Jumat, 14 Februari 2014

...If market follows the same script, trouble lies directly ahead ...>>> There are eerie parallels between the stock market’s recent behavior and how it behaved right before the 1929 crash. That, at least, is the conclusion reached by a frightening chart that has been making the rounds on Wall Street. The chart superimposes the market’s recent performance on top of a plot of its gyrations in 1928 and 1929. ...>>> The myRA uses after-tax dollars, like a Roth IRA (meaning withdrawals under most circumstances will not be taxed). And while it is funded by paycheck deductions, savers will be able to keep their accounts when they change jobs. Workers who have access to a qualified retirement plan won’t be tempted much by the myRA, and employers who do not offer a plan will not be required to sign up for the new initiative. ..>>> The myRAs will be backed by a security that looks and feels like a savings bond, is backed by the government and with the same variable-interest-rate return offered by the G Fund, the Government Securities Investment Fund in the federal employees’ Thrift Savings Plan. Savers—who will be able to open accounts for as little as $25 and make additional contributions in amounts as small as $5—would not only be guaranteed that the value of their account would never go down, but that there would pay no fees on the accounts. ...>>

 

Scary 1929 market chart gains traction

Opinion: If market follows the same script, trouble lies directly ahead


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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/scary-1929-market-chart-gains-traction-2014-02-11?link=MW_story_popular
 
By Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch 

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (MarketWatch) — 
There are eerie parallels between the stock market’s recent behavior and how it behaved right before the 1929 crash.

That, at least, is the conclusion reached by a frightening chart that has been making the rounds on Wall Street. The chart superimposes the market’s recent performance on top of a plot of its gyrations in 1928 and 1929.

The picture isn’t pretty. And it’s not as easy as you might think to wriggle out from underneath the bearish significance of this chart. 

I should know, because I quoted a number of this chart’s skeptics in a column I wrote in early December. Yet the market over the past two months has continued to more or less closely follow the 1928-29 pattern outlined in that two-months-ago chart. If this correlation continues, the market faces a particularly rough period later this month and in early March. (See chart, courtesy of Tom McClellan of the McClellan Market Report; he in turn gives credit to Tom DeMark, a noted technical analyst who is the founder and CEO of DeMark Analytics.) 

How to tangle-proof your earbud cables

Are your earbuds always knotting and kinking? Try winding them using this super-geeky cord wrapping technique.

One of the biggest objections I heard two months ago was that the chart was a shameless exercise in after-the-fact retrofitting of the recent data to some past price pattern. But that objection has lost much of its force. The chart was first publicized in late November of last year, and the correlation since then certainly appears to be just as close as it was before. 

To be sure, as McClellan acknowledged: “Every pattern analog I have ever studied breaks correlation eventually, and often at the point when I am most counting on it to continue working. So there is no guarantee that the market has to continue following through with every step of the 1929 pattern. But between now and May 2014, there is plenty of reason for caution.”

Tom Demark added in interview that he first drew parallels with the 1928-29 period well before last November. “Originally, I drew it for entertainment purposes only,” he said—but no longer: “Now it’s evolved into something more serious.”

Another objection I heard two months ago was that there are entirely different scales on the left and right axes of the chart. The scale on the right, corresponding to the Dow’s DJIA +0.40%  movement in 1928 and 1929, extends from below 200 to more than 400—an increase of more than 100%. The left axis, in contrast, represents a percentage increase of less than 50%. 

But there’s less to this objection than you might think. You can still have a high correlation coefficient between two data series even when their gyrations are of different magnitudes.

However, what is important, McClellan said, is that the time scales of the two data series need to be the same. And, he stressed, there has been no stretching of the time dimension to make them fit.

One of the market gurus responsible for widely publicizing this chart is hedge-fund manager Doug Kass, of Seabreeze Partners and CNBC fame. In an email earlier this week, Kass wrote of the parallels with 1928-29: “While investment history doesn’t necessarily repeat itself, it does rhyme.” And, based on a number of indicators rather than just this chart drawing the 1928-29 parallel, he believes that “the correction might have just started,” he said.

