Comparing Traditional and Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing versus Traditional Marketing is one of the most heated new age debates that we often come across. While on one hand the tech heads give you the most obvious justification of fast paced digitization as to why digital marketing clearly surpasses traditional marketing. Corporate Executives, on the other hand, functioning in conventions, would more obviously than not justify traditional marketing. Before we ponder on this debate further,let us first understand what essentially distinguishes the two.What is Traditional Marketing?Traditional Marketing refers to the conventional methods of promoting a brand. This includes newspaper ads, magazine ads, billboards, brochures, hoardings etc. Traditional marketing also includes network marketing. In its most basic sense, Traditional marketing refers to a structured effort on endorsing one’s brand but without any reliance on online methodologies. Traditional offline media are often the channels that brands incorporate when it comes brand promotion.The tools for Traditional Marketing are:1.Print Marketing
2. Broadcast Marketing
3. Referral Marketing
4. Outdoor Marketing
5. Publication MarketingLet us Look at a few examples of Traditional Marketing:A. Vicks, a prominent brand in India came up with a campaign called Touch of Care. The ad film showcased a a daughter’s relationship with her transgender mother. This ad film that went viral because of how it truly the touched a chord with the sentimentality of the audience.B. Dove, around mid 2000s came up with the idea of giving away free samples with morning newspapers. This strategy truly helped the brand popularize itself. This brand strategy completely worked in the brand’s favour.What is Digital Marketing?Digital Marketing as the name suggests refers to the marketing efforts of a brand using online channels. It refers to how a brand handles it online reputation. Optimizing your brand forms the backbone in this case. The biggest channel definitely is the Internet. The sub channels include websites, blogs, Social media platforms etc. Digital Marketing includes a step of intricate procedures.The tools include:1. Facebook Marketing
2. Digital Campaigns
3. Search Engine Optimization
4. Content Marketing
5. Influencer MarketingLet us Look at a few examples of Digital Marketing:A. Kitkat hit it big with their influencer marketing strategy. Their challenge on Musical.ly which involved participants lip syncing to the new jingle was quite a rage. It brought great popularity to the brand image of Kitkat.B. Kellogg’s launched their digital campaign using Stranger Things on Netflix. We saw in the series how Eleven was obsessed with Kellogg’s Eggo waffles. This online promotion that incorporated storytelling elements really brought about a string of desirable effects for the brand.Which one Should you go for?The market conditions are reflective of the cut throat competition that prevails currently. In a situation like this both offline and online presence count. While it is extremely important to maintain effective optimization and an impressive online reputation, it is equally vital to maintain a strong offline presence.Despite having different channels,both traditional and digital marketing run on similar strategies. The Marketing Mix, the backbone of any marketing strategy, consisting of Price,Product, Place and Promotion,is essentially what goes into both traditional as well as digital marketing. Therefore a perfect marketing strategy should be the right blend of traditional and digital marketing.While SEO, SMM, etc are great ways of reaching people’s computer screens but there exists a world beyond that which can be reached through the facets of traditional marketing.As you saw, Marketing can be quite a fix. They are services that call for expert advice and professional help. If done right, Marketing can have a sweeping influence which will bring about a string of beneficial outcomes for your ambitious brand.

