2023 has seen more than its share of economic and market-driven uncertainty, and that’s kept a lot of recognizable names trading near historical lows. The truth about the economy, of course, is that it is subject to a lot of forces that have a relatively high degree of variability. These include global, macroeconomic considerations, as […]
Read MoreWhen the uncertainty puts most sectors of the economy on edge, it can be hard to find industries that won’t be affected. In the same vein, finding a stock under broadly uncertain conditions that is likely to go up also gets harder. When you do come across one, it’s notable enough that even a hardened […]
Read MoreOne of the fundamental differences between growth and value investing lies in the way that the extreme ends of price swings are interpreted and used. Where growth-focused investors view a stock at or near historical highs as a great thing, for example, a value seeker will usually shrug their shoulders and move on to something […]
Read MoreOne of the things uncertainty in the markets does is to make investors hesitant about new buying opportunities, which makes some sense when it looks like the economy could be on the brink of a new recession. Economic uncertainty is a big reason that defensive-oriented stocks have remained an important part of my investing focus, […]
Read MoreOne of the core principles about technical analysis that was drilled into my head early in my investing career is that “the market is always right.” It’s one of those idioms that is good as a sound bite. It’s also useful in building a disciplined investing mindset, because it’s designed to disconnect a person’s bias […]
Read MoreThe market’s rough start to 2023 has kept a lot of stocks plumbing new, historical lows. See stocks on the low side of their historical movements is something that makes the typical, growth-oriented investor nervous. The longer that condition lasts, and an actual bear market is maintained, the more it tends to flush most of […]
Read MoreSince before 2020, I’ve been writing about the wisdom in taking a defensive approach to your investing portfolio. There are lot of ways you can get defensive. Pulling cash out of the market when you have opportunities to do so, and keeping it on the sidelines for the time being is one approach. Another is […]
Read MoreOne of the best tools I’ve found to filter through the market quickly for fundamental strength is dividend payout. Dividends are one of the simplest ways for a company’s management to express confidence in its long-term prospects, and to return value to its shareholders. Talking heads and a lot of analysts tend to focus on […]
Read MoreThe market’s increasing volatility over the past week has forced a lot of stocks off of near-term highs, with speculation increasing about whether the market could be increasing in risk. Market drawdowns are scary for most investors, but for value-focused investors and contrarians, they’re new opportunities to mine the market for useful value. In my […]
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. Another way to describe this mindset uses the word “contrarian,” and it’s a mindset that I think becomes more useful when market uncertainty increases. […]
Read MoreValue-oriented, contrarian-minded investors like me tend to think a little differently than the average investor, which means we like to look for opportunities in the areas of the market everybody else tends to ignore. The Food Products industry is a good example. While this is pocket of the economy that I think makes sense to […]
Read MoreEvery year, threads emerge that can be used to tell the story of the U.S. economy, and therefore the financial markets. For me, one of the most interesting, consistent threads is the pace and level of energy prices. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, which acts as the benchmark for oil produced throughout North America started […]
Read MoreNo matter what your approach to the stock market may be, there are a myriad number of issues that come at you and demand attention. Some of those elements can be anticipated, if not predicted; for example, if a company is getting set for a new quarterly earnings report, it’s pretty normal to see a […]
Read MoreThe Tech sector has enjoyed the lion’s share of attention among all segments of the economy for a number of years. That’s been a good thing during bull markets, but it also means the sector really gets pummeled when uncertainty increases. Since 2020, that attention – driven in no small part by the increasingly central […]
Read MoreOne of the challenges for every investor is the task of assimilating different storylines to put the market in practical context. Beginning In 2022, the focus began to shift away from pandemic-driven questions to concerns about the pace of inflation and the rise in interest rates that some fear could push a growing economy into […]
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