December 2015 USA Market View

STOCKS. The best three stocks in the 1-month category are LPTH @ 62%, DLHC @ 59% and LOJN @ 58%.

A stock trading on NasdaqCM, LPTH belongs to the Industrial Goods sector, Industrial Electrical Equipment industry. With 173 employees, this Florida, USA-based company designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes optical components and assemblies.

The stock price went up because of short term price change (it is especially useful to compare it to the industry as this can help investors pinpoint the top companies in a particular area. With a 1-week price change of 0.05% compared to an industry average of 0.00%, LPTH is certainly well-positioned in this regard.), because of long term price change (looking at performance over the past three months or year and comparing these to an industry at large can be very useful. In the case of LPTH, the results are quite impressive. The company has beaten out the industry at large over the past 12 weeks by a margin of 42.95% to -1.00% while it has also outperformed when looking at the past year, putting up a gain of 110.38%), and because earnings estimate revisions were moving in the right direction.

Three stocks with the biggest 1-month decline are NADL @ –55%, HK @ –59% and RNVA @ –63%.

The top three stocks in the 3-month category are VTL @ 185%, FIVN @ 135% and MEET @ 127%.

In the “All Time Highs” category, the three top stocks are GPP, AMRK and CBPO. In the “All Time Lows” category, the three bottom stocks are HERO, SDRL and FCEL.

SECTORS. 30 industry sectors out of 182 are in green territory, a serious decrease from last month.

The top three winners are ETFS – Non-Taxable Bonds, Large Cap Pharmaceuticals and ETFS – Biotech.

The bottom three sectors are Utility – Gas Distribution, Indices S&P 400 and Insurance – Brokers.

MUTUAL FUNDS. The top performers this month are two of the Profunds Ultralatin America @ 763%, two of the Profunds Precious Metals Ultra Sector @ 386% and two of the Profunds Ultrashort Latin America @ 12%.

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS. The best three ETFs this month are Egypt Index ETF Market Vectors @ 7.54%, Physical Platinum @ 7.13% and VIX Short-Term Futures ETN Ipath @ 6.91%.

FUTURES. The top contracts are: (Currencies) New Zealand Dollar @ 4.11%, (Energies) Natural Gas @ 2.05%, (Financials) Ultra T-bond @ 0.16%, (Grains) Soybean Oil @ 3.64%, (Indices) CBOE S&P500 VIX @ 4.22%, (Meats) Lean Hogs @ 5.28%, (Metals) Platinum @ 7.14% and (Softs) Coffee @ 5.89%.

INDEXES. The best three indexes are CBOE Volatility Index @ 12.90%, DOW Utilities @ 2.61% and S&P Consumer Staples @ 2.51%.

DOW Jones Industrial Average finished down @ –1.66% this month.

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Relevant in December were titles like: “Watch for U.S. recession, zero interest rates in China next year, Citi says”, “The party is over for oil: Dan Yergin”, “Oil Glut: How to Tell When It’s Really Time to Worry”, “Why the Dow Jones Industrial Average Could Begin a 70% Decline in the Next Few Weeks”, “BofA says S&P 500 will hit 3,500 on this date”, “Housing’s new crisis: Half your income for rent”, “Why I’m worried about a recession: Citi strategist”, “1 in 5 Americans say they’ll be in debt forever”, “The Fed’s New Chapter Will Be Written in Dollar-Denominated Oil”, “OPEC says low oil price won’t continue, may rise within a year”, “It is going to be even worse than we thought on Wall Street”, “Volatility is here to stay”, “This is why Congress gets nothing done”, “Why stocks are still the place to be in 2016”, “Oil back at $95 — but it will take 24 years: OPEC“, “Bonds are boring, but should you own them?”, “2015 IPO market hurt by volatility but 2016 looks promising: NYSE “, “Why stocks are still the place to be in 2016”, “Investors Pull Out of Mutual Funds at the Fastest Rate in Two Years”, “Inflation will be the biggest economic story in 2016“, “U.S. Companies Led the World in Debt Defaults in 2015, S&P Says”, “Why the bull market will not die in 2016″, “IPO market worst since 2009, while M&A hits biggest year ever “, “The guy made famous by ‘The Big Short’ for predicting the housing crash has a dark warning”, “”Marc Faber: U.S. Stock Market Will Go Down in 2016”, “The ‘Fear Index’ is warning the market isn’t in a safe space”, “Global growth will be disappointing in 2016: IMF’s Lagarde”, “How the fear index’s cousin can make or break a stock picker”, “Here Are the Best- and Worst-Performing Assets of 2015”, which are self-explanatory.

E&OE.

Predictions are underlined for future verification.