If we go back to February 19, when the S&P 500 peaked at what was an all-time high at the time, the market has gone through five phases since then. The first phase was the incredibly steep selloff in stocks with the index falling 34%. During this first phase, the worst performing sector of the […]
When the select sector SPDRs first launched the telecom sector was considered one of the 10 main economic sectors by Standard & Poor’s. However, this was also the time of a huge shift in how people around the world communicate. The telecom sector alone no longer really captured how the world was communicating. So the […]
Financial bubbles and bursts are difficult to spot and time. Professor Robert J. Shiller’s chart of historical S&P 500 price to earnings ratios is a yardstick for U.S. stock market valuations, which are currently at very high historical levels. Below I outline tools that can help reduce portfolio risk. Some preliminary steps Organize and declutter […]
Discount retailer Big Lots (BIG) appears to be benefitting from the current economic environment. The company reported earnings on August 28 and it saw earnings per share jump to $2.75 per share in the second quarter. The EPS from the second quarter of 2019 were $0.53, meaning the EPS jumped by 419%. Analysts expect the […]
Very few stocks have been able to escape the selling that has hit the market in the last few days, but one Dutch diagnostics and research firm has bucked the trend over the last two days. Qiagen (QGEN) did drop sharply on Thursday, September 3, but that put the stock at the lower rail of […]
Investing in equities can produce high long-term returns but is subject to short-term volatility. In positive economic environments stock prices tend to do well. However, when business and the economy falter prices can decrease substantially. Stock price moves in a stock portfolio can be counterbalanced by adding assets that may move in the opposite direction […]
The election cycle is heating up, bringing increased uncertainty and volatility. The strategy below for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) can be used to navigate the upcoming weeks. A long position in the ETF is combined with a bear call spread, reducing downside risk while preserving upside potential. Advantage is taken of relative […]
There have been plenty of news articles speculating whether U.S. airlines will manage through the latest downturn in travel demand. In early August, all the major U.S. air carriers announced plans to furlough pilots, flight attendants, and layoff ground personnel. The CARES Act funding was going to run out as of Oct 1, therefore most […]
Cogent Communication Holdings (CCOI) is a provider of high-speed internet access and private networks to clients around the world. The company specializes in offering its services to law firms, financial service firms, and advertising and marketing firms. With so many people working from home, firms are looking to boost their Internet services with faster speeds […]
Many years ago I was invited in to my oldest son’s classroom to talk to the kids about what I do for a living. These were fourth graders and obviously I didn’t want to get too deep with them about how stocks work and so forth. Because I rely on technical analysis quite a bit, […]
