A Few Dollars More

The beat goes on with dizzying regularity: big down days, followed by big up days with nary a reason for either. Hedge funds, flash traders and computer-driven programs are now calling the shots in our stock markets. It has truly become a casino.

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This is not the kind of market  in which one should stay fully invested. If your broker or investment advisor is recommending that strategy, tell them to take a hike.

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Although the Dow, NASDAQ and S& P 500 all gained over 3% on Thursday, triggering predictions that the correction is over, I remained unconvinced. Everything I witnessed this week has only persuaded me that we are going lower.

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“This is a nightmare,” said one trader this week as the stock market spiraled downward in what appeared to be free-fall panic. For those who kept their cool, it appears to me that once again the markets are providing us with another buying opportunity.

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It has been some time since investors have experienced the kind of volatility that has afflicted the global stock markets over the last two weeks. The best thing I can say for the present down draft is that it is happening rather quickly. Hopefully, by the middle of this week it will be time to [...]

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Granted, it was a historical 20 minutes or so. Never in my thirty years of investing around the globe had I experienced quite the downdraft the markets incurred on Thursday. But to dismiss that drop as a computer glitch or someone pressing the “B” for billion instead of “M” for million button on his keypad, [...]

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There was nothing boring about the world’s stock market this week. On any given day, you could find at least one market that was up or down at least 1% or more. Volume here at home has also picked up. I expect more of the same as investors continue to work off some of the [...]

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Last week it appeared the markets were in for a rough period. Stock averages swooned on the news that Goldman Sachs was the target of a law suit by the government. At the same time, rumors of further problems with Greece’s finacial health were making investor’s jittery. The stock market had reached a critical level [...]

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In case you missed it last week, my column ended with “My target for the S& P remains in a range of 1,200-1,235.” Thursday, the index hit 1,213.92, a new high for the year and just short of the mid-point of my target range. Friday morning’s bombshell announcement by the Securities and Exchange Commission accusing [...]

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While the three market indexes made respectable gains again this week, underneath those averages certain individual stocks are exploding upward. If you happen to own any of these “story stocks” you may be enjoying outsized capital gains that are leaving the indexes, mutual funds and ETFs in the dust.

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