Years ago, as I began my career as an investor, I read a book by Peter Lynch. Mr. Lynch had made his name, and his fortune, as the manager of Fidelity’s flagship Magellan fund in the late /70’s and ’80’s, and his incredible performance was one of the big reasons Magellan, at the time, was […]
Read MoreIn the last week, one of the interesting threads that I’ve seen come out of the market’s latest run of volatility is a wave of 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 […]
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 MoreProgress on the trade front has given the market a new set of momentum over the past couple of weeks – enough that the major indices are nearing the all-time highs they set at the end of July. Even so, the unpredictability associated with tariff news and the trade war itself has resulted in a […]
Read MoreThere are a lot of factors that a smart investor should consider when thinking about using a stock for a long-term investing opportunity. A company’s fundamental strength and relative value are two of the primary elements that I pay attention to, but along with those I also factor in technical factors like the stock’s long-term […]
Read MoreI’m wrapping up my run through the Healthcare Equipment industry by looking at a stock that, like just about the entire rest of the industry, is at the extreme high end of a very long-term upward trend. Part of the reason that this industry has drawn my attention this week is because of the extended […]
Read MoreThis week, I’ve been turning my focus to Healthcare stocks, most particularly to the Healthcare Equipment industry of that sector. The most-established stocks in the industry all seem to be at or very near to all-time high levels – something that I believe is driven by broad fundamental strength among most of these companies as […]
Read MoreIn the last few days, the Healthcare sector has drawn a little extra attention, since it has been one of the best-performing sectors in the market in the last month while other, more cyclical sectors have seen increasing bearish turns due to trade-related uncertainty and volatility. Healthcare stocks certainly do have some sensitivity to trade […]
Read MoreAs an investor that prefers to focus on value, my preference is to emphasize stocks that are currently trading at significant discounts to their basic valuation metrics. That usually means that most of my attention is directed on stocks that are also trading at or near to yearly or historical lows. That also means that […]
Read MoreTrade concerns have put investors on edge in general, which has led a number of industries to drift, or start move a bit lower. Industrial and Technology stocks, not surprisingly have been among the biggest movers as trade rumors ebb and flow, but indications that there may be progress are encouraging, including a new, 90-day […]
Read MoreJust as trade tensions seemed to escalating beyond any hope of near-term recovery, the Trump administration as well as Chinese officials both have seemed to shift the conversation. It certainly doesn’t mean that newly introduced tariffs from China, and an increase in existing and planned duties from the U.S. won’t happen, but it does seem […]
Read MoreWhile a lot of sectors in the market are showing a heightened level of volatility and sensitivity lately, many of them remain up quite nicely year to date, or over the past year. Trade concerns have become more and more heightened lately, spreading volatility throughout the market and pushing the curve between short-term and longer-term […]
Read MoreTrade, trade, trade – analysts and investors have been focusing on this single question now for more than a year. I don’t believe social media is helping the matter – President Trump tweets about increasing tariffs and calls China a trade “enemy,” and then a few days later seems to reverse course with another tweet […]
Read MoreIf you’re like me, it can get a bit tiresome to hear about nothing but the trade war, tariffs, and listen to market media and analysts speculate about the impact of the latest Trump tweet. It’s been more than a year that tariffs between the U.S. and its trading partners – and most particularly, China […]
Read MoreOne of the interesting things to observe in the economy during the late upward stages of an economic cycle is consumer lending. A struggling economy usually prompts the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates in an effort to encourage more business activity. Lower interest rates mean cheaper borrowing for businesses and individuals. For the purposes […]
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