Category: INVESTING

EDITOR'S DESK, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, STOCKS, TECHNICALS, TRADING

Rise Exit Repeat. Patterns That Pay.

MAY 9, 2020. What’s the market story? Saw tooth. That’s what stocks and markets do. Done. Stock price gyrations net out either up or down, eventually. Chode still sinks while cream still rises.
Meanwhile investors scheme, wait, hope, and scratch like simians. We’ve never been paid for scratching, and we’ve done a lot of that. Yes, the market action’s fun, or sickening. Someone talked about the market; “a tale told by an idiot.” Well, yeah. That guy obviously understood price-action.
Some are slower than others. Thus finally, we’re learning to make those ass-itching gyrations pay. We’re discovering the countless paydays along the way. We’re beginning to do so by crisp design. We’re sharing it with you so you can too. You probably are already.
Long-term investors leave bucket-loads on the table. Why? Because they ignore the majority of the movement. Yet truly savvy players invest and trade. We’re doing both now, and we’re geeked out of our minds. We hope you love it too. The cash for our example trade’s on the way.
“Rise Exit Repeat. Patterns That Pay.” Continue reading Rise Exit Repeat. Patterns That Pay.

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Editor's Choice, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, MEDIA, MONEY, Reader's Choice

Bonds Don’t Suck.

MAY 2, 2020. Bonds are Fa King awesome. Like losing money? Then don’t worry about bonds. Most enjoy protecting theirs.
Yet no one ever launches the real bond punchline. All we ever hear is “yields dropping” or “prices rising.” Only after losing money does one truly learn to value protection, and bonds. Thus the phrase “your first loss is your best loss.” Bonds are brilliant yet treated like some OTC digestive. Not here.
No savvy equity investor should ever rebalance or tie their shoes without the butt-simple bond truth.
Learn it once and own it forever. Bonds are not lame and safety and yield are only a slice. It’s only the safety story that’s lame. Why “Bonds Don’t Suck.”(Photo; Ryan McGuire) Continue reading Bonds Don’t Suck.

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FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, THINKING NOW

You Call That Investing? AT&T. Alphabet. JNJ. Amazon.

APRIL 24, 2020. If you’re looking to phone up some profit now you may need to Google it first and maybe medicate for a long river run past toe-tagging underbrush. Or you could simply sum these four plays up here and how. No sweat or blood. Breezing through the buys or whys. “You Call That Investing? AT&T. Alphabet. JNJ. Amazon.” Continue reading You Call That Investing? AT&T. Alphabet. JNJ. Amazon.

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FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, TECHNICALS

DIM BULB or NIGHT LIGHT? American Electric Power.

APRIL, 17, 2020. Major utilities are running negatively both YTD and over the past six fugly months. We track nine. Is that still investing? Is it even “capital preservation,” when your stock’s going down? Markets go up and also come down, like boulders tumbling.
Somebody somewhere claimed that the vast majority of any stock’s annual move occurs in only 14 days. People say a lot of things, but this one is true. Utilities can mean having something sturdy that pays, regardless. Here’s another. Utils are not created equal.
Jim Cramer routinely provides more investable insight than anyone out there. Cramer likes AEP, and Con ED. They were the only two up for the week, 0.04% and 1.8% respectively. We’ve learned more from Jim than anyone else, yet things change and perspectives vary. How’s AEP now? We took a look into AEP to see if we were dealing with a “DIM BULB or NIGHT LIGHT? American Electric Power.” (Cover image, ColiNOOB) Continue reading DIM BULB or NIGHT LIGHT? American Electric Power.

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CREDIT CARDS, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, TECHNICALS

Ass Armor. MasterCard.

APRIL 11, 2020. Summer’s right around the corner. Warm weather always brings out a filthy wave of muggers, a group blithely unconcerned by social distancing. But why worry? That’s yet another benefit of plastic. It armors your ass.
Over the past six fugly months the financials have backed up more than all others, a nasty 16.3% slap in the face. Of the 23 big ones we track only four are up. How about the cards? American Express down 16%, Capital One -28.7%, Discover cut in half, -46%.
Meanwhile the leaders MasterCard and Visa have given up only 2.36%, and 0.1%. And? Over the past 5 days the financials have been ripping it up; Capital One +44.4%, Discover +43.4%. Three of the top five best performers among the financials are cards. But that’s only one reason we’re thinking financial heavy weights, such as Mastercard. Another is that it’s financial infrastructure. Get some “Ass Armor. Mastercard.” Continue reading Ass Armor. MasterCard.