Advantages of SEO Training Courses

As an online business it is extremely important to understand search engine optimization as ultimately this is what will drive traffic to your website. Like footfall in a traditional bricks and mortar store if you don’t get them in the door they will never buy anything. Likewise, if you cannot get traffic to your website you will not have anyone to convert into a sale. SEO is essentially the way of building your company’s ranking in search engines and therefore getting footfall into your store, albeit online. There are many SEO companies out there which offer a variety of SEO services. However, it is also important for a company itself to understand the importance of SEO. One way to increase your understanding of SEO is to attend one of the many SEO training courses which are available. They have a number of advantages such as:1. Understanding the BasicsSEO training courses will help you to understand the basics of good SEO such as choosing the right keywords for your industry, how to measure SEO results, understanding the importance of link-building within your website and also the importance of well written, SEO optimized and unique content on your website.2. Learn SEO techniquesThese courses also assist with familiarization with the variety of optimization techniques and online marketing tools. SEO is an industry with a large number of acronyms and industry specific jargon. Training courses will help you to understand the jargon and therefore develop your own company’s SEO campaign. Even if you choose to outsource your SEO needs to an SEO service provider it is still beneficial to understand the jargon so that you can choose the best SEO provider for your needs and not be blindsided by unnecessary jargon.3. Cost-EffectiveCompanies offering SEO services can be expensive and this can be a struggle for smaller companies who are yet to have made their mark on online sales. Also in the current economic times companies are often looking for ways to reduce unnecessary costs. By developing a company’s internal understanding of SEO it can reduce the costs associated with outsourcing for your SEO needs. SEO is simply not an area that a company can ignore and therefore finding a more cost-effective way to deal with your SEO needs is important.Types of Training CoursesThere are two main types of SEO training courses. Static training courses teach the basics and tend to be more online. Dynamic courses on the other hand tend to be more hands-on and are a good idea if you intend to carry out all of your company’s SEO internally. SEO itself is a dynamic field and it is important to move with any changing trends in order to be successful.The online sales industry is growing and there is money to be made for your company; however, having a website alone will never optimize your business. Taking advantage of the availability of SEO training courses will assist you in making your website stand out and ultimately become more profitable.

