The Weekend Update is Now Available

The latest issue of the Iacono Research Weekend Update has been posted to the website and is now available for subscribers here. There were no changes to the model portfolio or the buy ratings this week but the current issue takes a look at the performance of the model portfolio at mid-year along with what to expect during the second half and returns to the topic of gold versus gold stocks in these discussion topics:

• The Model Portfolio at Mid-Year
• Resuming the Discussion on Gold Stocks

The executive summary is as follows:

Risk assets were bid sharply higher on Friday after another European Union summit ended with another agreement to aid indebted nations and support faltering credit markets, this time policymakers promising to establish a single banking authority while also proposing a $149 billion stimulus plan. Amid mixed economic data in the U.S., broad equity markets ended the first half of the year on a positive note as the Nasdaq had its biggest one-day gain so far.

The oil price jumped more than 9 percent on the news from Brussels and other commodity prices saw similar gains while trying to recover from the drubbing of recent months and the natural resource sector turned in its best week of the year. Precious metals moved higher but trailed the gains seen by most other commodities while mining shares had mixed results and the model portfolio rose 1.3 percent, now down 1.0 percent for the year.