This is part three of a four part series this week that looks at commodity ETFs and ETNs. For the first installment covering index-based products, see this item from Tuesday and, for energy funds, see yesterday's post. Today, the subject is precious metals and base metals where there is very little of interest going on aside from the "elephant in the living room" in the first row of the table below - the gargantuan (and still growing) assets for the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSEArca:GLD). <img style="border: 0pt none ; margin: 10px auto;[More...]

I've been looking at this automotive replacement (and accessories) business for a while as a "Pooring of America" theme. This could be both a cyclical (recession) and indeed potentially secular (if American's start increasing their savings rates and not flip cars every 3 years) play. I have yet to pull the trigger but here are the charts of the main candidates on this thesis. I am quite familiar with these companies as I worked in a supplier who sold into these businesses early this decade. The top two have the better charts of the foursome... Market leader, "best in breed", run by Eddie Lampert - Autozone (AZO) - middle of pack valuation similar to growth rate <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"[More...]