Over roughly the last three years, I’ve been writing about the wisdom in being very selective about the investments you make. That includes taking a defensive approach by looking for industries and businesses whose operations aren’t as sensitive to the and ebb and flow of economic growth. In 2020, Food Products stocks were the clear […]
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 role of […]
Read MoreOne of the classic benchmarks of the economy’s health and strength is the housing market. Stocks of retail companies like Home Depot (HD) and Lowe’s (LOW) often serve as proxies of to guide the market’s perception of the housing market. It’s also pretty common to see experts and analysts referring to homebuilders like D.R. Horton […]
Read MoreNo matter whether you prefer to focus on short-term trading strategies that emphasize a stock’s current price momentum or longer-term methods focusing on fundamental strength and a stock’s value-based price, there are a myriad number of issues that come at you and demand attention. Some of those elements can be foreseen to a certain extent; […]
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 MoreMarkets are naturally cyclical – they swing from high to low and back again on a consistent, if unpredictable basis over a range of time frames. The different time periods associated with any given cycle, or sometimes even the depth of a certain cycle’s direction, can shade the casual investor’s perception about a stock’s opportunity. […]
Read MoreAfter COVID-19 dominated headlines through 2020 and 2021, there is one word that can sum up market concerns this year, and it isn’t pandemic. Inflation is one of those words that tends to stoke fear in the marketplace, because it is usually tied so closely with the ebb and flow of interest rates. The reality […]
Read MoreThe deeper into the year we get, the more uncertainty seems to be the theme that will define 2022. From geopolitics to economics, all of it together has created a pretty constant state of uncertainty, and elevated volatility in the stock market. Economic uncertainty usually suggests that cyclically-sensitive industries are the most exposed to downside […]
Read MoreFor most of 2022, supply shortages, along with increasing energy demand have been pushing the prices of energy products, including crude oil and natural gas to levels not seen since 2014. Even more support for those high prices has come since February as a result of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war sends ripple effects on multiple […]
Read MoreAmong the interesting trends I have been watching for most of the last two and a half years, and that has emerged over that period is the shift in consumer focus towards health, wellness and fitness. That includes the clothes we wear for those activities. For most of us, exercise usually means going to the […]
Read MoreThere are any number of dynamics that come to play in the markets at any given time, which means that the ebb and flow of a nation’s economic health can be tied to a variety of dynamics, including political and geopolitical shifts. That also includes social perceptions and changes, and as we have seen since […]
Read MoreStocks in the Technology sector get a lot of attention and buzz from investors, analysts and talking heads alike no matter the time of year or current status of the economy. I think that a big reason comes from the reality that progress and evolution in just about every other sector of the economy is, […]
Read MoreCisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) is one of the most recognizable and established companies in the Technology sector. With a market cap of more than $188 billion, they are also one of the largest, if not THE largest player in the Networking & Communications segment. They are, without question, the standard that all other networking (including […]
Read MoreSince 2019, I’ve used economic uncertainty – first from a year-long trade war through 2019, and then of course the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020, and certainly broadly inflationary news to this point in 2022, from rising consumer prices and producer input costs, continuing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and what most now expect to […]
Read MoreUncertainty in the financial markets, and in the economy is usually considered a bad thing, because it makes things more difficult and stressful for everybody. Fear about inflation and whether the Fed will move to aggressively raise interest rates or take a more moderated approach, along with the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and […]
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