Over the course of my investing career, I have learned to rely on a lot of fundamental data to paint a picture about the underlying strength of any stock I might consider using for a value-based investment. While some fundamental investors prefer to work with easy-to-reference, quick-glance data like earnings per share and price-to-earnings ratios, […]
Read MoreThere is a pretty significant difference in the way different investors perceive a stock in a long-term upward trend. For growth oriented-investors, the longer the upward trend, the more attractive the stock is, simply because the expectation is that the longer, bullish trend will outlast any near-term, bearish sentiment or momentum the stock may see. […]
Read MoreOne of the sectors that I have learned to pay attention to as a barometer for the underlying relative health of the economy is the Materials sector, because the companies that comprise it produce or mine many of the raw materials that make up the building blocks for most of the finished goods we use […]
Read MoreOne of the primary and most basic differences between growth and value investing lies in the way that the extreme ends of price swings are interpreted and used. For a growth-focused investor, seeing a stock at or near historical highs is a great thing, pointing to good signs of continued growth, since stocks tend to […]
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 more interested in being able to keep my money working for […]
Read More2022 has meant a lot of uncertainty in the marketplace so far. Inflation, rising interest rates and war are just the biggest headlines that have kept the markets on edge, and that seem likely to keep uncertainty relatively high as we start to move into summer. While everybody wants to keep the good times rolling […]
Read MoreOver the last year, the pandemic has consistently defied attempts to look past its effects and global impact. Variants of the virus sparked multiple infection waves through 2021 that kept hospitalizations high and strained the health care system in general. As 2022 started, some of those effects appear to have tapered enough that the market […]
Read More2022 has played out pretty differently than a lot of experts thought it would. While the COVID-19 pandemic is still not over, it has been surpassed in newsworthy conversations – political, social, or economic – by the reality of high inflation, rising interest rates, and geopolitical turmoil. It’s been enough to push all of the […]
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 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced the West to impose harsh economic […]
Read MoreOne of the most successful investors in the entire history of the U.S. stock market, and arguably the most famous of our era is Warren Buffett. His annual reports for Berkshire Hathaway have long been considered required reading for any serious fundamental or value-oriented investor because of the way he outlines his views of current […]
Read MoreLooking for value in the stock market is something that I have found can be done in any market condition, but it is something that tends to get dismissed by most pundits simply because it isn’t very sexy. Popular, “buzzy” names like Tesla, Netflix, and Amazon practically never pass the value test because the massive […]
Read MoreThe longer you invest in the stock market, the more familiar you become with a lot of the concepts that are used to define and justify the various investing methods that drive them. A lot of those concepts can be summarized into cute little sound bites that make them easier to remember and work with. […]
Read MoreThroughout 2022, one of the biggest storylines in the marketplace has been the pace of inflation. It’s been reflected in rising prices across the board all the way to the consumer level, and one of the places it has been most clearly seen is the price of crude. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, which acts […]
Read MoreTraditional, growth-oriented investing puts most of its emphasis on stocks that have already started moving up. That makes sense when you consider the popular technical idiom that a “stock tends to follow the direction of its next longer trend.” It means that when you can clearly see a stock going up, it should continue to […]
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