “crypto-winter” in the market, these two mastodons have kept their stranglehold on both individual and combined market share.

Bitcoin’s market share (orange bars) remains stable at 40% of the market no matter what. However, it is located on the downside of the range as other coins have taken their place in the sun. The all-time low was recorded at 35% in distant 2018.   

Ethereum’s dominance (black bars) is also solid at 18%. It saw a high market share of 31% at the beginning of its life. Currently, it is exactly in the middle of the range. It's worth noting that moving to a new proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism didn't add power to the second largest coin so far.          

The combined market dominance is solid, hovering around 60%.

Let us move on to the rest of the top ten list excluding stable coins. Continue reading "Crypto Update: This Major Coin Could Bounce" →

Gold Market Sentiment Adjusts To Recent Fed Comments

Posted on by The INO.com Team

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines sentiment as, “an attitude, thought, or judgment prompted by feeling: predilection.: a specific view or notion: opinion.: emotion.: refined feeling: delicate sensibility especially as expressed in a work of art.: emotional idealism.”

As it pertains to the financial markets, market sentiment is the view or attitude that creates our opinion as to whether an asset class is overvalued or undervalued. It shapes and changes the value of a stock or commodity’s price.

Market sentiment is overly sensitive to statements and comments made by Federal Reserve officials because those individuals have the power and influence to change monetary policy.

There is a dramatic difference between the perception of upcoming Federal Reserve monetary policy changes and the actions of Federal Reserve officials.

The Federal Reserve raised rates at every FOMC meeting this year except in January, from March through November, a total of six rate hikes. Over the last four FOMC meetings (June, July, September, and November) they raised rates by 75 basis points.

The aggressive nature of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy moved gold dramatically lower from March up until the beginning of November. Gold traded to its highest value this year of $2078 in March. By the beginning of November, gold prices had dropped to approximately $1621, resulting in a price decline of 21.99%.

During the first week of November, market sentiment shifted because inflation rates had declined fractionally, and investors viewed this fractional drop as a signal that the Federal Reserve would begin to loosen its aggressive monetary policy. This caused gold to rise dramatically from $1621 to an intraday high of $1792 by Tuesday, November 15. Continue reading "Gold Market Sentiment Adjusts To Recent Fed Comments" →

Crude Oil vs Platinum: You Bet Right

Posted on by Aibek Burabayev

It is just amazing how many times you guess not only the direction but also the peaks and troughs of the prices of different instruments. This is crowd-thinking or crowd-analyzing, when the winning ideas are crystallized into the major wager.

This “market distortion” was spotted in July and it was updated this September. Almost all of you were betting that crude oil and platinum would meet on the price chart again. So, here it is in the chart below.

Crude Oil VS Platinum

Source: TradingView

The magic of your major bet is right here in the making. As the oil price remains stuck in a sideways consolidation, the platinum price is taking quick steps towards "black gold".   

In September, crude oil futures completed their mission as the initial meeting point was set at $75 and the valley was at $76. Hence, the consolidation that followed gave the metal a chance to catch up.

The updated meeting point has been recalculated to be set at $62 for crude oil futures and at $1,160 for platinum futures. This could happen in an ideal situation. Historically, however, one of the instruments has often lagged behind.

Last time I updated the platinum futures chart for you and it played out well according to the bullish option.

Let me update the oil futures chart this time as it has changed a lot. Continue reading "Crude Oil vs Platinum: You Bet Right" →

Walmart Reminds Us Buyback Programs Aren't Dead

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Now that the economy is less rosy looking than a year or two ago, fewer company executives report or discuss share-buyback programs.

However, in the most recent quarterly earnings report from Walmart (WMT) we got just that, a big, new buyback announcement. Wal-Mart announced a new $20 billion share buyback program, and it should be noted that Walmart is currently just a $400 billion company.

While on the surface, a 5% buyback amount may not seem like a lot, if you dig deeper into Walmart, that 5% buyback, in reality, turns into a 10% buyback based on today's market capitalization. The reason is the Walton family and family trust and foundation control a little more than half of all Walmart shares.

While the family and its Foundation do sell stock from time to time, they have never sold a sizable enough amount to really move the needle. Thus, it is likely that the $20 billion buyback Walmart announced will be purchasing shares not owned by the Walton family and therefore coming from the stock trading on the open market, which is less than 50% of shares outstanding.

Owning a stock like Walmart or, even better, AutoZone (AZO), which has repurchased around 85% of its stock since 1998, can increase the value of your portfolio over decades of ownership. This occurs even when the company you own operates in a boring, slow-growth, or even cyclical industry, like retail.

Now there is some debate about whether or not you would rather have a company you own buy back stock or pay you a larger dividend.

Some investors would instead take a more significant dividend so they can invest it in other stocks, while some investors would rather that money be used to buy back stock.

This is honestly one of those situations where it is more or less a personal decision on which way you would rather a company give you back part of the profits it earns. Continue reading "Walmart Reminds Us Buyback Programs Aren't Dead" →

Gold Sector Opportunities: OR & ARNGF

Posted on by Taylor Dart

Following a brutal two years for the Gold Miners Index (GDX), the sector has begun to perk up recently, advancing more than 20% off its lows to new 50-day highs.

This recovery can be attributed to the recent rally in gold back above the psychological $1,750/oz level and the fact that many miners had overshot to the downside during this bear market. In fact, many were trading at their most attractive valuations since 2018, when the gold price was hovering below $1,250/oz, and they were much less profitable.

Given the steep decline in the sector, several gold miners are trading at deep discounts to fair value.

In this update, we’ll look at two more attractive opportunities in the gold sector. Not only do these two companies have industry-leading growth profiles, but they have been beaten up sufficiently due to negative sentiment sector-wide that they’re offering considerable margins of safety at current levels.

Osisko Gold Royalties (OR)

Osisko Gold Royalties (OR) is a $2.33BB market cap royalty/streaming company in the gold sector, giving it a very low-risk business model. This is because the company generates revenue and cash flow from royalties and streams that it has purchased from developers and producers in exchange for helping them fund the construction or expansions of their projects/operations.

The result is that Osisko does not have to pay for sustaining capital to maintain these mines, it does not have to pay growth capital to expand these mines, and it is not subject to inflationary pressures if we see rising labor, fuel, explosives, or cyanide costs. Given this attractive business model, the company has reported year-to-date cash margins of 93% and 92% in its most recent quarter.

Osisko Chart

(Source: Company Presentation

Continue reading "Gold Sector Opportunities: OR & ARNGF" →