A10, Stock Trader Dude

Commodities ADR list:

I was curious to spot anything usual in the investment markets after the earthquake in Japan, but nothing unusual seems to arise, except that India appeared slightly weaker than Japan in terms of index market performance.

Silver, commodities and junk bonds have done fairly well —at least so far in April. Chinese real estate is the weakest real estate area to have been in. Bonds, natural gas and livestock are all very weak areas, but not negative. Base metals and steel are also weak.

The industrial sectors for health care, consumer staples, biotech and energy dominate everything else. However, this is different from last month when the energy related sectors were leading.

China ADR list:

The European countries are gaining strength, with some of them being ranked higher than the US indices. Belgium and Switzerland look strong. Here are the five strongest countries for April:

1. US Dow 30
2. Switzerland
3. Belgium
4. South Korea
5. Netherlands

Considering the action in the Forex market last month I was looking for any shifts in the market due to the earthquake in Japan. Here are the strongest currencies for April:

1. Swiss Franc
2. Inverse US Dollar
3. Australian dollar
4. Mexican Peso
5. Euro
6. Brazilian Real and the Canadian Dollar.

APAC dashboard:

I recently came across an ad for Schwab that stated:

I pay next to nothing for trades.

But get next-to-nothing service.

That reminded me of crappy little online only brokerage Zecco. They don’t believe in customer service. I’ve read many negative comments about them posted on their own site in the forums  so I contacted them to see for myself. Zecco customer service is horrible. And they seem cheap. When they make a mistake processing a trade they won’t even credit $50 or $60 for a small mistake. Recommendation: Avoid.