Tag: Stock Research

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Summary of Individual Company Performances That Moved the US Stock Market Today

5/28/2024

The inflation outlook, Fed policy, and continued earnings growth are the critical factors shaping investor sentiment and driving movements in U.S. stocks today

5/15/2024

Today, the U.S. stock market experienced movements influenced by several key factors:

  1. Inflation Data: The anticipation of the April Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, which is expected to show a 0.3% month-over-month increase in core CPI, played a significant role. Investors are closely watching this report for signs of moderating inflation, which would support the Federal Reserve's potential move towards cutting interest rates later this year​.
  2. Federal Reserve's Monetary Policy: The Fed's stance remains a critical factor. There is ongoing speculation about potential rate cuts, but recent communications from the Fed suggest that any cuts might come later than previously anticipated. The current policy is still seen as hawkish, which has contributed to market volatility​.
  3. Earnings Reports: Positive corporate earnings reports have provided some support to the market. With nearly 90% of companies having reported their first-quarter results, a significant majority have beaten consensus estimates, indicating resilient corporate performance despite broader economic concerns​.
  4. Consumer Spending and Economic Data: Additional economic reports, including April retail sales and earnings from major retailers like Home Depot, Target, and Walmart, are offering insights into consumer spending trends. These reports are crucial as they help shape the outlook for the U.S. economy, particularly in the context of persistent inflation and potential stagflation concerns​.

These factors combined to create a mixed performance in the stock market today, reflecting investor responses to both optimistic and cautious signals from the economic data and corporate earnings.

5/13/2024

Today, the U.S. stock market experienced a mix of movements influenced by several factors:

  1. Inflation Data: The Producer Price Index (PPI) for April showed a 0.5% increase, higher than the expected 0.3%. This increase in wholesale prices raised concerns about ongoing inflationary pressures, which could lead to more aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve​.
  2. Corporate Earnings: Positive earnings reports from several major companies provided some support to the market. Notably, tech giants such as Google (GOOGL) and Tesla (TSLA) saw their stock prices rise following strong performance updates​.
  3. Sector Performance: Different sectors showed varied performance. For example, AI-powered ETFs and tech stocks generally performed well, continuing to attract investor interest due to their potential for future growth​​.
  4. Market Sentiment: There is a cautious sentiment among investors ahead of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report expected later this week. This report will provide further insights into inflation and its impact on future monetary policy​​.

Overall, the market's movements today were driven by a combination of economic data, corporate earnings, and anticipatory trading ahead of key inflation reports.

 

5/10/2024 The U.S. stock market movements today have been influenced by several key factors:

  1. Federal Reserve's Monetary Policy: The Federal Reserve's hawkish stance on monetary policy has been a significant driver. The Fed is actively trying to manage inflation, which is at a multi-decade high, by potentially increasing interest rates and reducing the size of its balance sheet. This approach, aimed at cooling economic growth to combat inflation, has made investors nervous, leading to a sell-off in the markets​​.
  2. Earnings Reports and Company Performances: Disappointing earnings reports from major companies like Netflix, which underperformed in subscriber growth, have also contributed to the market downturn. Such results often lead to a reevaluation of stock valuations, particularly in tech-heavy indexes like the Nasdaq, affecting overall market sentiment​.
  3. Global Supply Chain and Geopolitical Issues: Ongoing supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions, including China's stringent COVID-19 policies, continue to create uncertainty. These factors can impact international trade and corporate profitability, further influencing market movements​.
  4. Quantitative Easing and Market Liquidity: The Fed's unprecedented quantitative easing since mid-2019, including purchasing corporate bonds and other assets to inject liquidity into the market, has previously bolstered the market. However, shifts in this policy can affect market dynamics as investors adjust to the changes in liquidity and interest rates​​.

These combined elements reflect a complex interplay of economic policy, corporate performance, and international issues, all of which are crucial for investors to monitor as they navigate the stock market.

 

5/9/2024 - Today's U.S. stock market saw notable movements due to a mix of earnings reports and corporate developments. Noteworthy among these was Arm Holdings, which saw a dramatic increase in its stock price, nearly 50%, following a fiscal third-quarter earnings beat. This surge was attributed to strong royalty and license revenue, along with robust demand driven by advancements in AI technology​​.

On another front, Walt Disney Co. experienced a significant rise, up by 11.5%, after announcing earnings that beat expectations, alongside a boost to its quarterly dividend and a sizeable investment in Epic Games. This move reflects the company's ongoing strategic and financial initiatives under CEO Bob Iger​​.

Conversely, PayPal's stock slumped by over 11% after issuing weak full-year guidance, with the CEO indicating a focus on a "transition year" aimed at positioning the company for long-term success​​.

These corporate events and earnings reports were central to today's market movements, highlighting the sensitivity of market indices to individual company performances and broader economic signals. This can be used to add perspective to stock research.

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Determine Where You Will Invest, Is It Easy Or Hard?

What To Invest In

There are several different types of investments, stock market,  real estate, artwork, and there are many factors in determining where you should invest your funds.

Determining where you will invest begins with researching such things as, the various available types of investments, determining your risk tolerance, and determining your investment style – and your financial goals. The most liquid and diverse place to invest in is the stock market.

Stock Research Importance

If you were purchasing a new car, you would do quite a bit of research before making a final decision on your purchase. You would never purchase a car that you hadn't fully investigated and taken for a test drive. Similarly, investing in stocks works much the same way.

Learning about the stock market and the individual stocks in it takes a lot of time… time well spent of course. There are numerous books and websites on the topic, and you can even take college level courses on the topic – which is what stock brokers do.

Stock Research Shortcut

Does researching stocks have to be time consuming? With access to the Internet, you can actually research stocks, play the stock market with fake money to get a feel for how trading works and see if you can make money at it.

You can make pretend investments by searching for ‘Stock Market Games’ or ‘Stock Market Simulations.’ on any search engine. But how do you choose which stocks to "play with"?  You can fake trade but you can't fake research. Or can you?

No you can't use fake research to trade stocks, but you can take a shortcut. Let someone else do the research for you. That's how financial analysts and consultants make their money. But rather than interview or research analysts you probably would rather spend your time researching stocks you can buy.  A better shortcut is to use stock research already distilled into a list of the stocks that seem most promising based on the research already done by others.

Stock Watch Lists

Stock watch lists is what this website compiles for its members to refer to when they are buying and selling stocks. If you want to be an independent investor you will want to pull the trigger on your own trades and buy and sell according to your own preferences and tolerances for price movement.

Check out the watch lists in our member's area. Buy the stocks listed at the approximate time shown on the watch list and sell when the price rises to a point where you make the profit you desire, then sell the stock. For stock day traders this buying and selling can take place multiple times throughout the trading day, with the same stock or with different stocks. Financial planners don't recommend this type of investing because there is the danger of inexperienced traders losing money instead of making money.

If day trading stocks is too much risk for you then you should speak with a financial planner. Tell him or her your goals, and ask for their suggestions – this is after all what they do! A good financial planner can help you determine where to invest your funds, and help you set up a plan to reach all of your financial goals. Many will even teach you about investing along the way.

For just a dollar you can try using our watch lists produced daily for each hour of the trading day to pick stocks you want to trade. You'll have time to "paper trade" (fake trade) using one of the simulators you can find as mentioned previously in this article. Quite quickly, and cheaply, you can see whether day trading stocks using our watch lists will work for you.