Fifteen years ago this month, the Nasdaq eclipsed 5,000 after almost tripling in two years. It then promptly collapsed as the dotcom bubble inevitably burst. But the index's latest foray above this milestone should be more sustainable.
As Lukas Daalder of Robeco Investment Solutions puts it, the index "is no longer an overpriced playground for newcomers, but has matured into something more stable".
It is no longer so technology-heavy, with the sector now comprising 40% of the index, rather than 60%, and the average Nasdaq company now survives for 25 years as opposed to 15. But most importantly, Nasdaq-listed firms generate far more earnings the top ten are almost five times more profitable than in 1999 and no longer cost the Earth, even if they aren't exactly cheap.
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The index is on a trailing (historic) price/earnings ratio of 32, a shade above the average for the past 20 years. That's down from an insane 175 in March 2000.
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What would the greatest mathematician of the Middle Ages say about gold today?Sponsored Italian mathematician Fibonacci is most famous for a curious sequence of numbers. Continuing his series on technical analysis, Dominic Frisby explains what these numbers are, and what they can tell us about gold’s next move.
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How moving averages can reveal trades worth betting on – and ones to avoidSponsored Dominic Frisby looks in more depth at how moving averages can help you catch turning points in markets and help you decide which trades are worth pursuing.
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This chart pattern could be extraordinarily bullish for goldCharts The mother of all patterns is developing in the gold charts, says Dominic Frisby. And if everything plays out well, gold could hit a price that investors could retire on.
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Believe it or not, this market is a “buy”Charts With the world in the state it’s in and the market so volatile, buying stocks right now might go against all your instincts. But that’s just what you should be doing, says Dominic Frisby. Here, he explains why.
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Chart of the week: avocados and bitcoin are in syncCharts An amusing new spurious correlation has been spotted between the price of bitcoin and Mexican Hass avocados. In reality, of course, they have nothing to do with each other beyond “superficial price action”.
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Chart of the week: Kuwait's stockmarket is ready for take-offCharts Kuwait's stockmarket is due to be promoted from “frontier” status to an emerging market by index provider MSCI next June. That should entice almost $10bn of global investors’ cash into the country.
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Chart of the week: US stocks outrun profitsCharts The US stockmarket has become totally detached from underlying profits of its constituent companies over the past three years.
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Chart of the week: Dr Copper diagnoses an ailing economyCharts The price of copper has slipped by a fifth this year and is now at a near-two-year low of around $5,600 a tonne.
