Among the interesting trends I have been watching for most of the last two and a half years, and that has emerged over that period is the shift in consumer focus towards health, wellness and fitness. That includes the clothes we wear for those activities. For most of us, exercise usually means going to the […]
Read MoreUncertainty in the financial markets, and in the economy is usually considered a bad thing, because it makes things more difficult and stressful for everybody. Fear about inflation and whether the Fed will move to aggressively raise interest rates or take a more moderated approach, along with the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and […]
Read MoreOne of the primary and most basic differences between growth and value investing lies in the way that the extreme ends of price swings are interpreted and used. For a growth-focused investor, seeing a stock at or near historical highs is a great thing, pointing to good signs of continued growth, since stocks tend to […]
Read MoreTraditional, growth-oriented investing puts most of its emphasis on stocks that have already started moving up. That makes sense when you consider the popular technical idiom that a “stock tends to follow the direction of its next longer trend.” It means that when you can clearly see a stock going up, it should continue to […]
Read MoreThrough most of the past two years, one of the surprising stories is the way that a lot of traditional, brick-and-mortar retail companies found creative ways to shift their operations to work in a COVID-restricted world. Along with unprecedented stimulus like extended unemployment benefits that shielded a lot of Americans from the worst economic impacts […]
Read MoreIn the first quarter of 2022, broad market commentary has shifted from the pandemic-driven questions and concerns that defined most of 2020 and all of 2021. The after-effects of monetary and stimulus policies that pumped money into the economy during the worst of the pandemic began to show clear signs of cost inflation, not only […]
Read MoreA primary economic theme for 2022, no matter whether you start the conversation by talking about the long-term impact of the pandemic, labor shortages, monetary policy, or the devastating conflict in Ukraine really boils down to inflation. Economic metrics were clearly starting show that inflation was picking up steam in late 2021, and this year […]
Read MoreDuring the last two years, one of the most interesting sectors of the market to pay attention to has been the Consumer Discretionary sector. This is a sector that is driven by consumer spending, which is generally highest when the economy is healthy. The COVID-19 pandemic shuttered all kinds of economic activity through much of […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — CarMax Inc. sank after its fourth-quarter used vehicle sales missed analyst estimates, with soaring prices and anxiety over the economy keeping some customers away. The Richmond, Virginia-based company cited declining consumer confidence and affordability, among other factors, for a 6.5% drop in the number of used cars it sold last quarter in stores […]
Read MoreIn 2021, one of the common themes that helped buoy the stock market in general, and a lot of consumer-focused industries specifically was the reopening of business and social activity and the expected surge in consumer spending that would accompany it. While COVID didn’t abate as some hoped, and the “return to normal” was more […]
Read MoreOver the years of my investing career, I have learned that thinking of myself as a lifelong learner has been a good way to stay open not only to investing opportunities that fit my preferred investing style, but also to finding new ways to adapt as the market continues its never-ending process of evolution. Even […]
Read MoreThe Consumer Discretionary sector includes stocks that cover a wide variety of the Retail industry. Because there are so many retail companies that offer different products to consumers, it’s hard to pinpoint any kind of specific niche. In the sporting goods category, declining revenues in traditional brick-and-mortar stores were already a theme before 2020, in […]
Read MoreIn market and general news media, the last month has, not surprisingly been dominated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with a couple of side notes about the long-term economic effect of increasing Western sanctions on Russia that helped spike oil and energy prices, and rising inflation. This month also saw the Federal Reserve raise its […]
Read MoreOne of the primary and most basic differences between growth and value investing lies in the way that the extreme ends of price swings are interpreted and used. For a growth-focused investor, seeing a stock at or near historical highs is a great thing, pointing to good signs of continued growth, since stocks tend to […]
Read MoreTo say that in 2022, the market has been rocky is certainly an understatement. Fears of inflation and interest rate increases quickly gave way to rising oil prices and the now-ongoing conflict in Ukraine that seems unlikely to see a quick or peaceful end. All of it together has created a pretty constant state of […]
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