6 Keys To Home Business Success

The Home Business industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, but unfortunately the vast majority of people (more than 95%) never achieve any level of success with it.Why?Because they don’t know the 6 keys to home business success, and they give up before they see results.So many people get started in this industry with the vision of creating massive residual income by telling 5, who tell 5 who tell 5 and they all live happily ever after. Unfortunately, they tell 5, who tell them where to go, and for most people that’s enough rejection to make them throw in the towel and give up all together.Very few people have the fortitude to hear no as next and keep persisting.And even the few who do persist still won’t see the kind of results they want because the system they’ve plugged into is missing one or more of the 6 keys to home business success.What Are The 6 Keys To Home Business Success?
I haven’t been in this industry for decades like many of my mentors have, although I’ve seen enough in a few short years to know what works well and what doesn’t.My first exposure to the home business industry was at a seminar. A speaker at the front of the room was pitching his program on how to get grants and loans from the government. The program sounded great, but near the end he said “who here would like to learn how I really broke free from my job as a garbage man and became financially free?”Of course most of the hands in the room shot up, and he proceeded to go into his home business presentation. After more than 30 minutes of hearing about how these revolutionary products would replace most of the everyday cleaning and self care products in your home a few people in the audience finally started muttering “oh, it’s ______”. I won’t mention the name of the company here, but suffice it to say it’s a very well known company in the network marketing industry.He made an irresistible offer waiving the sign up fees and allowing anyone interested to get started for just $1. He even promised to work with anyone who was serious and to help build our teams for us. Seemed like a great opportunity so my wife and I signed up and bought our starter products. After a few months of paying nearly $100/mo to keep our distributor status and earning a big $2 cheque we bailed.Now in fairness, we didn’t work on building the business either. What I do know is that the 2 people who’ve done very well in that business speak from the stage, and seem to build their business from the hundreds of people in the audience, not from doing milk and cookie parties like they encourage their team to do.My next venture into the home business industry was even more eye opening. This was a program with a high ticket core product. It was a vacation travel package that cost over $3,000. The allure was that with just 12 people in your organization you’d earn 4 times that amount!What should have been a clue though is we were trained to tell people that we invited to see the presentation that “I can’t tell you what it is, you just have to come and see.” if they asked what it was about. What’s interesting is that I saw people make thousands in that company in as little as a couple of weeks. They had people making 6 figures in their first year, but despite my best efforts, I still barely broke even on my initial investment.Today, I’ve sworn off of doing business the old way, and that’s why I’m excited to share the 6 keys to home business success with you today, to hopefully save you some of the headaches and challenges I faced in the past.Key #1 To Home Business Success
1) You need a product to sell that pays high commissions.The first key to success in the home business industry is to find a product that pays high commissions. For the most part, the commissions paid out in the home business industry just aren’t high enough for someone to make a full time income from unless they’re able to recruit a small country into their downline. In fact, a few of my mentors had teams of 5,000-10,000 and were still only making a few thousand dollars a month, all while getting stuck on 3 way calls from dawn to the early morning every day.Finding a product that pays 30-70% commissions will make a world of difference to your success in the home business industry. Better yet, is that the commissions will be paid out quickly, not weeks or months down the road. People want to see success early or they’ll end up quitting before they truly get started.Key #2 To Home Business Success
2) Your product needs to be affordable to the masses.The core product needs to be affordable to the masses. You will have far more success offering your products to people if they’re what my mentor calls “under the radar money”. This is a purchase that’s under about $200 that someone can make without causing a major fight over spending with their spouse. One of the big objections people get in the home business industry is “I have to speak to my wife/husband” which is really just an excuse. If your core product is only $25 to say $197 most people will be able to make that purchase themselves and not have to run it by their significant other.Once someone makes that initial buying decision then your goal is to upgrade them to the highest level of products that makes sense to them. Notice I said makes sense to them. Your goal is not to sell the most products regardless of their circumstances. Your goal is to help them achieve their goals, and set them up with the level of products that will best help them achieve that.Key #3 To Home Business Success
3) People need to be able to become profitable in 30 days or less.One of the major reasons people fail in the home business industry is because they don’t see any wins in their first few weeks. To ensure longevity your home business system must enable people who plug in and apply the system to become profitable in 30 days or less. If people are able to become profitable quickly, they’ll become loyal customers for life. If not, they’ll quit and hop around from opportunity to opportunity looking for something that is.Of course, not everyone will become profitable, because not everyone will even take the first step. It’s strange. People will sound all fired up and motivated, and then fall off the face of the planet and never even take the first step towards building a successful home business. It’s just human nature, and there’s nothing you can do about. Focus on helping the people who are in action.Key #4 To Home Business Success
4) Your offering needs to include upsells and higher ticket items to enable someone to make the most amount of money in the least amount of time.Having an affordable core product is great to enable people to get started, but earning $5 or $10 or even $50 isn’t life changing income. In order to create a truly successful home business you need to be able to earn higher ticket commissions.Having the ability to sell $500, $1000, and even $3000 products is how you generate full time income with minimal effort. Making one or two sales of these types of products is how you go from making lunch money to making full time income doing part time work.Key #5 To Home Business Success
5) The corporate videos need to convert on their own.This is a big problem for much of the home business industry. People are drawn in by a compelling, charismatic presenter who has a way with words that just draws people in. The problem is, most people aren’t able to duplicate what their sponsor does or says, and gets rejected every time they try to “show the plan”.Many companies have now produced DVD’s and video for their distributors to hand out, but even those don’t effectively convert viewers into buyers.To be successful in the home business industry you need to have access to corporate videos that can do the telling and selling for you, so that anyone who gets started can just share the video with others and start seeing results. If the corporate videos aren’t effective in converting, then you won’t be successful either.Key #6 To Home Business Success
6) Your offering needs to include marketing training to show people how to build their business beyond their friends and family.Most of the home business industry teaches new people to make a list of their friends and family and to start reaching out to them and inviting them to a presentation. For starters, most people either won’t even make a list, or won’t bother contacting the people they put on the list. A small group of people will contact everyone on their list, and even still will only have a handful of the hundred or so they contact take them up on their offer.Then the question becomes NOW WHAT? How do you continue to grow your business if you’ve already spoken to everyone you know, and only a few of them were interested? Go find new friends by wandering around Walmart asking people if they keep their business options open? I hope that’s not your plan.You need to learn how to market so that people actually looking for what you have to offer come looking for you. Yes, it’s possible, and it’s called Attraction Marketing. If you’re in the home business industry and you’re not employing attraction marketing strategies as part of your daily actions you’re going to run out of people to talk to fast.This isn’t the 70′s and 80′s anymore when no-one had heard of home businesses. Today, pretty much everyone has an experience in the industry, or knows someone who has. Sure those old strategies work, but not nearly as well as they once did, and they never worked as well as attraction marketing does.So there you have the 6 Keys To Home Business Success. I hope you found the information valuable and would appreciate it if you could leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts.

