One of the interesting trends that seems to inevitably come out of periods of economic uncertainty is investor rotation into “defensive” sectors, which usually includes Utilities, Consumer Staples and other pockets of the market that investors tend to think of as safe havens when market uncertainty is high. Another favorite topic analysts seem to like […]
Read MoreThroughout 2021, investors have increasingly been looking for reasons to look ahead – past the pandemic and to the day when we can finally say the whole thing is in the past. Many hoped that, with vaccinations becoming increasingly available, we would finally be able to stop talking about COVID-19 and its variants and start […]
Read MoreSince mid-June, the broad market has pushed above a consolidation range that lasted the better part of two months and has spent the summer extending its upward trend. This week some of that momentum has waned just a bit, but at the same time the S&P 500 Index has continued to establish new, all-time highs […]
Read MoreNo matter what current market conditions may be at any given time, one of the primary questions any long-term focused investor – whether you prefer a growth or value approach – should be whether the strength of the underlying business is strong enough to justify a stock’s current price. For growth-focused investors, the question is […]
Read MoreOver the last few months, much of the commentary we’ve been seeing on market media and among analyst reports have revolved around the “reopening” theme – what stocks you should focus on as business and economic activity starts to shows signs of coming back from the long, pandemic-driven drop we all had to deal with […]
Read MoreOne of the things that always seems to be a little bit ironic to me about the markets is the way that fear tends to weave a web of intrigue and uncertainty under just about all conditions. That often means that when the market starts to correct, investors, analysts and economists don’t just look for […]
Read MoreAs a conservative-minded, value and fundamental-driven investor, my natural tendency is to shy away from stocks that market experts and popular market media analysts tend to talk to the most about. That means that my investments rarely look very sexy – but I’m far less interested in being sexy than I am in being able […]
Read MoreThe Food Products industry in the Consumer Staples sector is an area of the market that doesn’t get much buzz from market media types because it isn’t very sexy. Despite that fact, it is one of very few segments of the market that saw consumer-driven improvements in demand during the pandemic in a trend that […]
Read MoreInvestors are always looking for the “next big thing” in the stock market to give them something to talk about with their friends. That is part of the reason that market media outlets tend to drive so much of the investing public’s focus on the fastest-growing industries. Along the way, stocks in other industries tend […]
Read MoreI have written quite a bit about how I like to pay attention to stocks in the Food Products industry when market conditions become more uncertain and broad volatility starts to increase. That’s because while the industry itself can hardly be described as disruptive – in fact, I’ve seen analysts throughout the year dismiss the […]
Read MoreShort-term trading to take advantage of swings between very near-term highs and lows, or long-term investing with an eye on how much a stock should be worth? it’s a question that anybody that wants to use the stock market to put their money to work for them has to figure out for themselves. Short-term trading […]
Read MoreOne of the primary fundamental metrics I have learned to use over the years to filter through the tens of thousands of publicly traded companies in the stock market is to look for a history of dividend payout. Dividends are one of the simplest ways for a company’s management to express confidence in its long-term […]
Read MoreThe “herd mentality” can be a funny thing to think about in societal terms – but it’s a real thing in the stock market. The sheer number of publicly traded stocks on U.S. exchanges alone creates a wave of market data that no single person can handle alone, and that’s a big reason why it […]
Read MoreI’ve written quite a bit in this space about my opinion that the Consumer Staples sector – and more specifically, stocks in the Food Products and Food and Staples Retail industries – are smart places to find good values in today’s market. That’s because most of the stocks in these industries are benefitting from the […]
Read MoreBeing a value-oriented investor means that seeing stocks trading at or near all-time highs is actually a demotivating factor; that’s because value-based analysis compares the value of the company’s book of business against the stock’s current price. Since the market tend to inflate stock values, upward trends typically outpace the growth in profitability. That means […]
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