MARKETS/ECONOMY – Page 2

FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, TECHNICALS, TRADING

ROCKET STARS. PYPL, ZM, DOCU.

JUNE 2, 2020. It’s all good now–who worries about encryption? Not shareholders of Zoom. Zoombombing’s over now–right? Bombers made indelibly clear that ZM’s claims concerning “end-to-end encryption” were flag-waving nonsense. The flurry of F-bombs, insults, and conference hijackings, hardly dented ZM’s share price. Up over 24% yesterday alone. Rocket Star.
Paperwork rules the economy–“Sign here.” Right. DocuSign’s digitizing yet another bothersome, cripplingly-slow process. Just sign on yo phone and the loan-or deed or whatever’s–all set. How much would you pay for that service? Rocket Star.
Streamlining, digitizing, call it what you will, Paypal’s been doing all that for years. They were there when eBay was born. They have the customer base to prove it. Now they’re peeer-t0-peer and more. Moving and managing money are in part cultural, thus demographic. They’ve got that too. Millennials think Venmo and SoFi not Wells. Since it’s COVID low on March 20th, PYPl’s risen 78.2% into yesterday’s close. Consider PYPL, another “Rocket Star. PYPL, ZM, DOCU.”

EDITORIAL, GREEDY CREEP, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, TECHNICALS, TRADING

TDOCed

MAY 27, 2020 Often the technicals are a mixed bag. Other times not. When the long-term chart displays the “Moment of Truth,” yet another retest of long-term support, it may be time to take some money off the table. When the chart does so following a doubling of the shared price, it may be time to sell it all. “TDOCed”

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

“Day Trade Crazy?”

MAY 25, 2020. Taking your money on a pandemic stroll is stone crazy. Cash is nice. But doing nothing’s smart for only so long. Statues can afford it. We’re not made of stone, nor is our market. In fact, the market’s the very definition of dynamic change. And now?
Our market’s a train track. It’s tech and healthcare. That’s it. Nine of eleven sectors are in reverse YTD. Fixed income’s a sick joke. So what’s an investor to do? Patiently look to slowly reposition part of your portfolio for a wider recovery. Think about trading what’s been working. Is that “Day Trade Crazy?”

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)

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.”

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)

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”