From its bottom in March 2009, the S&P/ASX 200 index surged 45% higher in the following 7 months. Are sharemarkets set up for a repeat? The Motley Fool ponders…
Risk is back.
Overnight, the S&P 500 did a great job of resembling a typical day for our own S&P/ASX 200…
Source: Yahoo Finance
A big jump in the morning, steady as she goes throughout the day, with a little flourish to bring the trading day to a close…
The net result was a massive 3.4% rise on the day, admittedly on light volumes. Yesterday was a public holiday in the U.S. – Columbus Day – yet the sharemarket was open for trading.
Perhaps we can add it to the long list of "only in America" anecdotes, up there with other such classics as…
Being able to get a pizza to your house faster than an ambulance, and;
The country where people order double cheese burgers, large fries, and a diet coke.
Hmmm…I'm sure the same thing happens here in Australia. Perhaps we're more Americanised than some of us might think.
A European pledge sends markets soaring
Moving the markets overnight was a simple pledge. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said they will deliver a plan to recapitalise European banks and address the Greek debt crisis by November 3rd.
We like plans. The market liked the plan too, thinking it can party until November 3rd.
As to what the plan might be, whether it will work, how much it will cost, and whether shareholders in European banks will be wiped out, or not, remains to be seen. We're all ears.
As for Greece, we did chuckle at another email we received from Steve…
"Effectively Greece is an unemployed bum with no prospects. Giving this sort of person money only worsens their position not fixes it…all we have done is deferred the problem and not fixed it…Once Greece is fully exposed it will also show who else was swimming naked when the tide goes out…Love the newsletters and the difference of opinion, keep up the good work."
Thanks Steve. We'll give it our best shot.
Is this March 2009?
Back in America, the S&P 500 has now had its biggest rally over five days since March 2009, gaining 8.7%.
Here in Australia, our market has jumped almost 10% in the last week. Some shares have positively rocketed…
| Company | Share Price Movement 3/10/11 to 10/10/11 |
| Karoon Gas Australia Ltd. (ASX: KAR) | +47% |
| Paladin Energy Ltd. (ASX: PDN) | +47% |
| Lynas Corporation Limited (ASX: LYC) | +29% |
| Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (ASX: FMG) | +21% |
Source: S&P Capital IQ
As somewhat of an aside, the company highlighted in our free report The Best Stock For $100 Oil has also had a good recent run. Request your free report and instantly find out the name of this company by clicking here whilst it's still available.
Pity those people who sold out a week ago in a fit of panic…
Is this March 2009 all over again? From its low point then, the ASX/S&P 200 surged 45% in the following 7 months.
We don't know. We can't pretend to know which way markets will move today, tomorrow, next week or next month. Instead, we focus on ferreting out the very best investing opportunities.
The 2 keys to successful investing
Boiled down to its simplest form, successful investing requires patience and the ability to control your emotions.
Patience: waiting for the right opportunity to buy, and sell your shares.
Controlling your emotions: focusing on the value of the company, not the price of its shares.
The final piece of the puzzle comes from picking the right shares, and that's where we here at The Motley Fool aim to help. But if you don't have patience, and can't control your emotions, all the best stock picking in the world isn't going to help you become truly wealthy.
One more stock on our radar
Our Investment Analyst Dean Morel spends his days hunting for wonderful investing opportunities. It's a far better use of his time than worrying about Greece, the Aussie dollar (AUD), gold, interest rates, Quade Cooper's form or the price of fish.
This week, Dean presents another stock on his radar. It may not get the pulse racing like a wildly speculative penny-stock gold explorer, but investing doesn't have to be about finding the next Aquila Resources Ltd. (ASX:AQA), Extract Resources Ltd. (ASX:EXT) or Sundance Resources Ltd. (ASX:SDL).
Investing is about making money, over the long-term.
Enjoy the rally, enjoy the stock on our radar
The Motley Fool's purpose is to earn you consistent profits with a high level of accuracy by focusing on the greatest Australian and International investment opportunities. We'll have more on that in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, enjoy the sharemarket rally, whilst it lasts. And enjoy Dean's latest stock on The Motley Fool's radar…
This ASX stock is no Thorn in my side
If you're looking for more investing ideas, another place to look is this free report by our top equity analysts that profiles two companies they think will be well insulated from any bursting of the dollar, gold and commodities bubble. Grab this report – 2 Safe Ways To Play The Commodities Boom – while it's free and still available.
More reading:
This oil stock is a screaming buy
The 25 smartest things Steve Jobs ever said
Bruce Jackson does not have an interest in any companies mentioned above. The Motley Fool's disclosure policy is not prickly.
