From late March to the first part of April, one of the attention-grabbing stories in the market was the fall of ViacomCBS Inc. (VIAC) from a peak at around $102 within less than one week to below $50. VIAC announced announced it would be selling new shares to the market. The news diluted the value […]
Read MoreOne of the remarkable aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the fact that the economic downturn associated with immediate shutdowns and shelter-in-place restrictions didn’t have a stronger on real estate prices. More than a year later, we’re starting to talk about actual economic recovery on the heels of increasing vaccinations, and an employment trend that […]
Read MoreThe last year has seen a lot of different storylines emerge. Companies around the world found ways to evolve, but even so there are still significant challenges ahead. COVID is still a thing, even while pandemic-driven restrictions begin to ease, and that means that a complete “return to normal” as we tend to think of […]
Read MoreMore and more this year, consumers have been thinking about the activities they’ve been deprived from enjoying because of pandemic-driven restrictions, and what they might want to do as the economy starts to reopen. For the market, that’s good news that has prompted investors to start paying more attention to companies in industries that traditionally […]
Read MoreFor the past year, one of the most interesting storylines has been not only how corporations have evolved to survive and get by, but also how consumer behaviors and trends have adjusted as well. Broad-based shutdowns that shuttered businesses all over the U.S. at the beginning of the pandemic sent people home for an indefinite […]
Read MoreMost long-term investors put a heavy emphasis on fundamental analysis to help guide their decisions about what stocks they should pay attention to. In that vein, one of the big questions that most investors like to try to answer is what kind of returns they can realistically expect over time. That might sound funny since […]
Read MoreWithin the scope of long-term investing, there are two primary methods most investors use: investing for growth, or looking for value. I write a lot in this space about value-oriented investing, because more than two decades of study and hard experience have taught me that it is the investing method that suits me best. One […]
Read MoreThe Consumer Discretionary sector cuts a wide swath across the economic landscape of the United States. It’s easy to think about the sector as the place you’ll find retail stocks, but the truth is that there are a lot of other businesses within the sector that are much more than just the department stores and […]
Read MoreOver the past year, it’s been interesting to see not only how corporations have evolved to survive and get by, but also how consumer behaviors and trends have adjusted as well. Broad-based shutdowns that shuttered businesses all over the U.S. at the beginning of the pandemic sent people home for an unknown future. That move […]
Read MoreOne of the open questions of the past year has been about the point in time where questions, discussions and commentary about the economy and the world don’t continue to revolve around the pandemic. That question remains unanswered, but as an analyst, part of my job is to sift through the relentless, constant stream of […]
Read MoreRecessionary economic conditions tend to challenge a lot of different segments of the market. Others are usually seen as smart defensive places to put your money to work; I’ve spent a lot of time in this space focusing on some of those kinds of stocks throughout the course of the year. Consumer Staples stocks in […]
Read MoreEven before the coronavirus pandemic started to take down entire sectors of the economy beginning in February, the Auto industry was experiencing quite a bit of bearish pressure. Sales were down globally, reflecting economic slowing in various parts of the world as well as the effects of an extended trade war between the U.S. and […]
Read MoreIt isn’t too hard to argue that one of the most severely impacted industries over the last year as a result of coronavirus has been the auto industry. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering that for most of last spring, shutdown mandates and shelter-in-place orders brought global economic activity to a standstill. […]
Read MoreMy approach to value-based investing is something that represents the result of a lot of experience, both good and bad over more than two decades of time. One of the big questions that I had to answer for myself fairly early in the process was simple: out of the thousands of stocks that are available […]
Read MoreOne of the classic benchmarks of the economy’s health and strength is the housing market. Stocks of retail companies like Home Depot (HD) and Lowe’s (LOW) often serve as proxies of to guide the market’s perception of the housing market, but it also isn’t uncommon to see experts and analysts referring to homebuilders like D.R. […]
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