Stock Market Analysis

It’s always wonderful when the stock market is going up. The vast majority of equity investors are making money. But I always look at the stock market in terms of risk, not potential return. When you have a market that’s been going virtually straight up for the last…

With the current bias to the downside, you need to have some risk management in place to avoid watching your trading capital disappear. This could be via mental or physical stop-loss orders. Or, if you want to avoid selling into a negative market, you could write call options…

Markets continue to maintain a negative bias, as stocks trade at multi-year lows, with 2008 potentially the worst showing since the bear market in 2000. We are awaiting a second vote on a revised $700-billion bailout program that will give the markets some confidence. However, we feel it…

The people that I speak with who are really worried about the current state of things are those who are retired or are just about to retire. Even if you look at the most conservative of stocks that yield dividends, the vast majority of blue-chip stocks have been…

A key variable in the success of the economy will be the labor market going forward. As business slows, companies will cut production and send workers home. This will translate into lost wages and a decline in consumer spending that will ultimately impact the economy negatively. In the…

Given the recent turmoil in stocks, investors have been facing a climate of volatile trading, as key market indices retested recent lows on Tuesday. So, it is time again to review ways of minimizing major downside risk. By using options, you can create a protective hedge against potential…

A company I really like just reported solid financial results thatbeat Wall Street expectations. The company I'm talking about is PetMed Express, Inc. (NASDAQ/PETS). This innovator, founded in 1996, is one of America's largest direct-to-consumer pet pharmacies. Forget the overpriced pet medications at veterinary hospitals, this company delivers…

With the price of oil and natural gas so high these days, more and more homeowners are looking for alternative ways to heat and cool their homes. Residents in the Northeast have particularly felt the pain of high oil prices, because a lot of homes still heat with…

Here is a bizarre story out of Flint, Michigan. Apparently, city officials reported that about 400 cast iron covers and grates had to be replaced over the past year due to theft. According to the article in "The Flint Journal," iron covers fetch $20.00 from a scrap yard.…

Long-time readers of this column know of my affinity for following bellwether stocks. When a company gets to such a large critical mass, it really becomes representative of what's happening in an industry. It's also a great way to read the "corporate economy." The corporate economy isn't really…

About a month ago, I wrote about DeVry, Inc. (NYSE/DV) as a stock that might outperform in a weakening economy. This company has a long-term track record of success, growing its education business and creating a lot of wealth for stockholders. It's likely you've already heard about this…

A couple of days of rallies in North American markets have not exactly renewed faith among investors, but at least some are more open to the idea of searching for what still may work out there. The basic premise is that just as the markets have dragged down…

Watching yesterday's trouncing of Ohio State by LSU in the BCS Bowl game (my son still thinks Missouri should have been fighting for the national championship) reminded me a bit of what is currently happening in the stock markets to start the year. Markets are currently feeling the…

Recently, I had a conversation with a stock broker who told me that he and his clients are taking a beating in the current market. When I told him we were making money hand-over-fist, his jaw dropped! I explained that the surest way to make money in any…

When I launched "Investing with Michael" in the summer of 2004, I had no idea the service would become so popular with our customers. But looking back, it should have been no surprise. Readers like you were following my columns in PROFIT CONFIDENTIAL and wanting more specifics. In…

One of my favorite companies, Fushi International, Inc. (NASDAQ/FSIN), continues to do great in this market. The stock just hit a new record high of over $24.00 per share, and is still only trading for approximately 20 times current earnings. I really like this small company. I like…

One of the best bellwether stocks you can follow is Caterpillar, Inc. (NYSE/CAT). This company is so well run that not only is it an indicator about the health of the domestic economy, but it's also a benchmark in terms of how well the global economy is doing.…

If you believe, like I do, that stock price charts are an indication of what's headed our way, you'll want to take a serious look at the Dow Jones Home Construction Index. This index, comprised of the stocks of the largest homebuilders in the United States, started to…

Long ago, I promised myself I would never succumb to consumer mania and brave cold Canadian winter nights in front of a store to buy the hottest toy of the holiday season. However, some three or four months before Nintendo's "Wii" released last year, my son started showing…

For some reasons, Canadian financial firms -- that is, banks, brokerages, and mutual funds -- seem reluctant to venture outside our borders, which could turn into a serious problem as domestic investment opportunities gradually taper off in the coming years. This is rather strange, considering that the mining,…