Wedding Entertainment Ideas With a Twist

Most weddings follow a very tried and tested formula but there are ways you can make your special day bespoke to you and your personal tastes. And, there is one very easy way that this can be accomplished; by your choice of wedding entertainment. A standard ceremony would have the brides entrance music played on the church organ or via a CD and PA. But, with a little thinking outside the box you could opt for a string quartet or harpist to perform at the ceremony and add a touch of romantic elegance instead. Or, for completely different wedding entertainment ideas, why not hire a few singers and seat them amongst your guests to reinact the classic ‘Love Actually’ movie scene. Some couples opting for classical guitarists, contemporary acoustic duos or even opera singers.The wedding ceremony tends to be followed by the drinks reception, or, as it is commonly known, the photographs. This time is fantastic for the bride and groom and when it is your own turn great fun also. But, what do you do whilst waiting around for your turn? If you don’t know many of the guests it can actually get quite boring. A funky little jazz band or a rat pack singer could really help keep your guests amused and entertained. Or, why not opt for a magician or caricaturist? They really create a great atmosphere and will help to break the ice between your guests who maybe do not know each other yet. If your budget is quite small you could even ask the ceremony entertainers to stay on a little longer for the drinks reception. Anything at this point to keep your guests amused is better than nothing and will create a great tone for the party yet to come later on.After the photos comes the wedding breakfast. Again, you could ask your ceremony act to stay on through the meal to help set a lovely background ambience or even entertain table to table if you booked a magician or caricaturist. This is a great way again of helping your guests who may not know each other yet interact. The more relaxed your guests feel in their surroundings the more likely they are to stay on longer into the night and party the hours away helping to celebrate your special day.Finally, after the meal you enter the time where live wedding entertainment is a definite. If you have managed to survive your way through the earlier part of the day with no real entertainment, then now is the time to dig deep! No matter how great your invitations were, and no matter how tasty the food was, or, how perfect the flowers and place settings were they will be forgotten in a week by your guests. What they will remember though is if they had a great time at the evening part of your celebrations. So, please do not just settle for the hotel house DJ. Add to this entertainment by having live wedding entertainment of some kind.Wedding bands, swing bands, tribute bands and jazz bands will really interact with your guests and encourage them to take to the dance floor. After all, this is what the evening is all about, your family and friends having the best possible time to help celebrate and mark your special occasion. There is nothing like a good live band to help get your wedding reception party started. Additional wedding entertainment ideas could be to have a fire performer or fire eater. This is a welcome change to the all too normal fireworks that seem to interlude every wedding these days. The main difference is that a fire performer will be able to entertain and have banter with your guests. It’s all about fun and creating a memory.Think about you and what you like. Think about the entertainment that you want to enjoy yourselves and then consider if that is something that can translate through to your guests so that they can enjoy it as well.Wedding entertainment is a massively important factor in creating the perfect day and with a little imagination and creativity you really can create the perfect, unique day that will live in you and your guests memories for years to come.