DeMark is even more outspokenly bearish. If the S&P 500 SPX +0.58%  decisively breaks the 1,762 level, he told me, then a major bear market will have only just begun.

You may still be inclined to dismiss this. But many more were laughing last November when this scary chart began circulating. Not as many are laughing now.
 

Why mutual funds beat Obama’s myRA plan


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-mutual-funds-beat-obamas-myra-plan-2014-02-10?link=MW_story_investinginsight
 
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By Chuck Jaffe, MarketWatch

There are a few problems with President Obama’s new retirement savings program, the myRA, but the biggest one may be that Americans have been able for years to get nearly everything it offers, but haven’t been doing it.

All they needed to achieve most of Obama’s goals without his assistance was a mutual fund with a low minimum initial investment.

It isn’t a perfect comparison—there are definitely places where the myRA will have advantages, and others where funds could have an edge—but the bigger point is that you don’t necessarily need to put more screwdrivers in the toolbox when investors haven’t been using what’s in there anyway.

To see how fund investors can achieve the results of the myRA without actually ever enrolling, let’s look at the president’s new initiative.

The myRA is a savings vehicle designed to serve people whose employers don’t provide access to a retirement plan. That’s about half of all workers, mostly the ones who work for small employers that can’t afford to put a program in place. 

Obama's MyRA proposal: Mind the 'buts'

Charles Jaffe look at the details behind President Obama's "MyRA" savings program and advises investors to read the fine print and mind the "buts."

The myRAs will be backed by a security that looks and feels like a savings bond, is backed by the government and with the same variable-interest-rate return offered by the G Fund, the Government Securities Investment Fund in the federal employees’ Thrift Savings Plan. Savers—who will be able to open accounts for as little as $25 and make additional contributions in amounts as small as $5—would not only be guaranteed that the value of their account would never go down, but that there would pay no fees on the accounts.

The myRA uses after-tax dollars, like a Roth IRA (meaning withdrawals under most circumstances will not be taxed). And while it is funded by paycheck deductions, savers will be able to keep their accounts when they change jobs.

Workers who have access to a qualified retirement plan won’t be tempted much by the myRA, and employers who do not offer a plan will not be required to sign up for the new initiative.

There also are plenty of drawbacks to the myRA plan, most notably the required investment in the G-Fund—woefully conservative for a young worker with decades before retirement—to the $15,000 limit (after which, the money is rolled into a Roth IRA). (To see my detailed analysis on the plan and its flaws, see The trouble with Obama’s myRA plan.)

Now let’s look at simply using mutual funds to do the job.
For starters, there is the option to simply open a Roth IRA instead of the myRA. It’s a wash on after-tax money and tax treatment (especially because the myRA converts to a Roth when it gets big enough).
While the myRA has an edge because there are no fees, the Roth IRA has a major advantage in flexibility, and the ability to choose investments, to be more aggressive with the long time horizon necessary for retirement savings.

An investor who doesn’t want to actively manage the Roth portfolio can simply go for a target-date fund—a fund that grows more conservative as the investor nears and enters retirement—which is still a more appropriate choice than the low-yielding G-fund.

The additional earning power and flexibility is a major consideration, and could even make simply holding a low-minimum fund in a taxable account a viable alternative.
Fund companies have moved away from offering low minimums in recent years, not wanting to service tiny accounts on which there was little or no money to be made. In general, an investor who wanted to find a low-minimum fund had to settle for higher costs; that barrier to entry—high minimums or high costs—is really what the myRA is trying to solve.
That, and the idea that having it flow through employers means money can be set aside before it goes home and is spent.

But plenty of funds offer reduced minimums for investors who agree to make monthly deposits of $50 or $100. And other fund firms have reduced minimums on IRA accounts; likewise, some brokerage firms have no minimum for opening an IRA or waive the requirement for monthly automatic deposits, which allows an investor to use ETFs, which helps to minimize any cost edge the myRA might have.

