Stocks Had a Nasty 6 Months. The Second Half Could Be Ugly Too.

Text size Bond markets are pricing in significant additional interest-rate hikes this year, but some stock analysts’ earnings forecasts remain optimistic. Michael Nagle/Bloomberg It was a first half d...

Cardano SPO Column: Hedges Stake Pool [HEDGE]

This week’s guest on the Cardano SPO Column is a stake pool operated by a software engineer from the US, who’s working on several projects within the Cardano ecosystem: Hedges Stake Pool [HEDGE]. Last...

Las Vegas Sands Stock Could Win Big as China Eases Zero-Covid Rules

Text size The Venetian Macao resort and casino, owned by Las Vegas Sands. Billy H.C. Kwok/Bloomberg China’s decision to ease its entry requirements for international travelers is a step toward a fulle...

Cardano NFT Column: Cardania – The Cryptonomist

This week’s guest on the Cardano NFT Column is a digital world with its own characters, stories and flavor, with an economic foundation that is based on blockchain technology: Cardania. Last week’s gu...

Carnival and Other Cruise Operators Face Too Many Headwinds. Steer Clear of the Stock.

An analyst note predicting Carnival stock could fall to zero in a worst-case scenario has revived concerns about the cruise industry. Here, a Carnival ship docked at Key West, Fla., earlier this year....

Gas-Tax Holiday Is a Gimmick. Here Are Some Better Ideas.

President Biden’s proposed gas-tax holiday is both a gimmick and dead on arrival. Yet, it is attracting inordinate attention across Washington and on Wall Street. There are viable ways to improve ener...

High-Yield Bonds Are Looking Like Bargains After an Awful First Half

There are no bad bonds, only bad prices. So Dan Fuss, Loomis Sayles’ vice chairman, has often observed—a lesson gleaned from more than six decades of experience managing corporate bond portfolios. Aft...

The 60/40 Stock and Bond Strategy’s Time Has Come Again

Text size Dreamstime It may be time for investors to return to one of the oldest of portfolio management tools to cope with the new bear market. That would be the traditional combination of 60% stocks...

The Fed Turns Aggressive as Inflation Meets Signs of an Economic Slowdown

Text size At the news conference following the rate hike, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell admitted that the policy-setting committee was taken aback by news of rising prices and weaker-than-expected retail...

Small-Cap Stocks Have Gotten Crushed. Watch for Them to Rebound Soon.

Text size Michael Nagle/Bloomberg Small-company stocks have gotten hit hard—harder than their larger peers. That means small-caps could face less risk if the market continues to fall and more upside o...

Citigroup Stock Is the Cheapest of the Big Banks. It’s Ready to Take Off.

Text size Even Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has been buying Citi stock, a vote of confidence if there ever was one. Mario Tama/Getty Images Bank stocks have gotten hit as concerns about the U.S...

Small-Cap Stocks Have Gotten Crushed. Their Rebound Could Be Swift.

Text size Michael Nagle/Bloomberg Small-company stocks have gotten hit hard—harder than their larger peers. That means small-caps could face less risk if the market continues to fall and more upside o...

Oracle Stock Looks Like a Buy Even in a Recession

Text size Oracle expects its cloud business to grow at least 30% in its next fiscal year. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg Amid a devilish brew of rising rates, high inflation, and recession fears, the tec...

The Housing Market Just Hit a Wall. What’s Next for Prices, Brokers, and Builder Stocks.

My summer portfolio strategy is to play the old disco hit “Baby Come Back” while slow dancing with my December brokerage statements. If it works, I have a business idea involving Hall, Oates, and a tw...

Ford and GM Diverge on Dividend Policies. Here’s Why and What It Means.

Ford Motor and General Motors are in the same business and are based in the same state. But they couldn’t be more different when it comes to their dividend policies. Ford (ticker: F) reinstated its di...

Companies Are Still Buying Back Stock. Ones to Favor, and Ones to Avoid.

Text size Las Vegas Sands is sitting on a pile of cash after selling its Vegas properties, including the Venetian Resort. Roger Kisby/Bloomberg With the stock market tumbling again, it’s bargain-hunti...

