The Iran-Israel conflict and equity markets are now in sharp focus. As direct strikes escalated in June 2025, global financial markets responded immediately. Israel’s airstrikes on Iranian nuclear and energy infrastructure triggered retaliatory missile and drone attacks from Iran. The Dow dropped nearly 2%, the S&P 500 lost over 1%, and oil prices surged by […]
Recently, I did an interview about “buying the dip” in the market, which generated many comments. Most were, “You’re stupid; the market is going to crash,” but one comment deserved a more thorough discussion. “When buying the dip, how do you know when to do it, or not?” That is the right question. Of course, you will never know […]
It would seem evident that most investors would understand that consumer spending drives economic growth, ultimately creating corporate earnings growth. Yet, despite this somewhat tautological statement, Wall Street appears to ignore this simple reality when forecasting forward earnings. As discussed recently, S&P Global’s current estimates show earnings are growing far above the long-term exponential growth […]
Buying stocks is always hard. Particularly during corrections. Or, near market peaks. Or, when stocks are falling. And when they are rising. Oh, buying stocks is also tricky when valuations are high. And when they are low. You get the point. There is never the right time when it comes to buying stocks. I recently […]
Is this a “stealth” bear market? Of course, you may be asking yourself what I mean by that. Historically, bear markets have tended to be pretty evident, as highlighted in the chart below. These bear markets are often more protracted affairs that lead investors to develop profoundly negative sentiment towards markets. This article will use […]
Market perspective is essential in avoiding investing mistakes. With the media constantly pushing a “Markets In Turmoil” narrative, it’s no wonder that investor sentiment recently reached some of the lowest levels since the financial crisis. The following chart is the z-score of the retail and professional investor sentiment composite index of bullish sentiment. Notably, we […]
Fisher Investments recently wrote an interesting article asking whether corporate stock buybacks affect markets. Here is their conclusion: “Yes and no? Stocks move on supply and demand. Stock buybacks, where a company buys and takes shares off the market, theoretically reduce supply. They can also raise earnings per share, thus rewarding shareholders. So, all else […]
In investing, success is often judged by numbers—returns on investment, percentage gains, and the ability to outperform benchmarks like the S&P 500. However, some investors frequently pursue a peculiar set of “awards” without realizing the pitfalls they embody. These unspoken goals, while tempting, rarely lead to sustainable investment success. If there were awards for some of these […]
Human stupidity is the one thing you can rely on in financial markets. I recently read a great piece by Joe Wiggins at Behavioral Investment, which discusses why “Investingis hard.” The entire article is worth reading, but here are the five key reasons investors often fail at investing: These are great points, particularly now that there […]