Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Artificial intelligence (AI) is going to change the world—this is true beyond a shadow of a doubt. It will make some businesses better and kill off a few others. The impact on financial markets is going to be enormous. However, it will be nothing like all the ads and come-on promises we see in the […]
If you’ve recently had to hire an electrician, or have your HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system replaced or serviced, you may have asked yourself if you went into the wrong profession. Demand for these professionals is high, and the commensurate rates they can now charge, leads me to my (barely) under $10 stock […]
Japan’s poor economic performance since the late 1980s has gone hand-in-glove with an even lousier stock market. However, the 2023 recovery of the Nikkei and Topix indices to levels not seen since the start of the 1990s showed that global investors have finally begun to take the country seriously again as an investment destination. The […]
Very few brands have the distinction of having their corporate name become “genericized” so that the brand is synonymous with the activity. Google (GOOGL – Get Rating) is perhaps the most well known today, with the phrase “Google It” meaning any internet search. Unless you’re of a certain age, you may not know the term “Make a Xerox”. And […]
On January 9, 2023, I published a The Market Cap titled “After a Record-Bad 2022, Here’s What Investors Can Expect.” In it, I made a series of predictions – what the stock and bond markets would do, and when, after a truly horrible 2022. Now, I’m not big on predicting the markets. They do what […]
Last week in my 48-Hour Income service, we decided to not make a trade in B. Riley Financial (RILY). In 48-Hour Income, the goal of the service is to generate 1% to 3% returns per week by selling 2-day puts in certain stocks. Financial services company RILY had been a put-selling target of ours in […]
Renewable energy companies have been hit hard by the recent increases in interest rates. Many of these companies borrowed a lot of money to build out their energy projects, with debt at very low-interest rates. Higher interest rates put the business models at risk, as they are forced to refinance when the debt matures. But […]
Ever since Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell told the markets to expect the Fed to cut interest rates several times in 2024, the bond market has been on a tear. Falling interest rates should ease issuers’ financial burden, so investors should, in theory, be willing to push a little further out on the credit risk […]
As we kick off the first trading week of 2024, let’s take a closer look at the U.S. dollar and its potential impact on the broader market. I often discuss the U.S. dollar to gain insights into how it might influence equities and fixed income. Examining the daily chart of the U.S. dollar, it’s clear […]
2024 is upon us. By the time this hits your inbox, the ball will have fallen, “Auld Lang Syne” will have been packed away for another 364 days, and my dogs will almost have recovered from the sedative we have to give them because of the massive fireworks display our neighbors put on every year. […]
