What’s Going On?
Industrial Sector Breakdown
We’re right in the thick of 2nd quarter earnings season. So far, companies in the S&P 500 have done a good job of beating analysts’ revenue and earnings estimates. At the end of last week, 78% of the companies in the S&P 500 that had reported beat earnings per share estimates. And today’s GDP report […]
Utilities Sector Is Overvalued
Stocks have enjoyed a nice move to the upside this year as the economy improves, interest rates remain low, corporate earnings are strong, and stock buybacks have expanded. Coming into this week, investors’ risk appetite hadn’t changed much over the last few months. Investors are positioning themselves for an upturn in economic growth. And last […]
Don’t Be Afraid To Be Optimistic
Over the past few weeks, investors have had a lot of information to digest. There’s been the usual economic data. The most troubling was the revision to US GDP that said the US economy actually shrunk at an annualized pace of 2.9% in the first quarter… the biggest drop since 2009. The main reason for […]
3 Reasons There’s No Volatility
It’s been a long time since the S&P 500 has suffered a major correction. In fact, it’s been 745 days since the last time the S&P 500 endured a correction of 10% or more. That’s more than two years! According to Goldman Sachs, the market typically has a 10% to 15% correction every two years. […]
Iraq, Oil, And The Global Economy
June began with a sense of calm and quiet optimism. Stocks were on the upswing as the S&P 500 hit a new all-time high of 1,955 on June 9th. Investor sentiment was becoming more bullish. The AAII Investor Sentiment Survey showed bullish sentiment reaching its highest point of the year during the same week. And […]
The Sector Rotation Advantage
Are you intrigued by ETFs but still haven’t put them to work in your own account? I’m simply blown away at how many smart people don’t understand what exchange traded funds are. As some of you know, ETFs are like mutual funds but they trade like a stock and have lower fees than mutual funds. […]
Russian Roulette
Tensions are running high as Russian troops remain in control of the Crimea region of Ukraine. Russian President Putin hasn’t given any indication he’s going to back down. Now there’s the very real possibility of UN and US sanctions against the former Super Power. There’s no doubt about it, these sanctions will be felt not […]
ETFs With Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) – BBH, PBE, FBT
Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) is the top performing stock in the S&P 500 this year (if you don’t count Forest Laboratories (FRX) that is being bought out). The biotechnology stock is up 32% year-to-date. The stock has been moving up and to the right across the chart since last July. And it has been racing to […]
A Better 401(k)
For the majority of people, a 401(k) is the main vehicle used to save for retirement. The popular employer established retirement savings plan is funded by salary deferrals. The money contributed is often matched by the employer up to a certain percentage of your salary. But employers don’t have to match the employee’s contributions. 401(k)s […]
2 Reasons Why The Economy Is Doing Better Than You Think It Is
I’m sure you’ve noticed that some of the economic data hasn’t been as good as expected lately. In fact, the correction in January can be attributed at least in part to weaker retail sales and employment data. Some investors jumped to the conclusion that the slow pace of economic growth was slipping and the economy […]