Halal Investment Options for Muslims in Canada

I’ve always been a huge advocate of avoiding Riba (Interest), either earning or paying. There are definite financial, social and religious reasons for this and we, as Muslims, are aware of them.There has always been a concern among the Muslim community in Canada of where they should put their extra money in terms of Savings or Investments, earn money from that or at least hedge against the Inflation and other factors. Based on my knowledge and experience (Allah knows best), I was able to dart down the following investment opportunities available in the Canadian market.Investing in Commodities e.g. Gold and SilverGold and Silver have historically been the best source of securing your wealth over a long period of time. From my research of historical Gold prices, they have tripled in last 20 years. Silver is not far behind. Rather, silver has outperformed gold if we take different time ranges. So let’s say you are not someone who has huge sums of money and can make big investments, investing in gold or silver is definitely an option for you. This is purely a halal investment and if you are looking to invest for a longer period of time, let’s say saving money for your child’s education, investing a couple of hundred dollars a month should not be difficult. This way you are preserving your wealth and, in the meantime, saving money for your child’s education. You can buy gold from banks or can even purchase from an accredited gold dealer in Canada.There are other commodities you can invest in but for a domestic investor it would be hard to store those commodities over a long period of time.Investing in company Stocks i.e. sharesBasic reasoning as to why stocks are halal investments is as investors you will be rewarded with profits of the company and will also to have bear losses, if any. There are different types of stocks you can invest in based on your investment horizon i.e. time period you want to invest for and the amount of risk you can handle. Moreover, it also matters what kind of income stream you have in mind i.e. do you want regular dividend payments or you are more interested in Capital Gains (IPO’s i.e. companies that are recently launching their stocks into the stock market, are best for Capital Gains).Examples of stocks you can invest in as Muslims are:
1. Retail companies
2. Oil and Gas companies
3. Trading companies etc.There is a list of type of companies we, as Muslims, should not invest in i.e. these won’t be considered as Halal investments. Companies that primarily deal in:
1. Financial institutions i.e. banks, loaning companies
2. Alcohol
3. Pork and pork related products
4. Tobacco
5. Weapons and ammunition
6. EntertainmentThe list provided above is just an example and is not extensive.As a normal person who does not have much knowledge about how to invest in stocks in Canadian Stock markets, best thing is to reach out to someone who knows. They may be your relationship managers at the bank, a muslim scholar who has finance knowledge as well and knows financial markets or contact brokerage companies.You will need to make sure you have explained to them in detail the criteria for your investments i.e. type of companies you are looking into.Some banks such as RBC Royal Bank give you an online account that you can use trade stocks online. For this you need to have reasonable knowledge of how stocks work and how to analyse an investment opportunity.Land and propertyIf you have enough spare cash that you have saved over a period of time and looking to invest in halal options, property and land present another option for you. People do engage into buying houses through mortgage and increase their asset base, but that is definitely not a halal option. So, if you are someone who likes to avoid interest, you should not go into buying houses through mortgage.Now there are 2 scenarios:
1. You have enough money to buy a house. In this case you should be on the look for best investment opportunities in terms of property and land. I’ve seen people usually invest more into buying houses than buying land in Canada. This is not a bad option and is more secure. But investing in Land around the areas that have potential in terms of future growth and have developmental projects in the pipeline is something that can generate higher returns for you.2. You don’t have enough money to buy a house in Canada. In this scenario, since almost all of us are immigrants here, there is always an opportunity available in your country of origin. You can invest in smaller properties there and once you have collected enough money, you can bring it back here (if your goals is to own property in Canada).
Investing in new companiesA large number of Muslim business men/women want to start their new projects, they have good ideas but do not have the money to invest. You can find these people in your community or social networks and discuss about their ideas. If you have the financial knowledge, try and analyse their ideas, both in terms of practicality and future revenues. If you don’t have the knowledge, have them create a business plan and then present that business plan to an investment advisor.You can also create a pool of money with your friends, acquaintances and start a business that you normally can’t afford. Investing in new projects i.e. businesses, is riskier than investing into an already running business but if weighed and measured properly and work hard on, can generate much better returns.In the end, my knowledge is limited and above mentioned options are just suggestions, but I am hopeful they can give you an idea about investing halal and saving yourself from the curse of Riba (Interest). I’d be more than pleased to help with any of the above.

