Planning for retirement can be daunting.Explore tickeron.com today.  

Anytime you want to learn something new and different, your next step is usually pretty straightforward and obvious: just Google it.  But what if a "new trade idea" or "trading opportunity" was what you were after?Nothing that gave me real technical analysis, ideas, or data.  That's why I'm excited about the new search engine that Tickeron is rolling out to retail investors -- a search engine that can scan the stock, ETF, cryptocurrency, and FOREX markets in search of technical trading patterns with real data and statistically calculated trade ideas.

I think this is the best buying opportunity for stocks since the winter of 2016. In that year, a corporate earnings per share (EPS) decline of 11% led the S&P 500 into a -15.2% correction over a period of nine months.In my view, the correction during 2015/2016 was warranted -- fundamentals were weak, corporations were struggling, and the economy was growing at a snail's pace. The exact opposite economic conditions exist today (and that's not just my opinion), yet the S&P 500 has declined in a sharp and scary way over a four-month period, by about the same amount (~15%).

Americans believe in a well-documented path to retirement: work hard, save money (maybe using the 401(k) offered by your employer), and say goodbye to the daily grind in your early-to-mid 60s.MassMutual’s 2018 State of the American Family survey pegs the average age Americans plan to retire at 62, a full two years younger than 2013’s survey, with 47 percent of participants (a two percent increase) expressing confidence they could retire when they wanted to.

Or should you handle the investing yourself with ETFs and/or a ‘set-and-forget’ passive strategy? The answer to this question is not definitive, and it really depends on what type of investor you are.But seeking out an active manager doesn’t mean you’ll always get those things—not all active managers are created equal. A well-known academic study of a 20-year period from 1990 through 2009 looked at returns of active managers relative to their respective benchmarks, and found that net of fees the active managers underperformed by about 40 basis points per year.

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have truly revolutionized the concept of diversification, and they have fundamentally changed the way people invest.Investors can now seek-out different markets, sectors, regions, and/or asset classes that interest you. ETFs for investing are like apps for your phone.

Being financially secure can reduce stress and give a person peace of mind.

According to a new Boston College study, 51% of U.S. households are at risk of not being able to meet their standard of living in retirement.In other words, people half of the population is set to have to make sacrifices in their twilight years -- the opposite of which should be true. 

The figures keep getting worse.

In a year literally plagued with bad news and uncertainties about public health, social unrest, and a political crisis, the stock market posted robust returns.From an investment standpoint, the strength across many asset classes has led to a surge in “FOMO,” or fear of missing out on returns.

Many investors are rushing into the markets, pushing sentiment from pessimistic in the spring to optimistic today.

Initial jobless claims in the U.S. came in less than expected last week, based on data from Labor Department.

The number of first-time unemployment benefits claims was 803,000 in the week ended Dec. 19, compared to the  888,000 expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.The upwardly revised initial claims of the preceding week was 892,000 (the highest figure since early September).

Continuing jobless claims (seasonally adjusted)fell to a 5.3 million in the week ended Dec. 12, from 5.5 million a week earlier.

Earlier this week, Congress approved a $900 billion coronavirus economic stimulus package, which includes $300 weekly federal supplemental unemployment benefits, $600 direct payments to most individuals, and around $325 billion for small business aid, among other items.

Congress approved a coronavirus economic relief package and government spending bill Monday night.

Both chambers agreed to the more than $2 trillion legislation in votes, including $900 billion in pandemic aid and a $1.4 trillion measure to fund the government through Sept. 30.

The coronavirus stimulus package includes $300 weekly supplemental federal benefits to the jobless, more small business loans, $600 direct payments to individuals and funds for distribution of Covid-19 vaccine, among other items.

A leading gauge of U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly dropped in December to a four-month low, amid surging coronavirus cases that have recently propelled tighter restrictions in many states.

The Conference Board index fell to 88.6 in December, from a downwardly revised 92.9 in November.However, the expectations sub-index rose from a four-year low.

