Tag - Ras

Today's session is a reversal from the first two days of the week with stocks on the major indices all trading up ahead of the conclusion of the Federal Reserve's meeting today. Analysts and traders expect the Fed to hold rates near zero. Investors are taking advantage of the buying opportunity created by two consecutive down days under the premise that the rally that started on July 12th will continue. Since that time Dow is up nearly 14%.

As of file time, 12:15 P.M. eastern, the Dow is trading at 9,364, up 1.33%; the Nasdaq is at 2,003, up 1.67%; and the S&P 500 is holding over 1,000 at 1,007, representing a 1.29% gain for the day.

The Russell 2000, the leading index reflecting the health of small-cap stocks, is up 2.07% and holding 574.

Small-cap leaders for today include RAIT Financial Trust (NYSE:RAS) up 30%; Wuxi Pharmaceutical (NYSE:WX) up 24%; and Helicos BioSciences Corporation (Nasdaq:HLCS) up 19%. Also up big is a former SmallCapInvestor PRO holding, Brigham Exploration (Nasdaq:BEXP) up 20%. 

The next 12 months look great. Economists are now raising their GDP expectations for the U.S. economy to a minimum of 2% growth for the next four quarters. That's a significant improvement to what they were expecting just a few weeks ago. (One thing to keep in mind however, is that this is moving target, one week they're doom and gloom and the next it's all sunshine.)

The reason should be clear - cheap money and stimulus spending is kick starting both lending and spending, albeit from low levels.

*****The FOMC concludes its latest meeting today and everyone expects interest rates to remain where they are. The stage is being set for inflation to start working prices higher.

And that means oil prices, and prices for other commodities, will start moving even higher. In fact, as I write this oil is over $71 after gapping down yesterday to as low as $69.

Oil has been trading around $70 for a few months, even with growth expectations very low. Now that expectations are rising, we should see oil prices start to move higher, too. This is particularly true as emerging economies begin soaking up supply.

If you haven't started buying commodity stocks to prepare for higher inflation, it's not too late. My Global Commodity Investing advisory service can get you started with profitable recommendations of top commodity stocks from around the world. Click here to find out which stocks will protect and grow your wealth as inflation picks up.

*****Once again, I'd like to thank Daily Profit readers for your t-shirt slogan ideas. As you know, my first book, The Small Cap Investor: Secrets to Winning Big with Small Cap Stocks, is released on September 14. And I'm holding a t-shirt slogan contest on the SmallCapInvestor Facebook page to help kick things off. The winning slogan gets a full year subscription to ALL my advisory services. The voting starts today, click here to cast your vote right now.

As they say, vote early and vote often. Thanks!

Best Regards,

Ian Wyatt
Editor
SCI Daily

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) are in negative territory following news of weaker-than-expected job creation in July.

At 10:33 a.m. ET the Russell 2000 had lost 7.86 points, or 1%, to 776.13. The Dow was down 94.13 points, or 0.70%, to 13,369.20.

Employers added just 92,000 new jobs in July, down from the 126,000 created in June, the U.S. Labor Department reported before the opening bell. Economists were forecasting non-farm payrolls to increase by 135,000

As a result, the unemployment rate moved up to 4.6%. Observers were expecting it to stay at 4.5%, the level it has held since April.

Government payrolls declined by 28,000, but the services industry added 104,000 jobs.

The average hourly wage for non-supervisory workers increased $0.06, or 0.3%, to $17.45 in July, from $17.39 in June. Workers in the utilities sector were highest paid, while those making a living in the leisure and hospitality industry brought home the smallest paychecks.

Shares of RAIT Financial Trust (NYSE: RAS) got a jolt in pre-market trading this morning after the diversified real estate finance company reported robust second-quarter results late Wednesday night.

For the three months ended June 30, the Philadelphia-based firm recorded earnings of $53.4 million, or $0.87 per diluted share, compared with earnings of $18.6 million, or $0.66 per diluted share for the second quarter last year.

Net investment income was $52.4 million, compared with $17.1 million for the same quarter last year

Shares of RAIT Financial gained 12.73%, or $1.25, to $11.07 in pre-market trading.