Putting HOPE Back into Health Care

Our current health care system is ailing. Satisfaction among patients as well as health care providers is as low as it has ever been.Even in the era of doctor making house calls, people had confidence in their doctor, who, back then, represented the health care system. Confidence was based on trust, that the doctor was offering the best treatment and advances possible.Today, patient trust is dwindling. Yet, there is still a great deal of trust in doctors and nurses. In a recent poll, the professions that were most greatly admired and respected by the public, second to firemen, were doctors and nurses.Lack of confidence stems not from the health providers themselves, but from the system that the doctors and nurses work for.Let’s examine some potential areas eroding public confidence in our health care system:1.) Speed: Our system has always moved quickly, but the current pace is nothing short of phrenetic. Oh yes, a doctor or nurse could move slower, but the price would be at the expense of patients who would not be seen or cared for that day. Quietly, health providers talk about feeling like they are part of a “conveyor belt” that treats paperwork more than it does people.Indeed, the amount of paperwork has increased exponentially and the “system” doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Insurance companies, particularly managed care, has heavily contributed to this additional layer of bureaucracy taking time away from patient care. At the risk of offending managed care companies, this is the truth. Managed care was originally designed to contain costs. But the impact on care of patients is one that has yet to be determined.2.) Commercialiazation of health care: commercials etc….erodes public confidence. Patients regularly verbalize an overwhelmed and distorted image of the role of medication from watching television commercials. This is not the patient’s fault! And it works both ways, commercials can be suggestive, or implant resistance in patients who might genuinely benefit from a trial of medication. Patient’s decisions are influenced by marketing, rather than medical facts, and that just doesn’t make good clinical sense.3.) “Pill popping society” – stems in part from commercialization but also from a stressed society looking for ways to make it easier to cope4.) Conventional health care has yet to accept natural modalities as part of its treatment regimens. Yet, public opinion on this matter is very evident. Annual spending on Complementary/Alternative modalities exceeds ______/year. Yet, a large reason for this lack of integration into conventional health care remains lack of scientific research. Without large funding sources like pharmaceutical companies, natural treatments have been left largely to a word by mouth market.And the word has spread like wildfire. And most often from people with chronic health challenges whose health has been restored. Yet why haven’t these potentially life-saving remedies been studied? In fact, for many health providers in conventional medicine, caring for people suffering with these chronic health challenges, it is heart wrenching not to be able to offer people more hope.5.) The U.S. Health care system is rated 37th in the world according to the World Health Organization. Clearly these dismal results becry the need for health care solutions and transformation for the sake of our people.Health: not simply the eradication of disease but the concept of healing, restoration and rejuvenation, particularly for those with chronic health conditions. Included in this is the incorporation of preventative health care into mainstream medicine.Transformation of health care = Hope for all

Health Care Services

There are many health services and a proper range of health care services needs to be provided under a proper healthcare system. The United States does not have the best health care services in the world but it can be said that it has the best emergency care system around the globe. The fact behind this is that America is having highest level of poverty and income inequality among all the rich and developed nations and it affects the reach of the people to the proper health services.Health systems are designed to fulfill the needs of the health care of some targeted nation or population. Health care planning and its proper system implementation are much more necessary for any country or government. According to the World health report 2000 “Improving performance are good health, responsiveness to the expectations of the population, and fair financial contribution.” Duckett (2004) proposed a two dimensional approach to evaluation of health systems: “quality, efficiency and acceptability on one dimension and equity on another.”To have a best health care facilities UNICEF advises that there must be three primary steps which can then systematically improve the health services and to complete a health system.1. Standards
2. Assessment and Accreditation
3. Support MaterialsSeven years ago World Health Organization made the first major effort to rank the health systems of 191 nations. The following parameters were taken in consideration for the best care services;· Insurance Coverage
· Access
· Fairness
· Health Lives
· Quality
· Life and Death
· Patient Satisfaction
· Use of IT
· Top of the Line Care
· Walk in clinicHealth is a state of well being, physically, mentally, socially and psychologically. Health services are fundamental part of any community, therefore financial stability and proper coverage of medical through insurance or some other way is very much necessary for a human to live and stay normal. There is a proper process oriented structure is required, implemented by the government to provide the health services to each and every of their citizen. The health care industry is responsible to provide the proper health care services to the people with their arm namely health services providers. These health services are paid and could be paid by the patient, by insurance plan, or by the government. Charities and volunteers also play their role to provide the health services to those who are unable to afford. There could be various ways to provide health services to the patient, normally can be categorized into two main;· Face to Face:This is the most common way, where the provider, interacts with the patient physically and after having the checkup and understanding of the issues, diagnoses the problem or suggests some tests or medication.· Non -Face To Face:Telecommunication is the latest emerging facility, which is now in use to provide healthcare services as well. The practitioner can interact with the patient using, phone, email, text message, or video conferencing and then can provide further suggestions to him / her.Health services are also provided at schools where the children could be taken care of. UNESCO has published a set of tools to provide the guidance to school healthcare services providers. Following are the basic parameters which must be catered;· HIV/AIDS
· Food and nutrition
· Helminthes and hygiene
· Malaria
· Violence
· Drugs, tobacco and alcoholIn any health services providing system there could be the following three types of health services.1. Primary Health Care Services:Whenever someone needs a health care service in normal and routine life, who could be a family doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner, physiotherapist, pharmacist, etc. Primary health services often include prevention and treatment of common diseases and injuries.2. Secondary Health CareServices:Whenever someone needs a special care he/she is referred to a specialized care unit, like hospital, or nursing home to provide secondary level of health facilities.3. Additional / Supplementary Health Care Services:The services which are normally provided to the senior citizens, children or to whom which do not have their proper medical coverage or paying capabilities and the expanses are covered through government funds or through some volunteer or charity organization.