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FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, TECHNICALS

FICO. STILL SCORING.

APRIL 8, 2020. “Market timing” is often a derisive expression. But then did anyone predict Monday? Why mention this? Because savvy investing exists in between. Because Fair Isaac is a financial. Because financials are hated and poisonous now, right? FICO produced the 5TH highest return out of the 23 financials we track during Monday’s spectacular blow-out run. Is up 14.12% good?
FICO is much more than your credit score. The financial sector is a down-trodden wreck, so why talk that mess? “Payment holidays,” for one. This goddamn virus has created an economy-wide financial crisis. Face-to-face business has ceased and customer service is in overload. A month’s worth of customer service now occurs everyday. That’s business for FICO. Customer service?
Proper diversification calls for exposure to the financials. Yet banks are squashed. What’s left? Financial infrastructure. That’s why we’ve been thinking “FICO. STILL SCORING.” Continue reading FICO. STILL SCORING.

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EDITOR'S DESK, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, TECHNICALS

Kirkland Lake Gold. Mining For Facts.

APRIL 4, 2020. No one skips this monstrous spanking machine market. How ’bout gold? No, not even things that shine escape the spank. Zoom Video’s been shining. Following the Guardian beat-down article it more glows, in the dark, as a misleader, rather than a leader. Love it or not, yet it’s difficult to love a firm that announces its’ “halting feature development to focus on security and safety.” Isn’t that supposed to be job one?
But then Kirkland’s the question. Back in January when we last covered KL they were technically challenging a jaw-dropping three-year uptrend. And Now? “Kirkland Lake Gold. Mining For Facts.” Continue reading Kirkland Lake Gold. Mining For Facts.

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Editor's Choice, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS

Brain Pill. Two Minutes. MSFT v. GOOG.

MARCH 28, 2020. Spring is sneaking in as our attention is splintered.
We’re petting the cat and peeling thunder and pouring rain won’t stop that.. We’re now under the gun and if that hasn’t rocked your socks then you’re ready for that chaise lounge helium trip up to the stratosphere. Remember that guy in California and his helium balloon lawn chair? He got a call from the FAA. What’s next when both the light and the air grow thin?
Light and air in market terms mean the essentials and the giants: phone, power, and those near a trillion. The smart and savvy warned us earlier that tech would be autopsied in all this.  It was. Yet, the Stay-at-Home ecosystem means more of the bigs–more band width, for more remote working, more gaming, streaming, online shopping. Hum, who does all that?
China brewed this virus and it’s now demonstrating this expanding tech truth pushing up behind.  We need more not only from VZ, T, and UPS, but also from GOOG, AMZN, and MSFT. That leads us right back to thinking big. When the economic storm boils you wanna bunk with the bigs. That’s why we’re having a “Brain Pill. Two Minutes. MSFT v. GOOG.”  
Continue reading Brain Pill. Two Minutes. MSFT v. GOOG.

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EDITOR'S DESK, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY

The Hunker

MARCH 18, 2020. Centennial storms happen more frequently now. Thus the “once in 100 years” line is wholly meaningless. Canned goods are still good, and still canned. Katrina was tragic and also an apt analogy to our market, and now our economy.
The Ka Ka’s sharply hit the props when TV waves bow beneath the weight of canned policy verbiage from Capitol Hill and your closed library. That’s why Reed Hastings built Netflix.
Meanwhile, financial facilitation and relief thinking is said to be coursing on Capitol Hill. We’ll see. Much of what the Fed actually does exists below the media line. Only financial professionals even understand the repo market and Fed actions that maintain liquidity.
The fed’s doing those things. Yet banks and REITs are disastrous.
The Fed’s for real, but not alone. Being informed is essential, but bathing in “we’re making sure” isn’t. We’re watching closely yet shuffling in a dose of “the Hunker.” Continue reading The Hunker

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