Closing out a quarter, and moving into a new one, often prompts talking heads and analysts to look back and find the storylines that carried the market over the last few months. In a pandemic world, the narrative doesn’t really stray too far away from COVID-19 and the impact it continues to have, both from […]
Read MoreEver since the coronavirus pandemic reached North American shores, investors have keyed on the virus more than any other issue in driving market direction. Nationwide shutdown and self-isolation orders brought the U.S. economy to a grinding halt in late February and forced the market to visit bear market lows by mid-March. Hopes that the worst […]
Read MoreSpikes in COVID-19 infections across the country have put the market on uneven footing in the last couple of weeks, with the major indices coming off of their most recent highs and sparking concern that a broader pullback, or more alarming, a fresh new correction could be looming. That uncertainty has been enough to push […]
Read MoreOver the last several years, one of the biggest benchmarks the Fed has used to evaluate the need to raise, lower or maintain their interest rate policy has been the employment rate. Every month, the market seems to hold its breath as a new set of unemployment and salary data is made available and everybody […]
Read MoreAs 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 MoreSurveying the stock market right now is an interesting mix of contradictions. It seems that with very few exceptions, every industry in almost every sector has had to absorb some kind of impact from the global pandemic that forced governments to shutter their economies and issue shelter-in-place orders through most of the second quarter of […]
Read MoreThe U.S. economy could be starting to find its footing again. While unemployment as a total number remains high, it does appear to be flattening nationally, and has even starting to drop in a number of states. COVID-19 isn’t going away – in fact, if the weekend’s reports are accurate, I think that we are […]
Read MoreIn my search for value, I’ve found it useful to develop a watchlist of stocks that I can check on a regular basis. That means that I often recycle stocks that I’ve previously used to make useful investments in, but don’t currently have a position in. That’s useful, because the familiarity that comes with the […]
Read MoreNo matter what current market conditions are at any given time, the point of value-oriented investing is to find stocks that offer attractive long-term upside. For my approach, that means using a combination of valuation, fundamental strength, and technical analysis to filter through the thousands of stocks that are available. With investors seemingly anxious to […]
Read MoreSince state governments began loosening COVID-19 mandated restrictions about six weeks ago, local economies have been getting restarted on a gradual basis. Today before the market opened, a new report on consumer spending seemed to show the kind of pent-up eagerness consumers have had to get back to some semblance of “normal”, as retail sales […]
Read MoreAny experienced investor, no matter what their investment philosophy is, will undoubtedly tell you that one of the most useful ways they keep track of new opportunities as they come up is by maintaining a watchlist of stocks that they can check on a regular basis. A good, diversified list of stocks in a variety […]
Read MoreOver the last several months, the Aerospace industry, which includes commercial airlines has been one of the biggest, unquestioned losers in the stock market. Yes, the biggest portion of that drop comes from the reality that the industry took some of the biggest drawdowns in the market starting in February as commercial travel dried up […]
Read MoreVolatility appears to be returning to the markets this week, as concern is increasing about a second wave of COVID-19 infections. Yesterday Fed chair Jerome Powell announced the Fed was planning to keep rates at or near zero through 2022 to support economic recovery following a near-complete shutdown of U.S. business activity in an effort […]
Read MoreOne of the biggest questions value-oriented investors have to ask themselves is the reason a stock may have an interesting valuation. More often than not, one of the simplest reasons is because the stock has been beaten down by the broad market. The reasons for the decline are multitudinous, and can imply cyclical, economic, or […]
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