Social Media Pulse: Volatility, The Fed Meeting & Oil -- And A Look At 3 Related ETFs

Market Prophit gathers and analyzes social media commentary related to the stock market and general investing, and then develops statistics that track sentiment for both experts (Market Prophits) and the public (the Crowd).

On Monday, Benzinga spoke with Market Prophit’s CEO Igor Gonta, who shared some of the most recent trends in the social media space.

Volatility

When asked about volatility, Gonta responded, “What a wild week last week. Although the volatility has ebbed a bit, it still remains in laser focus.”

He explained that both the Crowd and Market Prophits started going bullish on the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures TM ETN VXX around mid-July, “which preceded the explosive action due to the markets swoon.” He continued, “Currently, the sentiment for both has come off of elevated levels where the Crowd is in the neutral zone and the Market Prophits have turned slightly bearish.”

The Fed Meeting

Investors around the world are wondering if the Fed will lift rates in September given the recent volatility in global stocks.

Related Link: How Social Media Users Are Trading Oil, Netflix, SunEdison And Apple

Gonta stated, “We have to watch interest rates closely. The sentiment is starting to diverge on the price direction of the iShares Barclays 20+ Yr Treas.Bond (ETF) TLT.” The Crowd is bearish, “while signaling a potential increase, while the Market Prophits have turned slightly positive signaling a potential delay in the hike,” Gonta suggested.

Oil

Finally, the expert went into oil, which “is in focus as it had a huge snap back rally last week on a variety of factors including Venezuela calling for an emergency OPEC meeting to try and stem the massive losses in the commodity.” Gonta assured that the Crowd is currently negative, while the Market Prophits are neutral, “but having come off of recent very strong positive sentiment.”

The United States Oil Fund LP (ETF) USO rose 12.47 percent last week.