If there is one word that I think keeps the market on edge, it’s uncertainty. Each year, it seems that analysts and pundits alike spend a significant amount of time trying to identify the driving elements of market and economic activity. 2022 saw a lot of newsworthy events from war to inflation and everything in […]
Read MoreFor the past few years, the central narrative that investors and analysts have used to weave the market and economy’s movements into a single, cohesive thread is the coronavirus. While just about everybody wants to relegate the pandemic to history, its effects are still having an impact on daily life, and on the market. Variants […]
Read MoreOne of the primary criteria I’ve learned to use to filter through the thousands of publicly traded companies in the stock market is the payment of dividends. Dividends are a useful, relatively quick-reference approach to finding stocks with superior fundamentals than what most average investors pay attention to. Over time, they’ve also become more than […]
Read MoreOne of my favorite methods to quickly filter through the thousands of companies in the stock market is to focus on stocks that pay a consistent dividend. There are a couple of primary methods companies have to return the value of their business to shareholders. If you pay much attention to market media, you’ve probably […]
Read MoreWhen everybody is buying, contrarian and value-focused investors tend to get more cautious. The opposite is also true – when everybody is running for the exits, we start finding more and more attractive opportunities at great prices. The past year has been rough for just about every investing strategy, no matter whether you focus on […]
Read MoreThere are any number of dynamics that come to play in the markets at any given time – and not all of them come from company earnings announcements or national events. The reality of our ever-more connected world means that the ebb and flow of economic health on either a national or global scale can […]
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 $200 billion, and a clear position as a leader in the Technology sector, companies like CSCO are, without question, the standard against which all other business in their respective industries are […]
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 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 MoreOne of the challenges for any investor, no matter what method they prefer to use, is how to find new, useful opportunities to put their money to work. In that effort, one area that I think most investors don’t think about is investing in the companies that make access to the markets possible. I like […]
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 More2023 is off to a positive start; the S&P 500 is up about 8.5% so far, which has been enough to get people talking about a recovery from last year’s bear market. That broad, bullish momentum means that a lot of stocks have been rallying off of their own lows as well. If you’re looking […]
Read MoreOne of the big challenges for average investors like you and me is sifting through the mountains of information that comes from the market on a daily basis. I think that may be the biggest reason that so many investors have been conditioned over the course of decades of market activity to rely on analyst […]
Read MoreNo matter how tired we get of hearing about COVID-19, the truth is that it hasn’t gone away, and neither have the health concerns associated with it. There is no denying that ever since the virus found its way to American shores almost three years ago, a lot of media attention has been given to […]
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