Similar to the trading action in the first half of last year, the stock market seemingly continues with its identity crisis. While it’s perfectly reasonable for stocks to sell off on any inkling of a change in monetary policy, what’s interesting about the market bounce-backs is that they’re…

As this issue goes to press, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down for the year. Yes, 70 days into the year, we’ve seen the stock market move up to new highs and we’ve seen stocks move back down. The bottom line is that stocks are lower today…

This past Friday, we got news of Greece’s debt extension. The headline at the Financial Post said it all: “Greece and its EU paymasters reach accord to keep bailout funds flowing for four months.” (Source: Financial Post, February 20, 2014.) With the news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average,…

Which DOW stock just hit a home run with its earnings? It was The Walt Disney Company (DIS), reporting another strong quarter in terms of its parks and resorts, consumer products, and media networks. It was a solid quarter for the company and the stock soared on the…

February appears to be setting up to be a month of romance with the stock market after the DOW blasted up 521 points in the first two sessions of the month. Now, you must be wondering about how the stock market is playing, given the turmoil and volatility…

One of the fundamentals of economics is that rising demand for an item pushes prices higher, while declining demand results in lower prices. It's common sense: the more people want something, the higher the price; the less people want something, the lower the price. That is what has…

The “trade” these days is very simple. Just follow what the central banks around the world say and you are pretty much guaranteed to make money. As long as they announce they are printing more paper money or lowering interest rates, then just buy stocks. This requires no…

There is plenty of price strength in this bull market. It’s still coming from transportation stocks and dividend-paying blue chips. There’s also been continued price strength among home improvement retailers. Lowes Companies, Inc. (LOW) recently soared on the stock market after beating Wall Street consensus with its latest…

In terms of stock market direction, the Dow Jones Transportation Average recently pushed through to another new record-high. The index retrenched along with the broader market in early October, but it fought back hard to just over 8,800. Within the index, countless stocks have been doing well. Alaska…

Over the past few months, I warned my readers the stock market had become a risky place to be. While I also suggested euphoria could bring the market higher than most thought possible—to the point of irrationality—the bubble has now burst. Key stock indices are falling and fear…

Now that the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen 1,035 points (six percent) from its mid-September peak, the question investors are asking is “how far will she go?” For small-cap investors, the drama is greater, as the Russell 2000 Index has fallen 12.5% from its July peak. Since…

With nine months behind us this year, today we look at how two popular forms of investment have done in 2014 and where I think they are headed for the remainder of the year. Starting with stocks, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed yesterday up 2.8% for the…

The verdict is in… Last week, at the end of its regularly scheduled meeting, the Federal Reserve said: 1)      It would continue to reduce the amount of money it creates each month. The Fed said it will be out of the money printing business by the end of…

FedEx Corporation (FDX) just bounced off a new record-high on the stock market and is an important component of the Dow Jones Transportation Average. In its fiscal first quarter of 2015 (ended August 31, 2014), the company’s sales and earnings surged. It was a great quarter and a…

Countless stocks are pushing new highs and a lot of them are still blue chips. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is lagging the other indices this year, but this is not unusual. The fact that many blue chips are still slogging higher is further indication of a bull…

Between the first quarter of 2012 and the second quarter of 2014, auto sales in the U.S. economy have increased 16%. (Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis web site, last accessed August 21, 2014.) And auto sales this year have been stellar, too. In July, auto sales…

If you follow the financial news, it feels like the stock market is moving higher and higher…a situation in which investors often feel they are missing out. But the reality of the situation is very different. So far this year, almost eight full months in, the Dow Jones…

As gold bullion prices declined last year, I said supply would contract as gold miners pulled back on exploration and closed mines that were not profitable at $1,200-an-ounce gold. For the supply of gold bullion to increase, there needs to be more discoveries. Sadly, the opposite is happening.…

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) surprised even the most optimistic of economists when it reported the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of four percent in the second quarter of 2014. On the surface, the number—four percent growth—sounds great. But how serious should we take that…

Remember Alan Greenspan? He was the chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. Several media sources, including this one, blamed the sub-prime mortgage fiasco that led to the Credit Crisis of 2008 on the easy money policies under the leadership of Greenspan. But the Credit Crisis…