“Great news: Nelson Peltz made a slide deck about me,” said no CEO ever. But maybe Walt Disney Bob Iger had mixed feelings about the 35-pager that dropped this past week. One one hand, it says that he...
Tag: Column
Inflation Isn’t the Stock Market’s Biggest Problem Now. Deflation Is.
Generationally high inflation was the story of 2022. That’s not going to be the story of 2023. The boogeyman of disinflation—and even some deflation—is about to become the biggest risk to stocks, and ...
The Stock Market Is on a Tear. Don’t Ignore the Debt Ceiling.
It’s always fun until the bill comes due—and the bill always comes due. In fact, it’s coming due right about now. On Friday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Congress that the U.S. would hit its...
Charles Schwab Stock Is Ready to Put 2022 Behind It. It’s Time to Buy.
It was a tale of two halves for Charles Schwab stock in 2022. This year is looking a whole lot better. Schwab (ticker: SCHW) finished last year off 1%. But there was a lot more action than that minusc...
The Stock Market Had a Great Start to 2023. Earnings Season Could Be a Problem.
Text size This coming Friday marks the start of fourth-quarter earnings season, with Jamie Dimon’s JPMorgan Chase helping to kick off the festivities. Ting Shen/Bloomberg Investors got their Goldilock...
Brazil’s New President Sends Stocks Tumbling. Bonds Could Be a Buy.
Investors brimmed with optimism when Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected Brazil’s president on Oct. 30, returning to power after two prior terms in 2003 to 2011. It didn’t last. The iShares MSCI Bra...
These 3 Sectors Have Had a Good Run. They Still Look Strong for 2023.
Yes, the stock market can always get worse—and that means three of this year’s best-performing sectors could continue to outperform in 2023. After a punishing 2022, Wall Street isn’t expecting the sit...
These Stocks Had a Terrible 2022. The New Year Should Be Better.
Videogame maker Take-Two Interactive Software is known for two things: Grand Theft Auto, and did I already say Grand Theft Auto? The stock was down 43% in 2022, making it the group’s worst performer. ...
From T-Mobile to Starry Group Stock. Lessons From My Picks in 2022.
The year was humbling for many in markets. Growth stocks, the dominant trade for much of the past decade, fell out of favor. There were few winners to be found outside of the energy sector. Bond price...
Stocks Limp Toward 2023 as the Data Show Few Signs of a Clear Direction
Stocks limped on the low volumes of the pre-Christmas week, battered by conflicting data and leaving investors with a muddled outlook going into 2023. It’s a dynamic in which good news and bad news te...
The Fed Is Making a Mistake—and the Stock Market Will Pay the Price
We all make mistakes—but the Federal Reserve may be making a bigger one than most. That could mean another difficult year for the stock market in 2023. Those concerns were front and center this past w...
More Economic Signs Point to a Recession and Higher Interest Rates
The Federal Reserve’s heavily telegraphed move to slow its pace of monetary-policy tightening next week risks sending a message to markets that the central bank is well on its way to reining in inflat...
Tech Stocks Could Keep Falling but IAC Stock Already Looks Like a Buy
With the Nasdaq Composite down more than 30% over the past 12 months, almost every tech stock is cheaper than a year ago, and there is temptation to bottom-fish. There’s a big difference between cheap...
As Carvana Plunges, Consider These 5 Car Dealer Stocks
It was a bad week for Carvana —and a bad week for used-car dealers. But some auto-dealer stocks might still be worth buying. After falling almost 40% this past week, Carvana (ticker: CVNA) is off an i...
The Stock Market Had a Terrible Week—and Now the Fed Meeting Is on Tap
Things tend to slow down for the holidays. The stock market isn’t there yet. With Christmas just a couple of weeks away, it’s easy to look ahead to candy canes, caroling, and presents under the tree, ...
Opinion: Microsoft invested in an AI system that helped me write this column about Tesla
Can an artificial intelligence system help me write articles about investment ideas? Let’s find out. There are two subjects I would like to cover. But I will have help, and as a result there is a thir...
Battered SPACs and Closed-End Funds Finally Look Tempting. How Investors Can Play Them.
With apologies to the Bard, SPACs are now in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, along with other excesses, such as meme stocks and nonfungible tokens. But some special purpose acquisition companies...
Stocks Rise on Cooling Inflation and Fed Moderation. That Doesn’t Mean the Bear Market Is Over.
Christmas came early this year for the stock market. Is there a Grinch waiting to ruin it? It was a week of surprises both good—Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell essentially confirming a smaller ...
T. Rowe Price Has Had a Rough Time of Late. Negativity in the Money Manager’s Stock Could Be Overdone.
Money manager T. Rowe Price Group has fallen way out of favor on Wall Street. There are 15 analysts covering the stock, according to FactSet. None say to buy. More say to sell than hold. That’s approa...
Slowing Inflation Isn’t Good for All Stocks. The Challenge That Tesla and Others Could Be Facing.
Inflation may have peaked, which could be bad news for stocks that have benefited from higher prices. It has taken time, but the market has finally coalesced around the idea that inflation won’t get h...
Stock Market Looks Poised to Rally as Bond Yield Falls
Text size Michael Nagle/Bloomberg The worst may be over for the stock market. Key equity indexes continued their autumn rally, and there could be more gains before the end of the year, helped by conti...
Where to Get Yields of 10% and Up, if You Can Stomach a Little Risk
The $280 billion convertibles sector is replete with 10%-plus yields on many issues. There is a risk in these high-yielders, but they can offer nice appreciation potential and a good alternative to th...
6 Preferred Stocks That Offer Safety and High Yields
There still is plenty of yield in the depressed preferred-stock market—even after the recent half-point yield decline in the Treasury 10-year note to 3.7%. Many preferred issues yield 6% or more and o...
How to Set Up a ‘Bond Ladder’ That Can Yield 4% to 5%
Bond ladders can be rickety at times. But they may provide protection against volatile interest rates and offer ways to capture higher yields as they hit the market. The concept is straightforward: As...
The Bulls’ Worst Recession Fear: There Won’t Be One
“There ain’t gonna be no recession,” Pierre Rinfret, an economist who once advised the Nixon administration, confidently declared in December 1969. Better at attracting publicity than forecasting, he ...