CJ Updates

Investors Rebalance While Washington Dithers It’s been a noise-worthy (not newsworthy) couple of weeks since our last update. In the aftermath of the much-publicized “Trading Frenzy”, it was determined that a number of gullible and impulsive traders lost money speculating on stocks. Losers in the stock market? Shocking. Definitely not a first, but apparently news to some in Congress who feel compelled to save people from their own worst instincts. The House Financial Services Committee launched a televised hearing last…

Investors Remain Focused on the Relevant When we last left you, the R & R crowd (Reddit and Robinhood) had roiled the stock market, launching several hedge funds and brokerage entities into existential crisis. Politicians were predictably incensed and promised to punish those that were manipulating the stock market with another round of regulations. That fiction distracted them from their immediate task to dispense $1.9 trillion in stimulus to a waiting audience. Jumping ahead, the short squeeze has unwound, leaving…

The Retail Trade Scores a Rare Win on Wall Street The Retail Trade, comprised of individual investors, has usually come out on the short end when competing with the Big Money on Wall Street. The Big Money is defined as the major investment firms, banks, and hedge funds that employ financial engineering, high-speed trading, and algorithmic science to move the markets in a desired direction. As investors for whom fundamentals matter, we’ve frequently lamented the inexorable transformation of the stock…

Ho, Ho, Ho, Santa Delivers Again to Investors This week began with the DOW plunging more than 400 points on Monday’s opening, only to see it close in positive territory with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ nursing only small declines. Tuesday’s results were mixed as well and could be attributed to the second stimulus package being volleyed back and forth between Congress and the White House to where it stands now: approved by the Senate and the House but threatened…

Ho Hum, Another Record Setting Week for the Market As we go deeper into the holiday season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the market quiet down a bit. 2018 and 2019 were exceptions as we saw a holiday blow-off and melt-up of the averages in those years, respectively. This year the stock market appears to be coasting into year-end on a high note, aided by momentum from a record November rally triggered by news of two COVID vaccines being…

The Market Meanders to a New Record After a relatively quiet, holiday-shortened week that saw the DOW30 penetrate the 30,000 level for the first time, stocks have since persisted in their grind higher across the board. As Value/Income issues continued to outperform Growth we saw record intraday highs this week, not only for the DOW but for the S&P 500 and NASDAQ as well. Naturally, this roused speculation of this advance being the start of a “Santa Claus” rally such…

A Mostly Quiet Record-Setting Week We were expecting a relatively quiet, holiday-shortened week. Monday started off as expected with mixed results as investors took profits in the mega-cap issues that led the market this year. The rotation from Growth to Value/Income stocks is now fully engaged as profits taken in the mega–caps are being redeployed into those Cyclical issues that should benefit from the more full recovery we anticipate in 2021. We then saw this “quiet” week punctuated by Tuesday’s…

A Brief Reality Check for the Market Following last week’s Vaccine Rally, the stock market consolidated some of that gain this week as investors turned their focus once again to COVID and the growing number of lockdowns occurring throughout the states. It would seem that, just as we checked the box for vaccine development, we’re confronted by the details of timing and distribution of the vaccine amidst a surge in the spread of the virus. That was enough to accelerate…

An Unexpected Shot in the Arm for the Election Rally This week, we were greeted by news of Pfizer’s development of a COVID vaccine with a purported 90% efficacy rate. We always knew there’d be a Vaccine Rally in our future, we just didn’t know when. Most investors were expecting sometime in early 2021. This result came as a pleasant surprise and launched Monday’s rally of epic proportion that took the major averages to new bull market record highs. It…

Investors Are Betting on Gridlock This week began with the stock market launching into rally mode in the days before the election and then following through with the biggest post-election day advance in history. That leaves the benchmark averages within whispering distance of their record highs. Uncertainty over the election result seemed to peak last week as any good news was viewed as a reason to sell. This week, expectations for a contested presidential election failed to dampen enthusiasm for…