The S&P 500 index rose another 3% last week, continuing a winning stretch that began last fall.  Since Nov. 7, the S&P has risen 22%. That works out to be a roughly 35% annualized gain. Trouble is, the rally is increasingly due to a perception by individual investors that stocks can only move in one direction: up. In its most recent survey, the American Association of Individual Investors… Read More

The S&P 500 index rose another 3% last week, continuing a winning stretch that began last fall.  Since Nov. 7, the S&P has risen 22%. That works out to be a roughly 35% annualized gain. Trouble is, the rally is increasingly due to a perception by individual investors that stocks can only move in one direction: up. In its most recent survey, the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) noted that the percentage of investors who are currently bearish is now less than 20%. That’s the lowest reading in 18 months, yet as legendary fund manager Sir John Templeton once noted, “The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy, and the time of maximum optimism is the best time to sell.”#-ad_banner-# I’ve already researched one half of that maxim. Back in 2010, I noted that stocks tend to rally when that AAII survey finds few bullish… Read More

Does a rising tide lift all boats? No, but it does lift most of them.  Some stocks aren’t getting much attention in this surging bull market, and it’s often up to insiders to help these stocks get attention.  Here are three stocks with recent solid clusters of insider buying. (All data is courtesy of InsiderInsights.com.) Calamos Asset Management (Nasdaq: CLMS) I’ve come across this asset management… Read More

Does a rising tide lift all boats? No, but it does lift most of them.  Some stocks aren’t getting much attention in this surging bull market, and it’s often up to insiders to help these stocks get attention.  Here are three stocks with recent solid clusters of insider buying. (All data is courtesy of InsiderInsights.com.) Calamos Asset Management (Nasdaq: CLMS) I’ve come across this asset management firm on several occasions in recent months, as it has appeared on my screens regarding companies with share buybacks, strong free cash flow yields, solid dividend yields and a valuation near book value. Now you can add insider buying to that list. Company founder John Calamos Sr., who launched the firm in the 1970s, has been actively buying shares for two straight months. In that time, he’s picked up more than 300,000 shares at an… Read More

Does a rising tide lift all boats? No, but it does lift most of them.  Some stocks aren’t getting much attention in this surging bull market, and it’s often up to insiders to help these stocks get attention.  Here are three stocks with recent solid clusters of insider buying. (All data is courtesy of InsiderInsights.com.) Calamos Asset Management (Nasdaq: CLMS) I’ve come across this asset management… Read More

Does a rising tide lift all boats? No, but it does lift most of them.  Some stocks aren’t getting much attention in this surging bull market, and it’s often up to insiders to help these stocks get attention.  Here are three stocks with recent solid clusters of insider buying. (All data is courtesy of InsiderInsights.com.) Calamos Asset Management (Nasdaq: CLMS) I’ve come across this asset management firm on several occasions in recent months, as it has appeared on my screens regarding companies with share buybacks, strong free cash flow yields, solid dividend yields and a valuation near book value. Now you can add insider buying to that list. Company founder John Calamos Sr., who launched the firm in the 1970s, has been actively buying shares for two straight months. In that time, he’s picked up more than 300,000 shares at an… Read More

With the market rally showing no signs of cooling off, it has become quite risky to short stocks.#-ad_banner-# Indeed, many hedge fund managers that tend to make a living from short selling have moved to the sidelines, waiting for the market to switch direction before loading up on shorts. It’s a wise move to preserve both your capital and your sanity. Still, not all short sellers have abandoned… Read More

With the market rally showing no signs of cooling off, it has become quite risky to short stocks.#-ad_banner-# Indeed, many hedge fund managers that tend to make a living from short selling have moved to the sidelines, waiting for the market to switch direction before loading up on shorts. It’s a wise move to preserve both your capital and your sanity. Still, not all short sellers have abandoned ship, and some of them are making increasing bold bets. You may not want to follow their lead — just yet — but it’s instructive to see which stocks they are targeting. If you own or are thinking of buying one of these stocks, the rising short interest should give you pause. Here are seven stocks (and funds) seeing big changes in short interest in the two week-period that ended June 28. (Actual data were released on July 10.) 1. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE ) The short interest in this drugmaker surged a hefty 53%, to… Read More

With the market rally showing no signs of cooling off, it has become quite risky to short stocks.#-ad_banner-# Indeed, many hedge fund managers that tend to make a living from short selling have moved to the sidelines, waiting for the market to switch direction before loading up on shorts. It’s a wise move to preserve both your capital and your sanity. Still, not all short sellers have abandoned… Read More

With the market rally showing no signs of cooling off, it has become quite risky to short stocks.#-ad_banner-# Indeed, many hedge fund managers that tend to make a living from short selling have moved to the sidelines, waiting for the market to switch direction before loading up on shorts. It’s a wise move to preserve both your capital and your sanity. Still, not all short sellers have abandoned ship, and some of them are making increasing bold bets. You may not want to follow their lead — just yet — but it’s instructive to see which stocks they are targeting. If you own or are thinking of buying one of these stocks, the rising short interest should give you pause. Here are seven stocks (and funds) seeing big changes in short interest in the two week-period that ended June 28. (Actual data were released on July 10.) 1. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE ) The short interest in this drugmaker surged a hefty 53%, to… Read More

