Wednesday, December 18, 2024
For many Americans, their pets may as well be their children—and they’d do anything to ensure their health. In fact, according to the latest ValuePenguin (owned by LendingTree) survey of nearly 2,000 U.S. consumers, pet owners spend over $1,500 a year on medical care for their furry friends. Having a pet—particularly a dog—is common in […]
If you asked the typical investor which two sectors led the charge in November’s big stock rally, few would come up with the right answer. The sector everyone would assume correctly that led the pack is technology, with a 13% gain. But the second sector—with a 12% rise—would not only come as a huge surprise, […]
Nuclear energy remains controversial as a power source—to say the least. Some say it is the solution to our energy needs, while meeting zero-carbon targets. Others say it only adds another type of problem for our environment. Meanwhile, in the world of markets, uranium has been the hottest commodity so far in 2023 (except for […]
My experience has been that it is best to be cautious when everyone else is piling into a trade. A consensus on Wall Street often turns out to be completely wrong. The latest example of this occurred a year ago, after a bad year for both stocks and bonds in 2022. Wall Street was telling […]
The era of zero and negative interest rates globally is drawing to a close, creating a major investment opportunity—including for dividend investors. More on that in a moment. The last bastion of negative interest rates is Japan, where the Bank of Japan (BOJ) first introduced negative interest rates to the world in January 2016; however, […]
The era of zero and negative interest rates globally is drawing to a close, creating a major investment opportunity—including for dividend investors. More on that in a moment. The last bastion of negative interest rates is Japan, where the Bank of Japan (BOJ) first introduced negative interest rates to the world in January 2016; however, […]
Part of America’s new, muscular industrial policy—with about $2 trillion in federal spending over 10 years—is restoring our country’s infrastructure and reshoring its manufacturing. This endeavor requires a gargantuan number of rocks. Suppliers of cement (made from limestone), and granular aggregates (sand, gravel, and crushed stone) are set to be among the biggest beneficiaries of […]
Recession in 2024? Wall Street traders are saying “fuggedaboutit.” An economic downturn is the furthest thing from the minds of market participants, as they are bullish on risky “junk” debt—chosen as the top contrarian trade, according to a majority of participants in a recent Bloomberg Markets Live Pulse survey. Despite heavy outflows in 2023, and […]
Until recently, consumer staples stocks had been popular with conservative investors. These companies make and sell products that are everyday essentials, which means their revenues and profits are fairly stable and quite predictable—a characteristic investors should like. Of course, this type of company is not going to grow rapidly. But their ability to be “Steady […]
If the latest earnings results are any indicator, it looks like the stock performance of the Magnificent Seven is beginning to diverge. Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL) both reported their recent third-quarter results on the same day, and both beat consensus earnings expectations. A few days later, Amazon (AMZN) earnings smashed broker expectations. But while […]
