Tuesday, December 24, 2024
We have less than three weeks to go before the Presidential election. So it’s time to start thinking about what effects, if any, it will have on the investment climate. No matter who wins, there is little reason for economic optimism over the short term. The lack of a coordinated Federal response to the coronavirus […]
In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of companies slashed common stock dividends. Many saw business operations significantly affected and did not have the cash to pay the previous dividend rate. Others chose to cut dividends as a defense against a suddenly uncertain future. In both cases, income-focused investors were devastated as share […]
The coronavirus pandemic and resulting financial crisis turned investors either for or against different stock market sectors. Tech, biotech, drug companies, and large-cap retailers landed on the “loved by investors” list. Energy, financials, and even utilities fell out of favor and remain down for the year, even as the major indexes stay at or near […]
For the broader U.S. stock market, the pandemic-triggered crash has come and gone. In February and March, the S&P 500 stock index experienced a short-term bear market, dropping by over 35% from its early-February peak to the late-March bottom. The S&P 500 steadily recovered the losses and then some, with the index now up 11% […]
The 10-year Treasury bond now yields 0.5% Last Friday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 0.520%. According to Deutsche Bank, that’s the lowest yield in 234 years. Whenever you see stats like this, know that someone is getting a little creative. What they’re doing is splicing data from other sources to come […]
It was just a handful of months ago that the coronavirus pandemic took hold of the U.S. population and economy. Most states put their populations into lockdown for much of April and May, which did slow the spread of the virus. Still, people can’t stay at home forever, and reopening of much of the economy […]
In March and April, the pandemic-triggered stock market crash hit the high-yield investment sectors, especially hard. Exchange-traded funds and notes (ETFs, ETNs) lost up to 90% of their value in a very short time. UBS to Redeem Two Leveraged Mortgage ETNs After 95% Plunge “Leveraged” is the word to note. Before the COVID crisis, there […]
The S&P 500, and its ETF analogue SPY, is roughly breakeven for the year, which is crazy if you think about it. We had a full market crash in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. For the most part, the concerns that arose in March haven’t come close to being resolved; yet the stock market […]
It’s a puzzle that’s haunted Wall Street for a few years now: what the heck happened to value investing? Value investing was the strategy that long occupied the minds of Wall Street’s best stock-pickers. From Warren Buffett to Ben Graham to Peter Lynch, the focus was always on value investing. All prudent investors needed to […]
If you want to own the “stay-at-home” stocks, but don’t want to own individual names, one way to get exposure to digital vs. in-person companies, is to own the Invesco QQQ Equity Index (QQQ). The QQQ mirrors the Nasdaq 100 Index, and is made up of the 100 largest non-financial stocks trading on the Nasdaq. […]