Investors spend a lifetime developing a suitable philosophy that helps shape their financial decisions. To develop their views, they seek the sage advice of successful investors. The best advice has a quality of timelessness and can be thought about in virtually any economic environment. Here are five of my favorite pieces of advice, starting with perhaps the world’s most famous investor: 1. Warren Buffett “The line separating investment and speculation, which is never bright and clear, becomes blurred still… Read More

Investors spend a lifetime developing a suitable philosophy that helps shape their financial decisions. To develop their views, they seek the sage advice of successful investors. The best advice has a quality of timelessness and can be thought about in virtually any economic environment. Here are five of my favorite pieces of advice, starting with perhaps the world’s most famous investor: 1. Warren Buffett “The line separating investment and speculation, which is never bright and clear, becomes blurred still further when most market participants have recently enjoyed triumphs. Nothing sedates rationality like large doses of effortless money.” — Warren Buffett in a letter to shareholders in March 2000 Buffett wrote that as the dot-com boom was in its final stages, and soon after this annual letter to shareholders was written, the market tumbled. Buffett’s insights apply to today’s market as well. Whenever the market goes up for an extended period (as it has for the past four years), investors develop a sense of hubris and begin… Read More

Investors spend a lifetime developing a suitable philosophy that helps shape their financial decisions. To develop their views, they seek the sage advice of successful investors. The best advice has a quality of timelessness and can be thought about in virtually any economic environment. Here are five of my favorite pieces of advice, starting with perhaps the world’s most famous investor: 1. Warren Buffett “The line separating investment and speculation, which is never bright and clear, becomes blurred still… Read More

Investors spend a lifetime developing a suitable philosophy that helps shape their financial decisions. To develop their views, they seek the sage advice of successful investors. The best advice has a quality of timelessness and can be thought about in virtually any economic environment. Here are five of my favorite pieces of advice, starting with perhaps the world’s most famous investor: 1. Warren Buffett “The line separating investment and speculation, which is never bright and clear, becomes blurred still further when most market participants have recently enjoyed triumphs. Nothing sedates rationality like large doses of effortless money.” — Warren Buffett in a letter to shareholders in March 2000 Buffett wrote that as the dot-com boom was in its final stages, and soon after this annual letter to shareholders was written, the market tumbled. Buffett’s insights apply to today’s market as well. Whenever the market goes up for an extended period (as it has for the past four years), investors develop a sense of hubris and begin… Read More

As earnings season gets underway, investors have been delivered a huge jolt in one of their favorite stocks. It shouldn’t be a huge surprise, considering this stock was one of the most expensive stocks in the S&P 500. But it’s a wake-up call for any other pricey stocks. If you own one of them, be sure you are not getting in front of a train wreck. The stock in question: Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq:… Read More

As earnings season gets underway, investors have been delivered a huge jolt in one of their favorite stocks. It shouldn’t be a huge surprise, considering this stock was one of the most expensive stocks in the S&P 500. But it’s a wake-up call for any other pricey stocks. If you own one of them, be sure you are not getting in front of a train wreck. The stock in question: Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG), which traded at around $580 in February. Thanks to a stunning one-day plunge, shares are suddenly flirting with the $400 mark. Tepid quarterly sales get the blame, though the size of this stock’s drop is surely due to the stock’s valuation. Back in February, when this stock was making fresh highs, it was valued at more than 30 times projected 2013 profits. Considering that profits were on course to grow around 15% (from 2013 to 2014), that was an unconscionably high… Read More

As we head into earnings season, investors have ample reason for both optimism and caution.  The U.S. economy appears to be getting healthier, as seen by the recent monthly employment report. Yet stocks, after a stunning four-year rebound, appear to already anticipate a great deal of solid economic growth yet to come.  Will the economy come through? It’s too soon to know. We are not yet at a level of self-sustaining growth that… Read More

As we head into earnings season, investors have ample reason for both optimism and caution.  The U.S. economy appears to be getting healthier, as seen by the recent monthly employment report. Yet stocks, after a stunning four-year rebound, appear to already anticipate a great deal of solid economic growth yet to come.  Will the economy come through? It’s too soon to know. We are not yet at a level of self-sustaining growth that leads economists to declare with certainty that 2014 and 2015 will represent steady and strong growth.#-ad_banner-# That’s why I continue to suggest a focus on stocks with defensive characteristics. They are still capable of solid upside if the economy expands at a healthy pace. Yet they have valuations in place that will help them hold their ground if the economy (and stock market) stumbles in the months ahead. A key measure of safety is… Read More

As we head into earnings season, investors have ample reason for both optimism and caution.  The U.S. economy appears to be getting healthier, as seen by the recent monthly employment report. Yet stocks, after a stunning four-year rebound, appear to already anticipate a great deal of solid economic growth yet to come.  Will the economy come through? It’s too soon to know. We are not yet at a level of self-sustaining growth that… Read More

As we head into earnings season, investors have ample reason for both optimism and caution.  The U.S. economy appears to be getting healthier, as seen by the recent monthly employment report. Yet stocks, after a stunning four-year rebound, appear to already anticipate a great deal of solid economic growth yet to come.  Will the economy come through? It’s too soon to know. We are not yet at a level of self-sustaining growth that leads economists to declare with certainty that 2014 and 2015 will represent steady and strong growth.#-ad_banner-# That’s why I continue to suggest a focus on stocks with defensive characteristics. They are still capable of solid upside if the economy expands at a healthy pace. Yet they have valuations in place that will help them hold their ground if the economy (and stock market) stumbles in the months ahead. A key measure of safety is… Read More