The Conference Board latest survey results differ from the University of Michigan’s measure of U.S. consumer sentiment that increased in early December to the second-highest level since March.

 

Initial jobless claims for the US state unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed to the highest level in three months, amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.

In the week ended Dec. 12, seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims rose by +23,000 to 885,000, according to Labor Department data.The figure is well above the 818,000 expected by economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

However, continuing claims for state programs fell by -273,000 to 5.51 million in the week ended Dec. 5, compared to 5.7 million forecast by Bloomberg survey.

The increase in initial claims includes increasing filings in California and Illinois, states that are experiencing  particularly restrictive lockdowns.

 The latest figure is above the 712,000 that economists polled by FactSet had expected. According to the Labor Department, around20 million workers were receiving unemployment benefits in mid-November.But 8.56 million Americans were claiming Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits through Nov. 21, while 4.533 million individuals were claiming Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits – these programs are scheduled to expire by the year-end. Congress has a deadline of Dec. 18 to get a fiscal stimulus package to include year-end spending .

New  jobless claims in the U.S. rose for the first time in five weeks, amid surging COVID-19 cases. According to the Dept.The figure is also higher than the 700,000 expected by Economists polled by FactSet. Continuing claims stood at 6.372 million for the week ended Nov. 7, down from a revised 6.801 million the previous week, the Labor Department showed. Meanwhile, the number of U.S. coronavirus cases topped 250,000 this week .

The number of Americans applying for initial jobless claims registered a decrease last week, falling below 800,000 for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began to hurt jobs market. According to the Dept.of Labor, 787,000 Americans filed for initial jobless benefits for the week ended Oct. 17, compared to a revised 842,000 the week earlier.

On Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that the U.S. economic recovery is "strong but incomplete".He mentioned that around 22 million jobs have been lost since the coronavirus pandemic reared its head  in early March, and noted the current outlook remains "highly uncertain". Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Washington continue to debate the  size of the next coronavirus relief bill.  

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin hinted at a possible agreement  on a new coronavirus stimulus package with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Mnuchin told CNBC that he would be speaking with Pelosi Wednesday afternoon, and expects to reach an  “understanding” with Pelosi by Thursday on a relief package. “I say we’re going to give it one more serious try to get this done and I think we’re hopeful that we can get something done,” Mnuchin said.“I think there is a reasonable compromise here.”

 The companies range across 12 different sectors. The companies include Apple, Verizon,  AT&T, 3M, Adobe, and the U.S. units of Toyota Motor , Volkswagen  , and Daimler. This month, the Fed started purchasing  individual corporate bonds, (in addition to just ETFs that it started buying earlier).in the primary market). Tickeron's AI-powered scorecard rates SPDR® S&P 500 ETF Trust as SELL. SPY enters a Downtrend because Momentum Indicator dropped below the 0 level on June 26, 2020 This indicator signals that SPY's price has further to drop, since it moved below its price 14 days ago.

For the week ended June 6, the Labor Department reported that Americans made initial jobless claims of 1.542 million, down from the 1.877 million claims for the week earlier.The figure is close to the 1.5 million claims anticipated by economists polled by FactSet. More than 47 million claims for unemployment benefits have been made since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March, a record figure in the history of the US labor market. Seasonally adjusted continuing claims ( the number of people who have already filed an initial claim and who have experienced a week of unemployment and then filed a continued claim to claim benefits for that week of unemployment) was 20.929 million for the week ended May 30.  

The U.S. economy’s employment fell by -20.5 million in April. The coronavirus crisis led to unemployment rate soaring to 14.7% in the U.S, the highest rate in the Bureau of Labor Statistics-tracked series history that goes back to 1948. However, the figures were better compared to several economists'/analysts' forecasts of 22 million job losses and 16% unemployment rate.  Another unemployment measure that includes those who have stopped looking for work as well as those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons also touched an all-time high of 22.8%.