Ultimately, the story is that minimum investment requirements should not be a factor keeping anyone from saving. You may have to make some calls to find who offers deals or waives fees—and you might have to settle for a fund company that’s not the darling of the media—but you’re not locked out of the fund world just because you don’t have a big wad of cash ready to invest.

People choking on debt and expenses and unable to save won’t be attracted to the myRA any more than they have been to the Roth IRA. You can’t save a drowning man by throwing him a cherry LifeSaver, and the myRA is just a different flavor to some under-used strategies already available. Taking advantage of it will be more a matter of taste than necessity.
 

More from MarketWatch:

Feb. 13, 2014, 8:03 a.m. EST 
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/m2i-development-corporation-unique-donation-to-festival-hall-2013-02-13?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Athabasca Nuclear Announces Senior Management Change


CALGARY, ALBERTA, Feb 13, 2014 (Marketwired via COMTEX) -- Athabasca Nuclear Corp. CA:ASC -4.76% ("Athabasca Nuclear" or "Corporation") is pleased to report that it has appointed Mr. Charles Downie, P.Geo. as Senior Technical Advisor to the Corporation. In conjunction with this consulting position, Mr. Downie has relinquished his executive role with the company while continuing to serve on the Board of Directors of Athabasca Nuclear.

The Corporation has appointed Mr. Ryan Kalt, Chairman of Athabasca Nuclear, to act as the Chief Executive Officer (Interim) until the Corporation's next annual meeting or until a permanent officer is appointed.

Mr. Kalt became a Director of Athabasca Nuclear in early 2012 and was instrument to the Corporation in obtaining its sector-leading mineral tenure position in the Western Athabasca Basin during 2013. Mr. Kalt is the largest shareholder of the Corporation holding 9,691,567 common shares of Athabasca Nuclear representing approximately 21.25% of its issued equity. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Queen's University, a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Ontario and a Masters of Law (Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law) from the University of Calgary. He concurrently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gold Royalties Corporation, a publicly-traded gold royalty company. Mr. Kalt is a Barrister & Solicitor and an active member of the Law Society of Alberta.

"Athabasca Nuclear is at an important stage of its growth and I look forward to furthering the Corporation's strategy in the best interests of fellow shareholders. I would also like to thank Mr. Downie for his valued contributions to-date. I am particularly excited to have him consult for the Corporation as Senior Technical Advisor in a move that will enable his time to be reserved for and concentrated on geological aspects of our business," stated Ryan Kalt, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (Interim) of the Corporation.
Shareholder Update Regarding Website

Athabasca Nuclear is also pleased to report that it has launched a new company website. The new website features additional content that will be helpful for shareholders to understand and monitor their investment in Athabasca Nuclear. It may be accessed by visiting www.AthabascaNuclear.com .

About Athabasca Nuclear Corporation

Athabasca Nuclear Corporation CA:ASC -4.76% is a junior uranium exploration company focused on the exploration and advancement of its significant uranium portfolio in Saskatchewan including the Preston Lake, Patterson Lake East, Botham Lake, Parry Lake, Martin River, Karras River and Spring uranium projects. For more information on each of these projects, please visit www.AthabascaNuclear.com .
Athabasca Nuclear is the Operator of the Western Athabasca Syndicate, a group exploration effort of a 287,130 hectare (709,513 acre) package of uranium properties which is the largest land position along the highly prospective margin of the Western Athabasca Basin controlled by a single group (the "Preston Lake Project"). Under the terms of the agreement, each of the member companies have an option to earn 25% of the five uranium properties comprising the Western Athabasca Syndicate Partnership by making a series of cash payments, share payments and incurring their pro-rata amount of the total $6,000,000 in exploration expenditures over the two-year earn-in term of the agreement. The properties were acquired for their proximity to the Patterson Lake South discovery and interpreted favorable geology for the occurrence of Patterson Lake South-style uranium mineralization. The bulk of the syndicate land package is bisected by all-weather Highway 955 which runs north through the Patterson Lake South discovery to the former Cluff Lake uranium mine.
Signed,
Ryan Kalt, Chief Executive Officer (Interim)
Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently expected or forecast in such statements.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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