Thoughts {12.08.15}

Markets are set to pick up where they left off yesterday as futures are indicated down well over  100 points at the open. Energy and certain high flying levels of the markets are largely to blame for the current softness.  If we follow money flows then probability would suggest we become oversold by the end of the week or early next and then see some sort of rally into the end of the year.  Even if we see that situation occur, markets will likely eek out very small gains in 2015.  More on this in a sometime in a future post.

OPEC put a shank into the energy sphere last week when they declined to cut oil production.  You can see Jim Cramer's take on this over at CNBC here.

The shooting in San Bernardino is likely a game changer in many ways as it seems that folks are becoming less likely to believe that governments at all levels can protect them from incidents like the tragic events last week.  We're going to talk about the investment implications of this at some point when we have a bit more time to come up for air.  One thing we think is that we can expect security infrastructure to be amped up in the coming years.  It's very likely we're going to see stepped up bag and personal inspections at malls and movie theatres.  There is also a rush now by many to buy a gun.  This has been particularly pronounced in San Bernardino but is also on the rise in other spots.  Gun maker stocks went through the roof yesterday in a soggy market. 

Finally a really informative piece from Bloomberg on the demographic make-up of the Millennial Generation.  I have an interest in this because I have three millennial kids but I also think the investment implications arising from this cohort makes this section of the American demographic portfolio a serious area of investment study.

*Long Energy ETFs in client and personal accounts although positions can change at any time.