There is an excessive amount of traffic coming from your Region.

#EANF#

S&P 500 Rallies As U.S. Dollar Pulls Back Towards Weekly Lows

Key Insights
The strong pullback in the U.S. dollar provided significant support to stocks.
Treasury yields have pulled back after touching new highs, which served as an additional positive catalyst for S&P 500.
A move above 3730 will push S&P 500 towards the resistance level at 3760.
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Pfizer Rallies After Announcing A Huge Price Hike For Its COVID-19 Vaccines
S&P 500 is currently trying to settle above 3730 as traders’ appetite for risk is growing. The U.S. dollar has recently gained strong downside momentum as the BoJ intervened to stop the rally in USD/JPY. Weaker U.S. dollar is bullish for stocks as it increases profits of multinational companies and makes U.S. equities cheaper for foreign investors.

The leading oil services company Schlumberger is up by 9% after beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue. Schlumberger’s peers Baker Hughes and Halliburton have also enjoyed strong support today.

Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna gained strong upside momentum after Pfizer announced that it will raise the price of its coronavirus vaccine to $110 – $130 per shot.

Biggest losers today include Verizon and Twitter. Verizon is down by 5% despite beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue. Subscriber numbers missed estimates, and traders pushed the stock to multi-year lows.

Twitter stock moved towards the $50 level as the U.S. may conduct a security review of Musk’s purchase of the company.

From a big picture point of view, today’s rebound is broad, and most market segments are moving higher. Treasury yields have started to move lower after testing new highs, providing additional support to S&P 500. It looks that some traders are ready to bet that Fed will be less hawkish than previously expected.

S&P 500 Tests Resistance At 3730

S&P 500 has recently managed to get above the 20 EMA and is trying to settle above the resistance at 3730. RSI is in the moderate territory, and there is plenty of room to gain additional upside momentum in case the right catalysts emerge.

If S&P 500 manages to settle above 3730, it will head towards the next resistance level at 3760. A successful test of this level will push S&P 500 towards the next resistance at October highs at 3805. The 50 EMA is located in the nearby, so S&P 500 will likely face strong resistance above the 3800 level.

On the support side, the previous resistance at 3700 will likely serve as the first support level for S&P 500. In case S&P 500 declines below this level, it will move towards the next support level at 3675. A move below 3675 will push S&P 500 towards the support at 3640.

