1) Well, the reality is setting in... Markets gave back some of their huge gains from Wednesday, with the S&P 500 Index falling 3.5% yesterday. Investors are coming to grips with what I wrote in yesterday's e-mail: Just because a huge catastrophe – think a 2008-style financial crisis – is likely off the table doesn't […]

1) In another wild swing, the markets had their best day since 2008 yesterday... The S&P 500 Index ripped higher by 9.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index soared 12.2%. And it all came in the wake of the Trump administration's new change to tariffs. As President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social in the […]

Coming back to the stocks that recently popped up on my radar screen... The second-most popular stock among the four I mentioned to my readers last week was luxury furnishings retailer RH (RH) – better known as Restoration Hardware. (The top one was Align Technology (ALGN), which I discussed in yesterday's e-mail.) As a reminder, […]

1) I'll be honest... I haven't been paying that much attention to my personal portfolio for at least a month. I know I have roughly 30% cash, 30% S&P 500 Index funds, 30% blue-chip stocks, and a handful of more speculative small-cap and private investments. I also know that I've taken losses in the 70% […]

1) After the brutal two days in the markets on Thursday and Friday, the question on everyone's mind is: What's next? The short answer is: I don't feel like I have a unique insight into what President Donald Trump's administration is likely to do next, how other countries will react, etc. – though I do […]

1) It was ugly out there yesterday, with the S&P 500 Index falling 4.8% – its worst day since the COVID-19 crash back in early 2020. And so far this morning, the pain is continuing. Stocks are taking another big hit today in the wake of China announcing retaliatory tariffs. So are we hitting the […]

Well, we're on the other side of "Liberation Day"... Yesterday after the close, President Donald Trump announced his much-anticipated reciprocal tariffs on all of our major trading partners (other than Canada and Mexico, where tariffs are governed separately by the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement – for these countries, Trump is threatening to impose 25% tariffs […]

1) Wall Street Journal investing columnist Spencer Jakab recently underscored an investment lesson I've been preaching for years, although I frame it differently... In any portfolio, whether a concentrated 10-stock one or even an entire index or market, a small number of big winners will drive nearly all of the long-term returns. As such, you […]

As you've surely noticed, the headlines have been bad recently... And being the contrarian value investor that I am, that makes me... well, not exactly bullish on stocks, but more "constructive" than I was at the beginning of the year. Here's a headline from the Wall Street Journal yesterday: U.S. Stocks Post Worst Quarter Since […]

1) Apparel company Lululemon Athletica (LULU) is back on my radar screen after plunging more than 14% on Friday to close at $293.06... The company reported fourth-quarter earnings after the close on Thursday, which were decent – revenue rose 8% (adjusted for an extra week of fiscal 2024) and earnings per share rose 16% – […]