Published November 26, 2021
In the end it is investor sentiment that drives stock prices. Optimism and enthusiasm pushes money into the market and prices higher. Pessimism and downbeat attitudes send money under the mattress and safety. Liz Ann Sonders evaluates investor sentiment in the article below. As always, it’s a mixed bag, especially given that we are in the middle of what is typically the most seasonally strong time of year. (more…)
Published November 19, 2021
Here at TimingCube we are focused on the Nasdaq 100 index, trading with the symbol QQQ. This index typically contains the most innovative and “high tech” companies in the stock market with a strong bent toward technology and consumer services. Schwab recently posted an article outlining the pros and cons of the broad tech sector, which has a very high correlation to the QQQ. We thought you might find it interesting. (more…)
Published November 12, 2021
This week’s inflation numbers put a little (temporary?) scare in the markets. But the one-day jump in interest rates did not even offset the past two weeks’ worth of yield declines. (more…)
Published November 5, 2021
A pivotal week for stocks in the near-term as the Federal Reserve (finally!) confirms its plan to begin reducing (aka “tapering”) its portfolio of bonds. This gradual stepping back from active participation in the bond markets is viewed as a first step in the central bank’s path to raising interest rates. (more…)
Published October 29, 2021
There were some unusual moves in the markets this week. Some of those movements are attributed to the taxable year-end for mutual funds, which occurs at the end of October. That year-end leads to selling of some positions to capture gains and losses for the tax year. As a result, it is possibly too early to draw any firm conclusions from these moves. (more…)
Published October 22, 2021
The stock market is driven by earnings + liquidity + sentiment. With the Federal Reserve providing money at near-zero interest rates, the liquidity piece of the formula has been overflowing. Sentiment, or how optimistic/pessimistic investors are regarding the economy and markets, has generally been favorable. Corporate earnings have been stellar, rebounding strongly from the Covid-induced weakness. (more…)
Published October 15, 2021
There is always plenty of talk about whether the stock market is ‘fairly’ valued, expensive, or cheap. It is a question without an answer; there are only opinions. Because in the marketplace, the price is determined solely by what investors are willing to pay. (more…)
Published October 8, 2021
Markets have clearly been gripped by uncertainty over the past month as interest rates have risen while concerns about government funding and China have called into question the trajectory of the economic recovery. Below is a portion of an excellent overview from Schwab’s Liz Ann Sonders on the noisy information facing investors these days. (more…)
Published October 1, 2021
For the first time in a year, the stock market delivered a negative monthly return. We have written about the negative seasonality of September, which has proved out once again. October can be a dicey month as well, with wide swings in performance. (more…)
Published September 24, 2021
Monday’s gap down to begin the week was notable for the current stock market rally. It was the first time in almost a year that the S&P 500 broke the intermediate term trendline (in blue on the chart below). It has been an exceptionally long period of calm. (more…)