What companies should be watched to determine the trend in the market?
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS)
Why?
GS is the bellwhether and preeminent investment bank in the world and the former CEO is the Sec. of the Tresury.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)
Why?
BAC is the largest consumer/retail bank and its activity is a monitor of the consumer activities in the economy
Wal-mart (NYSE:WMT)
The obvious reason is that WMT is the largest discount retailer in the world.
JP Morgan-Chase (NYSE:JPM)
JPM is the largest money center bank catering to a business client, i.e., Fortune 500 company. Compared to BAC, JPM is an entirely different bank making its fees from underwritings and corporate advisory. Where BAC makes most of its fees from ATMs and other retail banking operations. JPM is as different from BAC as Ameritrade is from Goldman Sachs.
There are other compnaies which we will list in a later post.