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Sideways Motions Halfway through the second quarter, the market has gone nowhere so far this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is where it started the year while the S&P 500 has eked out a 2% gain. A year ago, their gains at this point were 18% and 11% respectively. Each...

All My Troubles Seem So Far Away All systems are “go” in the financial markets for now. Stocks, bonds, the dollar and oil prices are up. This unusual synchronization reflects the Volatility Index, also known as the “Fear Index,” dropping for six straight sessions, erasing its...

Growing, Growing, Growing The end of April shows stocks down for three of the four months of 2018. Investors remain grumpy, almost ignoring the strongest reports for years of increasing corporate sales and earnings. Caterpillar was a leading example. The company reported record...

Greetings from Earnings Season Both the Dow Jones Industrials and the S&P 500 broke their streak of nine straight positive quarters three weeks ago as the first quarter ended. Each index was off about 2% for the quarter, enough to ignite returning fears on Wall Street....

The Waiting Game J.P. Morgan, when asked what the stock market would do, gave a very accurate prediction, “It will fluctuate.” Despite endless showers of advice and tips, that remains the wisest forecast today. The only differences now are widespread participation that has...

Fear Vs. Evidence, Growth Vs. Value As Mark Twain said about the weather in New England, if you don’t like the stock market now, just wait a few minutes. After zigzagging during the first quarter only to end almost flat, the stock market first plunged on Wednesday as China...

Quarter’s End This is the way the first quarter ended-not with a bang but a whimper. Despite a last minute rally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the quarter down 2% for the first three months of 2018. This snapped a streak of nine straight quarterly gains, the longest...

‘The Times They Are a Changin’  Tariffs on steel and aluminum were followed by $60 billion of targeted tariffs against China, whom Mr. Trump has labeled an “economic enemy.” After a record period of serenity beginning in late 2016, THIS accumulation of disturbing news events...

Steady As She Goes The stock market’s remarkable streak of 15 straight gaining months came to an end in February, when the S&P 500 gave up 3.9%. Halfway through March, the overall averages have almost erased the previous month’s loss and are very slightly ahead for the year....

The Waiting Game The stock market sometimes behaves like a teenager learning to drive, switching between hitting the brakes and the gas pedal. A historic streak came to an end with the close of trading on Wednesday, the final trading day of February. The S&P 500   fell 2.6%...

Interesting Times Only two weeks ago, the Dow Jones Industrial Average went into free fall, down 1,600 points before buyers charged in, bringing the decline to a 1.175 points, a new record. Today, the Dow is back, flirting again with the 25,000 level, not too far from its January...

Searching For Perspective The Dow Industrial Average began the week by dropping 1,175 points in a single day that financial media labeled a “market meltdown.” Well, it wasn’t, nor does it indicate any change in our strategy of holding larger, growing companies in growing sectors....

Stocks Rock And Roll “Roll, tide, Roll!” Stocks are rolling like Alabama’s Crimson Tide in Monday’s College Football Championship. On Tuesday, stocks reached 386 consecutive trading days without a 5% “correction.” That’s their second longest such streak and one more week would...

Happy New Year On The Street Wall Street observed the New Year in reverse order. Crowds in the streets, noisemakers and fireworks celebrated the passing of 2017 but stocks were in a sour selling snit. Investors were still nursing hangovers when the stock market greeted 2018 with...

It Was A Very Good Year It was a very good year for stocks. With the closing bell coming on Friday, the broad S&P 500 is up around 20%, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrials 25% and the technology-heavy NASDAQ 30%. I have continued to emphasize that investors concentrate on...