Cardano SPO Column: Metro Mermaids [TAILS]

This week’s guest on the Cardano SPO Column is a stake pool investing in the future of the planet by undertaking and implementing environmental action and education and contributing to the improvement...

Debt and Dividends Can Co-Exist. Here Are 5 Stocks That Shouldn’t Wilt.

Despite a hefty debt load, Deere has a healthy dividend-payout ratio that should allow its disbursements to continue. Courtesy of John Deere Text size Although a heavy debt load can sometimes crimp or...

Apple Looks to Cars and Banking for Its Next Big Thing

Text size At its recent developer event, Apple showed plans to dramatically expand its CarPlay platform to include every screen in the driver cockpit. Courtesy of Apple Apple needs to think big these ...

Inflation is Hot and Stocks Are Cold. Now the Fed Needs to Rethink Its Rosy Projections.

Text size As the Federal Reserve’s rate-setting committee meets this coming week, it will have to confront the challenge of controlling higher-than-anticipated Inflation, driven by rising food and fue...

Softer Housing Sales Are Hammering Demand for Lumber

Inflation and rising mortgage costs are putting a dent in the housing market, which is hurting lumber demand. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images Text size You can almost hear the sound of falling lumb...

These Mortgage-Backed Securities Offer Hefty Yields, Mild Risk

Text size Bonds from Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac are more attractive than Treasuries or corporates. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg Move over TINA, it’s time for TARA. The latter stands for “T...

Cardano NFT Column: AdaQuest- The Cryptonomist

This week’s guest on the Cardano NFT Column is a project developing an NFT-based RPG with competitive game modes: AdaQuest. Last week’s guest was a trading card game (TCG) project reminiscent of famou...

The Stock Market Is Charting a New Course. It Won’t Be Pleasant.

Text size Delta Air Lines told investors that revenue would finally return to 2019 levels, amid strong travel demand. Brandon Bell/Getty Images The trend is your friend, or so they say. But right now,...

If Oil Keeps Rising, These 5 Stocks Could Benefit

Text size The price of oil has been steadily rising, while making higher highs and higher lows. Xiaomin Wang/Dreamstime.com Oil could be headed for $150 a barrel. That might not be good for the econom...

Here Are 6 Stocks That Pay a Lot in Dividends and Have Solid Yields. And Microsoft and Apple.

PepsiCo total quarterly dividend payout and yield make for an intriguing combination. Here, a Pepsi display at a shop in Grovetown, Ga., earlier this year. Billy Blume/Dreamstime.com Text size Sometim...

Growth Stocks Down. Small-Caps Are Worse. Could This Be Time for Small-Cap Growth?

If your stocks are trailing the S&P 500, which is down 15% from its early January high, borrow a tactic from the pros: switch benchmarks. Perhaps you’re beating growth stocks. The S&P 500 Grow...

Avoiding Recession May Require Moving the Inflation Goal Post

Fed chief Jerome Powell, shown at a May 4 press conference, has said the central bank remains committed to bringing inflation down to 2%. Al Drago/Bloomberg Text size Signs of economic weakness are pi...

Snowflake Stock Looks Like a Buy

Text size Snowflake went public on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2020. The stock more than doubled on its first day of trading. Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock It’s been more than 600 days since...

Markets Finally Reversed Their Losing Streaks. The Fed Might Avoid Inflicting More Pain, After All.

Text size A ‘help wanted’ sign is displayed in a Manhattan store in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images Nothing lasts forever, not even a stock market decline. But just because a mar...

The Stock Market Finally Had a Winning Week. Why It Might Not Last.

Text size Ed Yardeni, founder of Yardeni Research: “We now are raising the odds of a recession from 30% to 40%.” Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg The stock market ended its multiweek losing streak, and l...

This Rally Could Force the Fed to Raise Rates Higher

The markets make the news, not the other way around, an insight that has been quite humbling to one who has made a living by reporting and analyzing the impact of news on financial markets. Consider t...