Play This Sharp Summer Rebound

With the S&P up nearly 19% year-to-date, it's a good time to be in stocks. Thursday, August 1st, 2013     Play This Sharp Summer Rebound   Stocks ruled July… or did they? Your golden opportunity has arrived Plus: a debate with the anti-Christ   Greg Guenthner coming to you from Baltimore, MD... Greg Guenthner July was a great month for stocks. The major indexes pushed higher. More all-time highs were posted. With the S&P up nearly 19% year-to-date, it's a good time to be in stocks. However, July also had its fair share of surprises. While investors fretted over earnings and rumors about Bernanke's potential replacements, gold snuck higher. In fact, gold actually outperformed all of the major stock indexes in July. I doubt many people even noticed. Did you? It's not just the metal that sporting a comeback right now. Miners are actually leading the way this summer. They're up a collective 8.4% since July 1. This is impressive performance. Plus, we're entering what is traditionally one of the strongest seasons for gold right now (August and September are historically two of the best months to own gold). Before you blow a gasket, I'm not suggesting that gold is ready to take off toward its 2011 highs. In fact, I don't even think the metal has hit rock bottom yet. I have not abandoned my $1,100 - $1,000 long-term price target. However, there is opportunity in gold right now, whether you're looking to play the SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSE:GLD) or one of the riskier leveraged ETFs. But only if you're careful. I'm talking about a date—not a wedding. Don't come crying to me if the metal can't hang onto its gains in the long run…     Rude Numbers Targets, Predictions and Wild Guesses   $37 buys one share of Facebook. The social network briefly traded above its initial offering price of $38 intraday, after surging from surprisingly strong earnings. However, investors who stuffed their cash under a mattress rather than buying Facebook shares at its IPO are still seeing better returns. $853 million worth of Surface tablets were sold by Microsoft in the last fiscal year. That might sound like a lot, but it's dwarfed by Apple's $25.8 billion in iPad sales. 44% in gains have been realized in Herbalife stock during July alone. Shares soared again Wednesday on news that investor George Soros has taken a large position in the company… 14,005 is where the Nikkei finished trading today. Despite today's big gains, the Japanese index remains down 4% over the past five trading days. $1,324 is where you'll find gold futures this morning. That's an $11 rise after yesterday's back-and-forth session.     Rude Trends When to Buy... When to Sell   My jet-lagged colleagues returned from the Agora Financial Investment Symposium in Vancouver this week. Word around the office is it was another great event (If you couldn't make it, be sure to pick up the CDs so you can get all the cutting-edge investment ideas and strategies). We've also received a ton of feedback from those who attended. In fact, one of these notes was forwarded to me earlier this week. Here's the good part: "I would like to have seen open debate between Addison and the anti-Christ who edits Rude Awakening." Hey, that's me! Although I'm not sure how delivering daily market analysis equates to spreading evil throughout the land… Symposium debate-- an artist's rendering: Also, I don't think the "debate" would be as exciting as you might imagine. After all, Addison and I operate on different spectrums. I would defer a majority of the economic questions to him—and I doubt he would have many opinions on market trends or chart analysis. That wouldn't exactly create the perfect formula for must-see TV… [Ed. Note: Send your feedback here: rude@agorafinancial.com - and follow me on Twitter: @GregGuenthner]     Ignore At Your Own Peril Today's Must Read Links   How to Collect as Much as $1,293 Today Without Buying or Selling a Single Share Check Your Pockets and Your Piggy Bank... And Hoard These Coins $4,790 To CANCEL Your Subscription?!?!     BE SURE TO ADD dr@dailyreckoning.com to your address book.       Additional Articles & Commentary:         To end The Daily Reckoning's Rude Awakening e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from The Daily Reckoning and The Rude Awakening, click here to unsubscribe. Please Note: If you unsubscribe from The Rude Awakening, you will also be unsubscribed from The Daily Reckoning. The Daily Reckoning's Rude Awakening is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We do not rent or share your email address. By submitting your email address, you consent to Agora Financial delivering daily email issues and advertisements. 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