Profitable Investing Tips
When Is Stock Picking Likely to Be Successful?
The Wall Street Journal recently discussed The Dying Business of Picking Stocks and how passive investing in index funds has become common. Despite this trend there are folks who make a lot of money on specific stocks. When is stock picking likely to be successful and when should you stick with an index fund?
Pension funds, endowments, 401(k) retirement plans and retail investors are flooding into passive investment funds, which run on autopilot by tracking an index. Stock pickers, archetypes of 20th century Wall Street, are being pushed to the margins.
Over the three years ended Aug. 31, investors added nearly $1.3 […]
How Dependent is the Chinese Economy on Exports?
Weak Chinese trade data sent stocks down across the globe. According to The Wall Street Journal U.S. stocks were hit after the opening but pared their losses later in the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed little changed Thursday, nearly recovering from an earlier 184-point drop that followed weak Chinese trade data.
Official data released Thursday showed Chinese exports fell 10% year-over-year last month, sparking concerns about the world’s second-largest economy and global demand. Stocks around the globe fell and base metals such as copper tumbled. Investors moved to safe havens such as gold, U.S. government bonds and utility stocks.
There are […]
Will Stocks Continue to Rise as Trump Goes Down in Flames?
It looks like Hillary Clinton is going to be the next president and the market has reacted positively. Here are a few thoughts on how this is working out and how to make a profit in stocks as the presidential election campaign winds down to a welcome close.
The reason that U.S. presidential candidates always move politically toward the center as the election approaches is because it works. Each party has its base of ardent supporters but not enough people to win the election. The winner is the candidate who convinces the vast undecided middle of the U.S. political spectrum to […]
Is It Too Late to Sell Your Twitter Stock?
What will poor Donald Trump do at 3am if there is no Twitter? This horrific though comes to mind after reading a Fortune article about how Twitter’s share price is plummeting.
The word “roller-coaster” doesn’t even begin to describe the ride that Twitter shareholders have been on so far this week-and it’s not over yet by a long shot.
First, the company’s share price price TWTR -19.38% zoomed higher early in the week on reports that the company could be a takeover target for several large tech and media companies, including Google, Disney, and Salesforce. But late Wednesday, the stock collapsed after […]
How Bad Is Obama Care?
While the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) has provided health insurance for many who could otherwise not afford it, the net result for health stocks and insurance companies has not been good. How bad is Obama care for the companies involved? Reuters just announced that health stocks helped pull the market lower.
U.S. stocks started the fourth quarter on a weak note as healthcare stocks fell and Deutsche Bank’s travails weighed on financials.
Merck and Johnson & Johnson both fell on the day. But a better measure of how bad Obama care is for health stocks are the number of health insurers […]
Why Is the Stock Market Shrinking?
There are fewer stocks listed on public stock exchanges than there used to be. Why is the stock market shrinking? According to USA Today investors are worrying about the shriveling size of the market.
The stock market is shrinking fast. There are now fewer stocks for investors to choose from than in 1979, leaving 401(k) plans, investment plans and other investors with fewer options from the market.
Just 3,659 stocks trade on public markets available to investors, based on the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index through August, the latest data available. That’s down 3.1% from 2015 and half the number of actively […]
Presidential Debate Scares the Stock Market
A lead article in Reuters says that global stocks fall before U.S. presidential debate. Why is it that the presidential debate scares the stock market?
Stock prices around the world declined on Monday ahead of the first U.S. presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, while oil prices rose in advance of an informal OPEC meeting in Algeria on hopes for an output cut.
Half of America’s likely voters will rely on the presidential debates to help them make their choice between the two major U.S. party nominees in the Nov. 8 election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday.
“The […]
Are There Stocks That the Federal Reserve Cannot Hurt?
Every time the Federal Reserve meets or even speaks the markets shutter. When will interest rates go up? How bad will that be for stocks and the whole economy? We are wondering, are there stocks that the Federal Reserve cannot hurt either by raising interest rates or holding at the current level? Jim Cramer of Mad Money suggests some financial stocks that an increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve will not be hurt.
With the Federal Reserve meeting on the horizon, Jim Cramer wants investors to be searching for stocks that could be bought regardless of what happens with […]
Will There Be a Year-End Stock Rally?
The first days of September were good for stocks. One analyst says that this fact indicates that there will be a year-end stock rally. CNBC talked to strategist Tom Lee who says there is a 90% chance of a year-end rally.
Perennially bullish strategist Tom Lee believes the S&P 500 is set to rally 6 to 8 percent before the year is out.
That specific number is based on his analysis of prior market moves. Lee found that since 1940, the S&P ended the year higher in 27 of the 30 times it was up by 5 to 20 percent through mid-September.
One […]
How Much Do You Need to Start Stock Investing?
People invest in stocks to make money, save for retirement or simply beat the return on a CD at the bank. Buy and hold investors know that starting early and routinely investing a set amount is a good way to take advantage of market growth over time. How much do you need to start stock investing? In theory you only need to buy one share of one inexpensive stock which could cost only a few dollars plus commission. As a practical matter it is better to start with a few hundred or a thousand dollars because that is typically the […]