E-TRACS Natural Gas Futures Contango ETN (GASZ): This fund utilizes a unique strategy by taking short positions in near-term natural gas futures while taking long positions in contracts who's maturity is further out. That allows GASZ to profit from contango, an environment in which natural gas is sitting through 2020. While NG has gotten slaughtered on the year, GASZ is up roughly 10%.
3x Inverse Natural Gas ETN (DGAZ): This fund has made quite a splash this year, as it has been incredibly volatile given the behavior of natural gas. Its -300% leverage makes an ideal play against contango, but if NG continues to gain momentum as it has in recent weeks, investors may do well to hold off on this fund.

Economists remain optimistic that GDP growth will pick up around the world through 2012 and into2013. Starting in China, forecasts are calling for 8.3% growth in 2012 (up slightly in the pastmonth) and 8.5% in 2013. In recent weeks, we have seen PMI data support such an encouragingoutlook. The magnitude of gain is even larger in India, as GDP growth is expected to rise to 7.0%in 2012 and then to 8.0% in 2013. In Brazil, growth is forecast to accelerate from 3.3% in 2012 to4.5% in 2013. In Japan, we expect the economy will still struggle to recover from the 2011earthquake/tsunami and expand only 1.5% through 2013. Unemployment remains low, though. Europewill be the laggard. We expect a recession on the Continent in 2012, before growth recovers to 0.7%in 2013. Germany should lead the continent out, with 2013 growth of 1.5%. But high unemploymentposes a real risk. For the Eurozone, the unemployment rate is still above 10%

In terms of near-term news, the Facebook (FB) IPO is the hot topic of the day. While we'll likely see a retail-driven pop, I have no interest in chasing this puppy. I think Mark Zuckerberg did himself and his investors a disservice by showing up to the institutional road-show with a flippant attitude and "hoodie" attire and if I'm wrong, my greatest loss is one of opportunity.

Networking giant Cisco (CSCO) is now widely known to the extent that recently it has been suggested that I have become the company's unabashed cheerleader. Be that as it may, what is absent in my new label and, disappointingly, what continues to be ignored on Wall Street are the fundamental reasons for this connection. The fact of the matter is, I look at rivals such as F5 (FFIV) and Juniper (JNPR) trading at multiples respectively three and 2.5 times that of Cisco's P/E of 12 and wonder: What is this market thinking?
From a fundamental perspective (and likely a great source of my attachment) is the fact that the company is sitting on $32.04 billion of net cash, less debt, while trading at roughly nine times earnings, excluding net cash. It is also remarkable to appreciate that not only has Cisco provided double-digit returns on capital but, as noted recently, is a dominant player in its industry

General Motors (GM) pulling its advertising from Facebook (FB). GM, the third-largest advertiser in America, is not the client that Facebook wants to lose just days before an IPO.
At a panel this morning, Todd Wasserman, the business editor of Mashable, pointed out that GM will not be pulling out of Facebook entirely. The company, he says, poured $40 million into the social network last year, but only $10 million on paid advertising. It represents only a small fraction of GM's $1.8 billion ad spending and Facebook's $3.7 billion in yearly revenue.

Greece cannot exit the euro without collateral damage and significant damage at that. A Greek exit move would likely cause an instant run on the banks in Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Some think the contagion could even spread to Ireland and parts of northern Europe. A few think the recent strength in the dollar and US Treasuries is the first wave of capital flows. These folks think people in Greece, Spain, and Italy are withdrawing euros to shift to greenbacks and Treasuries rather than get stuck with drachmas, liras, and pesetas.
Right on cue, later in the afternoon, chatter started that close to €1 billion had been withdrawn from Greek banks.

Facebook (FB) fever leave you cold? Did E*TRADE (ETFC) deem you unworthy of participating in this Friday's initial public offering (IPO), or perhaps your broker laughed in your face? Here's a dose of medicine to turn those blues into a happy grin: A roundup of bad stuff about Facebook. And this is just from the last few days of research, chatting, thinking and posting about the most talked-about IPO since Google (GOOG) in 2004.
Its Own Users Don't Trust Facebook
Three out of five Facebook users say they don't trust the company to protect their personal information, according to a new poll from The Associated Press and CNBC.
The Trust Issue Will Get Worse
It's a delicate dance for Facebook, notes the New York Times. As a public company, it will need to keep feeding those hungry shareholders with more revenue every quarter. That means coming up with new and more sophisticated ways to gather, parse, and exploit personal information for use by advertisers and marketers. And that risks turning off its users even more, not to mention the would-be regulators of Internet privacy.

Many traders talk about supply and demand when trading and writing trading plans. Few traders define what supply and demand levels really are and don't know how to chart them. This is another step in building your knowledge required to make money from your competition instead of paying them. A demand level only becomes a demand level if the initial rally from the demand level is at least three times the demand level (1:3 Risk/Reward). In other words if the distance from entry to stop is two points in a market, the initial rally from that level has to be at least six points or it does not qualify as a demand level for us. Traders should ignore any demand levels that don’t meet this minimum requirement. Risk reward

(MSTR): This provider of business intelligence software has successfully helped other businesses reduce wasteful resource allocation and secured profits for itself at the same time. By providing software that helps others understand their businesses, MicroStrategy allows them to better serve society. This business model has led shares of MicroStrategy to achieve returns of around 32% year to date.
The company has a PEG ratio of around 6.1 and a forward P/E ratio near 28.5. These figures may seem high in isolation, but they may actually seem low relative to comparable company Qlik Technologies (QLIK), which has a forward P/E ratio close to 42 and a PEG ratio near 9.3. Currently, buyers of MicroStrategy seem to be giving the company a generous valuation, perhaps because of its potentially high levels of long term growth. Over the past 90 days, analysts have raised estimates for MicroStrategy's full-year fiscal 2013 EPS from $4.54 to $4.95.

Facebook (FB) amended its S-1 for the seventh time, confirming rumors that the company will float another 50.6 million extra shares at an upwardly revised price range of $34-$38 per share. Assuming a midpoint of $36 per share, the company will raise $12.1 billion from the offering, which is more than Google (GOOG) earned when it debuted on public markets.
Bloomberg reports that Apple (AAPL) will ship the next version of the MacBook Pro with Intel (INTC) Ivy Bridge processors. The new laptops will feature Nvidia (NVDA) graphics chips rather than the current Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) GPUs. The MacBook Pros are rumored to have much slimmer bodies and iPad-style Retina displays. Developers will get the first look at the new computers at the June 11 annual conference.
Advanced Micro Devices has revealed the specifications for its new Trinity Accelerated Processing Units. The new chips are optimized for low-powered ultrabooks and other portable computers. AMD claims that the new chips beat Intel i5 processors in HD video, 3D gaming, computing capacity, and price.