Hot Investment Opportunity Related To Housing Market

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


US Housing data from October came in at their highest levels in ten years. High demand and limited supply are pushing housing prices higher this year. In August, housing prices in Denver, Miami, Houston and the Washington D.C. metro area hit levels that most consider being overvalued.

Furthermore, now reports indicate that home prices on the lower end of the spectrum are rising faster than those in the middle and high end. Acute shortages of housing, especially in the low end of the market is causing prices in that tier to increase much faster than those in the middle or high-end tier.

Many believe home prices are increasing because millennials are finally entering the housing market, which would certainly make sense when you consider the low end of the market, or starter homes, currently have the most demand.

Prices will increase until either supply, as in the number of homes available for purchase, catches up with demand or prices hit a point that reduces demand.

It is more likely the latter will occur first, due to the time required to build more homes and especially when we consider what is likely to continue happening with interest rates. The Federal Reserve has made it clear they plan to continue increasing interest rates for the next few years, and as rates rise, the cost of homeownership follows.

So, what does this all mean? Continue reading "Hot Investment Opportunity Related To Housing Market"

Futures Market for Bitcoin Gives the Currency Staying Power, But May Hurt Price

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


Futures contracts in the crypto-currency Bitcoin (CME:BRTI) are expected to begin trading on the CBOE on Dec. 10, after getting the green light last week from regulators. That gives the CBOE a week of exclusivity. The exchange operator's larger Chicago rival the CME has said its contracts will begin trading Dec. 18.

When the futures are offered, more investors will be given access to the crypto-currency. Institutional investors for one will now be able to build a position in Bitcoin through the use of futures trading.

Furthermore, retail and small investors will have a much easier time gaining access to the fast-growing asset class through the use of futures, but certainly, if Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds, which would use the futures, are approved. Instead of having to go through lesser-known crypto-currency exchanges and using credit cards to make purchases of Bitcoins, investors will simply be able to use their brokerage accounts and buy and sell futures contracts through the well respected and trustworthy CME.

More so, many believe that once the CME is offering Bitcoin futures, Exchange Traded Funds will be permitted to offer Bitcoin investments through the use of futures. Continue reading "Futures Market for Bitcoin Gives the Currency Staying Power, But May Hurt Price"

Short-Term ETF Investment Capitalizing On This Time Of Year

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


The Holiday Season is now upon us, and in just a matter of days, millions of dollars will be spent buying presents. On Thanksgiving Thursday, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday we will see millions of shoppers spending billions of dollars on gifts for the holidays.

But since we have a 'holiday' shopping season every year the more important thing from an investors perspective is whether holiday sales will be higher or lower than last year. Luckily this year the National Retail Federation expects annual holiday spending will increase by 3.6% to 4% this holiday season over last year.

Soon after the weekend, sales figures will start rolling in, and investors will either start selling or buying shares of the companies winning the retail holiday war. This makes it hard for investors to accurately predict ahead of time which companies will be the winners and which will be the losers, and therefore Exchange Traded Funds are the best way to make this investment.

With ETF's you can easily purchase a small or large basket of retail stocks right before the holiday shopping season, benefit from the winners while not getting crushed by the losers, and then get out of investing in retail before the end of the year.

So, if this sounds like the kind of purchase you want to make this holiday season, let's look at a few different ETF's you can buy now. Continue reading "Short-Term ETF Investment Capitalizing On This Time Of Year"

Bitcoin; Let's Just Call It What It Is, A Speculative Investment

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


An investment, as described by Webster dictionary, can be anything that an investor believes will produce income in the future or be worth more than it is today at some point in the future. Common investments include but are not limited to stocks, bonds, real estate, jewelry, artwork, or antiques.

Speculation, again as described by Webster dictionary, is the assumption of unusual business risk in hopes of obtaining commensurate gain. The dictionary has a definition of speculation specifically for students or kids which is, 'the taking of a big risk in business in hopes of making a big profit.'

The current situation with Bitcoin can best be explained by quoting the Merriam-Webster website when it is explaining speculation.

"Speculation can increase short-term volatility (and thus, risk). It can inflate prices and lead to bubbles, as was the case in the 2005-2006 real estate market in the UniteStates. Speculators who were betting that home prices would continue to increase purchased houses (often using leverage) intending to "flip" them for a profit. This increased the demand for housing, which raised prices further, eventually taking them beyond the "true value" of the real estate in many markets. The frenzied selling that ensued is typical for speculative markets."

Currently, it would be hard for anyone to argue that Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies aren't experiencing speculator behavior based on the above explanation. Continue reading "Bitcoin; Let's Just Call It What It Is, A Speculative Investment"

Bitcoin Pigs Get Fat, But The Hogs Are Going To Get Slaughtered

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


Unless you have head your head stuck under a rock for the last 12 months, you have heard of Bitcoin and how the price of the first crypto-currency has skyrocketed this year. After hearing about this 'once in a lifetime investment opportunity,' I am sure most of you have thought about buying some digital currency. Maybe some of you have even taken the next step and bought some. (Congratulations to those of you who did.)

But as the saying goes, 'Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered,' I hope for your sake you are a pig and get out while you can. Unless you got your hands on some Bitcoin's in the last week, you have made money.

A recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey found that the Bitcoin traded is one of the most crowded trades on Wall Street, which obviously explains some of its massive run-up. Bitcoin's amazing performance over the last year now appears to have attracted some very risk-averse investors.

We have seen the price of Bitcoin fall 30%, 40%, even 50% in just a years' time. But, investors keep running into the asset and pushing the price to new all-time-highs.

So what would actually cause a Bitcoin collapse? Continue reading "Bitcoin Pigs Get Fat, But The Hogs Are Going To Get Slaughtered"