Approaching Neutral
The major stock market indexes tacked on more losses last week, even though markets were only open for three-and-a-half days and trading was relatively light. The Nasdaq closed the week 4.3% lower, the Dow was down 4.4%, and the S&P 500 lost But...
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Ready For Whatever Comes Next
The stock market is trying to pull itself together as October ends. Following Friday’s massive selloff, bargain hunters attempted to take control Monday, but selling pressures overwhelmed the rally and all three major indexes closed lower once again. Yesterday’s had...
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A Change in Leadership
Despite occasional hiccups, the stock market’s main trend is up. However, the advance has changed character a bit. We’re seeing investors rotate out of the growth stocks that had, until recently, led the market higher, and into more undervalued or names...
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At New All-Time Highs
The market is strong: the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are at all-time highs, and most stocks and sectors are participating.
The strength of the market made the selection of this month’s new addition challenging. The strong stocks on my watchlist have higher...
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Earnings Season Begins
Earnings season has begun. As usual, that means we’ll see larger-than-usual moves in stocks, many of which will turn out to be short term. Don’t overreact, stick to your plan, and be patient—do this and you’ll be fine.
Big picture, the stock is...
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Proceed With Caution
The stock market stumbled this week, and investors have turned more conservative, creating a number of ripples in the market. We’ve been discussing the divergences between growth stocks, conservative stocks and various sectors here for some time, and last week earnings were...
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Surprise!
The stock market had quieted down in recent weeks; the major indexes were establishing fairly tight ranges, a constructive sign. However, yesterday’s massive selloff in Italian bonds—triggered by political turmoil—caused a lot of unexpected moves, including big pullbacks in most stocks. It also treasury...
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Market Down, Rates Up
After turning lower at the end of last week, the broad market sold off sharply yesterday. The selloff followed Caterpillar’s (CAT) earnings call, during which management lowered their guidance for the rest of 2018. Combined with some other factors, the triggered...
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A Garden-Variety Correction ... Probably
After developing some cracks earlier this month, the broad market rolled over last week; the major indexes all closed the week down over 5%. The S&P 500 closed just a few points above its February low, while the Dow a..
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Back in Black
After a panicky start to February, markets pulled themselves together over the past two weeks. Volatility declined and the major indexes all ended higher last week.
The all-clear hasn’t sounded yet, but our market-timing expert, Mike Cintolo, says that once all the indexes...
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Don’t Overreact
After closing at record highs on Friday, the major indexes finally started to pull back this week. The pullback is making headlines because even 1% dips in the market have been so rare recently, but it’s still quite minor—and completely expected after a..
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2017 Ending On A High Note
The bull market remains healthy as we approach the end of the year; all three major indexes closed at record highs Monday. Markets cooled off a bit yesterday though, led by declines in real estate and utilities stocks.
Both are...
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New All-Time Highs
After a quick shakeout the week before Thanksgiving, the major indexes are back at all-time highs. Strong economic data is driving outperformance in economically-sensitive sectors like consumer discretionary, materials and industrial stocks, while the “risk off” consumer staples and real estate are...
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After stumbling last Wednesday, the market is back on its feet, with the major indexes all hitting new highs in recent days. Technology stocks have led the way, a reversal of the Dow outperformance we’d seen over the past two weeks.
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Dividend Stocks Lead the Way
The stock market remains strong, and dividend stocks are some of the strongest stocks in it! Over the past two weeks, the market’s advance has broadened out, and the Dow has been outperforming the S&P and Nasdaq since mid-October. largely...
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Interest rates fell back this week after the odds of a December rate hike briefly fell below 90% (they’ve since rebounded). The trigger was a September inflation data release that showed consumer prices excluding food and energy rising just 1.7% year-over-year, and only since...
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The stock market’s advance slowed a little this week, but the major indexes are still at all-time highs. Strangely enough, after declining for most of September, utilities have been one of the best-performing sectors over the past five days. Technology and real estate also...
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The rotation into the year’s underperformers that started last week has continued, while taking on some aspects of a generic risk-on trade. Financial stocks have outperformed all others since our last update, and tech stocks are up again this week. Materials and industrials continue...
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Another Round of Rotation
The stock market has lost some momentum since our last update. The major indexes stalled out late last week, then posted big losses Monday, with large-cap tech stocks leading the decline.
On the flip side, money has been rotating into stocks sectors...
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The Dow and S&P 500 both closed at all-time highs yesterday, as the Dow notched its eighth straight day of gains. Financials were the week’s best-performing sector, as interest rates suddenly reversed direction to post big gains.
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