Bob's Journal
Found 464 Articles.
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Bob’s Journal for 3/14/19
How much should we rely on recent economic data? I say, “Not much.” There are major anomalies in recent data, creating more noise than usual. Two major reports from last Friday are prime examples. Retail sales for December declined sharply, yet January’s sales increased briskly, especially after excluding autos and gas. But as I explain […]
Bob’s Journal for 3/7/2019
While the headlines focus on how the major stock indexes are doing, it’s important to examine the details of what’s happening within the indexes from time to time as well. Looking under the hood of an index is important because a few stocks can lead the index higher or lower and hide what is happening […]
Bob’s Journal for 2/28/19
There have been quite a few changes in the markets the last few months. Let’s review some of them today. Most stock indexes hit lows on Christmas Eve 2018 and have been moving higher since then. Earnings and other fundamentals haven’t been improving as much. The result is stocks generally sell at higher valuations than […]
Bob’s Journal for 2/21/19
The economy clearly is slowing. Is there a recession on the way? Most of the economic data the last few months has been weaker than previous data and weaker than expected. That has caused many economists to begin warning that a recession might occur in 2020 and perhaps later in 2019. Corporations have been issuing […]
Bob’s Journal for 2/14/19
Investors should shift their focus from the United States to other economies, especially Europe. Most investors have been complacent about Europe since the Greek debt crisis seemed to be resolved a few years ago. But there’s a lot more going on in Europe, and little of it is good. The European economy has been weak […]
Update for February 7, 2019
Higher volatility and rapid changes in market momentum characterized the markets the last few months, and you should expect those trends to continue. Stock indexes steadily declined in the fourth quarter of 2018 until they hit the recent bottom on Christmas Eve. There was a modest increase alongside a lot of volatility in the last […]
Bob’s Journal 1/31/2019
Most investors are focused on U.S. markets, but this is a good time to take a look at emerging markets. While U.S. markets were outpacing the world from the second half of 2016 through the first three quarters of 2018, emerging markets lumbered through another bear market during much of that time. We sold our […]
Bob’s Journal for 1/24/19
Is all the bad news reflected in the markets, or are the markets still too optimistic? It is early in earnings season, and we’ve received a mixed message so far. Last Tuesday, the stock indexes had nice rebounds following positive earnings reports from IBM, Procter & Gamble and United Technologies. The gains, however, were mostly […]
