One of the tools that I have learned to use to keep a finger on the pulse of the market is to pay attention to sectors of the economy that complement others. I find the Materials sector to be one of the more interesting sectors of the market, because it encompasses a pretty wide range […]
Read MoreLike most investors, I’ve always looked at the market, at least partially, through the lens of my own personal and professional experience. As a self-described nerd with a lot of experience and education in software and technology, it’s pretty natural for me to gravitate to stocks in tech-driven industries. The Technology sector has been a […]
Read MoreOne of the primary elements I like to use to filter through the tens of thousands of stocks in the market is dividend payout. In the broadest sense, companies that pay a consistent dividend only do so because they have the financial resources – including healthy liquidity, free cash flow, and operating margins – to […]
Read MoreWhen the uncertainty keeps broad segments of the economy on edge, it can be hard to find industries that won’t be affected. The Food Products industry in the Consumer Staples sector is an area of the market that tends to get overlooked because it just isn’t very sexy. It doesn’t get talked about much on […]
Read MoreOne of the things that I find fascinating about the stock market is the way that economic and industry dynamics impact stock prices. Part of the challenge – and therefore, the intrigue – comes from the fact that stocks don’t always react the way you would expect. What you may perceive as good news or […]
Read MoreWhen you filter through all the noise in news and market media, the one of the main questions throughout the year is when a new bull market will finally happen. That, of course begs the question, at least to me, of how long the combined mix of economic headwinds that are inflation, supply constraints, war, […]
Read MoreOne of the most-maligned industries of the market this year is Banking – more specifically, regional banks. Rising interest rates – which the Fed has confirmed aren’t likely to end until later this year, and possibly next – naturally blunt demand for commercial, residential and consumer lending. More recently, uncertainty has increased around regional banks, […]
Read MoreOne of the interesting things about the market is the reality that not all areas of the market offer good opportunities at the same time. That fact is one of the reasons that, as both an analyst and individual investor, I’ve always found the stock market so interesting. Learning to recognize that different sectors and […]
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 sound bite. It’s also useful in building a disciplined investing mindset, because it’s designed to disconnect a person’s bias about […]
Read MoreIt’s getting harder to find good values under current market and economic conditions. When sustained, high inflation pushes interest rates to a certain point, it gets harder for companies to sustain earnings and profit margin growth as input costs keep increasing. That doesn’t mean good values can’t be found, but it does mean that they […]
Read MoreThe market’s uncertainty and volatility throughout 2023 has kept a lot of stocks hovering around new, historical lows. Seeing 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 […]
Read MoreOver the course of my investing career, I’ve learned to rely on a lot of fundamental data to describe the underlying strength of any stock I might consider using for a value-based investment. I’ve also learned to go beyond easy-to-reference, quick-glance data like earnings per share and price-to-earnings ratios, and to expand my view of […]
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 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 MoreGrowth investing leans heavily on the idea that stocks tend to follow the direction of their previous trends. That may just be a nerdy way to say that the longer a stock has been going up, the more likely it is to keep going up. It is also why growth investors shun stocks that are […]
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