Bullish and Bearish Bellwethers [Note to Readers: in the wake of GameStop’s Reddit-fueled roller coaster ride, the post below is getting renewed attention. To would-be market timers, though, here’s a heads up: the post appeared almost 5 years ago, when the Nasdaq — which contains many high-flying tech stocks — closed at 4,476. Its close...Read More
The Four Types of Housing Market Participants, in One, Easy-to-Explain Graph Every housing market has its winners and losers. Every housing market. So, a decade ago, when the market was tanking, the big winners were first-time Buyers ” at least ones with (good) jobs and unblemished credit. With rock-bottom prices and an ocean of inventory,...Read More
Looking for Signs of a Market Top Once upon a time, a sure-fire yellow (or red!) flag for frothy home prices was Realtors buying homes for themselves, either as investments, or to fix up and flip. See, “Insider Buying & the Housing Market: Why Realtors are a CONTRARIAN Indicator.” The logic: agents were most bullish...Read More
Housing Winners & Losers in Sellers’ Markets & Buyers’ Markets Every housing market has its winners and losers. Every housing market. So, 7-8 years ago, when the market was tanking, the big winners were first-time Buyers — at least ones with (good) jobs and unblemished credit. With rock-bottom prices and an ocean of inventory, many...Read More
Bullish and Bearish Bellwethers Just before the 1929 crash, Joseph Kennedy (father of President John F.) was supposed to have dumped all his stocks because a Wall Street shoeshine boy started giving him stock tips. Kennedy reasoned that, if even shoeshine boys were playing the market, there was no remaining, untapped demand to support stock...Read More
Can You Say, “Useless Platitudes?” With the usual onslaught of year-end investing articles, I’ve noticed a sub-genre emerging this year. Namely, advisors who claim that the secret to market-beating performance is “avoiding bear markets” (and implicitly, that parking your money with them is the best way to do that). I suppose the corollary would be,...Read More
