Bob's Journal
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Bob’s Journal
Earnings season for the second quarter is over, so you should be ready for stock prices to decline. I know that sounds counterintuitive, since the economy is strong, and growth might be increasing. This earnings season was a positive one with about two-thirds of companies reporting results exceeding estimates for earnings and revenue. Also, more […]
Bob’s Journal
Investors in index funds might want to consider moving to funds that equally weight each stock. The major stock indexes are capitalization-weighted, or cap-weighted. That means each stock’s weight in the index is determined by its market capitalization, which is the value of its outstanding shares of stock. The greater the fund’s capitalization, the larger […]
Bob’s Journal
Stocks might be beginning one of their periodic rotations. We could be seeing a shift from recent winners to recent losers. Another way to view the change is as a shift from growth stocks to value stocks. For some time, a few sectors outperformed the market indexes, and a few of the stocks in those […]
Inflation and Cost Pressures under Control
Many people are worried about a jump in inflation, but I expect the forces that are currently constraining price increases to continue to do so. Recently, pressures for higher inflation have been fairly strong. Most inflation measures finally reached or topped the Federal Reserve’s target of 2% over 12 months. Businesses are reporting cost pressures […]
Bob’s Journal
The biggest threat to the economy and markets right now could be a sleeper factor. For some time, I’ve said the biggest threat is that the Federal Reserve might tighten too much and trigger a recession. Because of the extraordinary monetary policy engaged in since 2008, the central bank doesn’t have a lot of tools […]
Bob’s Journal
I hope each of you had an excellent July 4 holiday. In this holiday-shortened week, let’s diverge from our usual Bob’s Journal entry. This week let’s take a look at a crime that has touched or scared almost everyone: identity theft and cybercrime. I share the insights from a published interview with Frank Abagnale, author […]
Don’t Discount the Power of the Fed
Trade conflicts and the dollar appear to be moving markets, but don’t discount the power of the Fed. As the first half of 2018 draws to a close, let’s see how various factors played out during that time, starting with the overall stock market. Here, the major indexes started the year by hitting a series […]
Your Retirement Finance Week in Review
Inflation has been rising. Should the Federal Reserve be worried about it? The Consumer Price Index (CPI) has been rising steadily since early 2015. It recently settled in above 2%, and the headlines announced that the latest 12-month reading was at the highest level since 2011. Some Fed officials, including Chairman Jerome Powell, have said […]