SPDN: An Inexpensive Way To Profit When The S&P 500 Falls

Summary
SPDN is not the largest or oldest way to short the S&P 500, but it’s a solid choice.
This ETF uses a variety of financial instruments to target a return opposite that of the S&P 500 Index.
SPDN’s 0.49% Expense Ratio is nearly half that of the larger, longer-tenured -1x Inverse S&P 500 ETF.
Details aside, the potential continuation of the equity bear market makes single-inverse ETFs an investment segment investor should be familiar with.
We rate SPDN a Strong Buy because we believe the risks of a continued bear market greatly outweigh the possibility of a quick return to a bull market.
Put a gear stick into R position, (Reverse).
Birdlkportfolio

By Rob Isbitts

Summary
The S&P 500 is in a bear market, and we don’t see a quick-fix. Many investors assume the only way to navigate a potentially long-term bear market is to hide in cash, day-trade or “just hang in there” while the bear takes their retirement nest egg.

The Direxion Daily S&P 500® Bear 1X ETF (NYSEARCA:SPDN) is one of a class of single-inverse ETFs that allow investors to profit from down moves in the stock market.

SPDN is an unleveraged, liquid, low-cost way to either try to hedge an equity portfolio, profit from a decline in the S&P 500, or both. We rate it a Strong Buy, given our concern about the intermediate-term outlook for the global equity market.

Strategy
SPDN keeps it simple. If the S&P 500 goes up by X%, it should go down by X%. The opposite is also expected.

Proprietary ETF Grades
Offense/Defense: Defense

Segment: Inverse Equity

Sub-Segment: Inverse S&P 500

Correlation (vs. S&P 500): Very High (inverse)

Expected Volatility (vs. S&P 500): Similar (but opposite)

Holding Analysis
SPDN does not rely on shorting individual stocks in the S&P 500. Instead, the managers typically use a combination of futures, swaps and other derivative instruments to create a portfolio that consistently aims to deliver the opposite of what the S&P 500 does.

Strengths
SPDN is a fairly “no-frills” way to do what many investors probably wished they could do during the first 9 months of 2022 and in past bear markets: find something that goes up when the “market” goes down. After all, bonds are not the answer they used to be, commodities like gold have, shall we say, lost their luster. And moving to cash creates the issue of making two correct timing decisions, when to get in and when to get out. SPDN and its single-inverse ETF brethren offer a liquid tool to use in a variety of ways, depending on what a particular investor wants to achieve.

Weaknesses
The weakness of any inverse ETF is that it does the opposite of what the market does, when the market goes up. So, even in bear markets when the broader market trend is down, sharp bear market rallies (or any rallies for that matter) in the S&P 500 will cause SPDN to drop as much as the market goes up.

Opportunities
While inverse ETFs have a reputation in some circles as nothing more than day-trading vehicles, our own experience with them is, pardon the pun, exactly the opposite! We encourage investors to try to better-understand single inverse ETFs like SPDN. While traders tend to gravitate to leveraged inverse ETFs (which actually are day-trading tools), we believe that in an extended bear market, SPDN and its ilk could be a game-saver for many portfolios.

Threats
SPDN and most other single inverse ETFs are vulnerable to a sustained rise in the price of the index it aims to deliver the inverse of. But that threat of loss in a rising market means that when an investor considers SPDN, they should also have a game plan for how and when they will deploy this unique portfolio weapon.

Proprietary Technical Ratings
Short-Term Rating (next 3 months): Strong Buy

Long-Term Rating (next 12 months): Buy

Conclusions
ETF Quality Opinion
SPDN does what it aims to do, and has done so for over 6 years now. For a while, it was largely-ignored, given the existence of a similar ETF that has been around much longer. But the more tenured SPDN has become, the more attractive it looks as an alternative.

ETF Investment Opinion

SPDN is rated Strong Buy because the S&P 500 continues to look as vulnerable to further decline. And, while the market bottomed in mid-June, rallied, then waffled since that time, our proprietary macro market indicators all point to much greater risk of a major decline from this level than a fast return to bull market glory. Thus, SPDN is at best a way to exploit and attack the bear, and at worst a hedge on an otherwise equity-laden portfolio.