As an analyst, I take a lot of interest in trying to find reasons the market stages some of the moves it makes. The factors, geopolitical, economic, or emotional, that drives trends over any time period can be widely varied, and sometimes it’s interesting to see not only what is influencing the market today, but […]
Read MoreIt’s interesting to see how market dynamics affect different industries and sectors of the economy at different points in time. Historical trends and norms prompt us to categorize certain areas of the market as “defensive” or “cyclical,” “aggressive” or “conservative” simply because of the way the price activity those areas, or even individual stocks have […]
Read MoreOne of the challenges of watching the stock market on a daily basis is filtering out the noise of day-to-day market fluctuations. On Wednesday, for example, the market was up slightly for most of the day, but sold off late as investors shrugged off mostly favorable earnings reports and focused instead on selling off healthcare […]
Read MoreAs the market edges ever nearer to the all-time high it set late last year, the number of opinions about where the market will go from here are becoming increasingly divergent. The market has been pricing in the expectation of positive catalysts so far this year, like a trade deal between the U.S. and China […]
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 MoreThis year has seen the broad market rally strongly to begin testing its all-time highs established in September of 2018. That rally has favored just about every sector of the market, including the Materials sector. As measured by the S&P 500 Materials Sector SPDR (XLB), the sector is up a little over 15% year-to-date. Normally, […]
Read MoreNo matter what current market conditions are, one of the biggest challenges for an investor is finding stocks that fit their investment preferences at any given time. The market ebbs and flows from high to low extremes, and those shifting conditions mean that investing strategies may offer up more opportunities in one environment, and fewer […]
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 MoreA couple of decades ago, I was a young man, just getting my start in the stock market and anxious to learn everything I could. One of the many books I was referred to, and was informed should be required reading for anybody just getting started, was One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch. […]
Read MoreThe market’s rally from a low point on Christmas Eve last year has given a lot of investors reason to think that the worst of the correction before that, which tested bear market territory for all of the major market indices, is probably done. With seemingly positive news on the trade front working along with […]
Read MoreIf you spend a couple of minutes talking to anybody that has invested in the stock market for very long, you’ll almost inevitably hear them throw out a few of their favorite idioms. That’s because while sometimes they seem simplistic, obvious, or perhaps even a little silly, the truth is that many of them are […]
Read MoreWhen you spend time scouring the market for investing opportunities, it’s pretty easy to focus on the biggest, most recognizable and most established names in any industry. It isn’t just the name recognition that makes that a logical course to take, either; when a industry in general starts to attract the attention of the broad […]
Read MoreAmong the many sectors that have benefitted by the market’s rally off of a Christmas Eve low, semiconductors have used broad market sentiment to drive into solid intermediate-term upward trends. As measured by the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), the sector is up about 34% from that late-2018 low, and 24% year-to-date. There are a couple […]
Read MoreThe market started this week strong, spurred by optimism from data that indicated both the Chinese and U.S. economies aren’t slowing as much as previously feared. Reports of positive progress on the trade front helped as well, and could give the market a catalyst to rally and push above its March highs. If the news […]
Read MoreIsn’t it fascinating to see how quickly the mood of the market can shift? During the summer, and moving into fall of last year, it seemed like most of the talk and speculation I was seeing from experts and regular investors alike was extremely bullish. The market, and the economy had pushed through the ninth […]
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