One of the hallmarks of the market’s upward trend this year has been the strength of the U.S. economy, even in the face of trade uncertainty that seemed to abate only after the U.S. and China both confirmed an initial, in-principle “phase one” agreement that held off increased tariffs earlier this month, with negotiations ongoing […]
Read MoreThe market has struggled to define a clear direction in the last couple of days. While the Fed did as most economists and analysts predicted, cutting rates by another quarter point this week, the market was less than enthused by Chairman Powell’s comments, which seemed to fail to deliver the kind of clarity about the […]
Read MoreAn eventful weekend promises to keep the market interesting this week. A series of drone strikes on Saturday knocked out about half of Saudi Arabia’s daily oil production. The culprit has yet to be definitely identified, although the Trump administration didn’t hesistate from pointing fingers at Iran. As of Sunday night, both Brent and West […]
Read MoreIf you’ve been reading my daily posts for very long at all, you should be pretty used to seeing me evaluate companies throughout the market on the basis of both their fundamental strength as well as their value proposition. That’s because in the search for good investing opportunities, I’ve learned to rely on a few […]
Read MoreOne of the hallmarks of the market’s upward trend this year (even factoring in the market volatility and pull back since late July from the latest all-time high) has been the strength of the U.S. economy. Even as trade uncertainty continues to keep investors and analysts on edge, concerns about interest rate policy persist, and […]
Read MoreWhen technical traders see a stock’s price pattern diverging from its industry or sector, the question becomes whether that divergence represents an opportunity, or a risk. The commonly held principle that “a rising tide lifts all ships” usually means that if a broad segment of the market, such as the Consumer Discretionary sector, is performing […]
Read MoreThe Consumer Discretionary sector has been one of the highest-performing sectors in the market year-to-date; as the broad market has pushed to new all-time highs, so has this sector, increasing about 24% year to date and more than 4% in the last month, as measured by the S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Sector SPDR ETF (XLY). […]
Read MoreAt the beginning of May, I took a long look at Carnival Corp (CCL), the largest cruise operator in the world. At the time, the stock was up about 11% for the year, riding the broader market’s rally to that point to a short-term peak at about $55 that appeared to have the stock positioned […]
Read MoreWhile the market has found itself on increasing shaky ground throughout the month of May, one stock in particular seems to have stood out above the entire market. Roku, Inc. (ROKU) has nearly quadrupled in value from its bottom at the end of December, running from about $26 per share to its Friday close at […]
Read MoreAfter a few days of doing like the rest of the market and paying a lot of attention to tariff news and trade war rhetoric, it felt like today might be a good time to shift the focus – at least a little bit – away from some of those issues and look for something […]
Read MoreAt the beginning of 2018, I ran a complete analysis of Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY), a stock that I’ve followed for some time, and used in the past for some of my own value-oriented investments. The stock has been in an extended, long-term downward trend dating back to the first quarter of 2015. That […]
Read MoreI started out this week looking for stocks that are currently bucking the overall market’s bullish tone and trend right now. That’s a deliberately contrarian viewpoint that works off of the simple idea that stocks that are trading at or near low extremes offer a better bargain proposition than those that are surging to new […]
Read MoreWithin the scope of long-term investing, there are two primary methods most of us 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. […]
Read MoreIn investing, there’s a natural tendency to be drawn to familiar names, an emotional comfort zone that comes from thinking about putting your hard-earned dollars into a company to which you feel you have a connection. It’s one of the reason well-known fundamental investors like Peter Lynch are known for suggesting idioms like “invest in […]
Read MoreMarket news for the last while has seemed to be almost completely focused on the trade war between the U.S. and China – to the point that investors seem to be getting what some might call “trade fatigue” – which could be a point where even if or when a deal is made, the broad […]
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