Steady ahead

Trading yesterday was a bit lacklustre with volumes subdued. The American markets were closed due to Martin Luther King Day being celebrated.

One does get the feeling that the markets has had a good run and that a correction is due. But, it seems that the markets have stabilized and have been taking the bad news in its stride.

Earnings season has kicked off in the US and companies such as Alcoa and Intel have reported better than expected results. Apple and Citigroup report results today.

With volatility at fairly low levels, we expect the market to trade sideways or creep upwards slowly, until the next event. The markets can even be boosted by better than expected earning results.

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2011: The year ahead

2010 ended on a high note and 2011 started off well.

Debt contagion fears are the flavour on the news channels at the moment with the market speculating that Portugal will be forced to take a bailout and Spain to follow.

The strength of our currency is protecting us from inflation at the moment. Just look at what soft commodities such as wheat and corn are doing price wise. Oil is also flirting with the $100 per barrel level, which will have an effect on the pace of inflation.

Commodity stocks could be an attractive investment for 2011 as the world economies pull themselves out of the financial crisis. It looks to be a long walk before we are out of the woods yet.

If the Euro debt situation can be contained properly, we should expect less volatility in 2011.

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