The Iconoclast Investor

While they don’t offer anything revolutionary, I’ve always been interested in what we at Cabot call “bull market stocks”–those companies whose businesses are directly tied to the fortunes of Wall Street.  Thus, in a bull market, their sales and earnings are almost guaranteed to grow dramatically … in a bull market, that is.  Examples include [...]

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We admire people with the courage of their convictions, those who know their own minds and don’t waver.  We think of the stick-to-it spirit as a sign of character, and it’s a good thing to be called tenacious, persistent, tough, steady or steadfast.
A good thing, that is, if you’re not a growth stock investor.
The rules [...]

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With the financial stocks shrugging off a huge share offering from Merrill Lynch today, I wanted to touch on the group. Should you buy? Sell? Short?
I have no official recommendation—all I can say is that the sector remains in a downtrend by our measures. But I will also point out that the best financial [...]

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Housing prices dropped by the biggest rate ever in May, down 15.8% compared with a year ago, according to Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city index. The 10-city index dropped 16.9%, the steepest decline in its 21-year history.
Nine cities posted records lows in May–Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Wash., Portland, Ore., [...]

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When everyone thinks alike, the market has a way of proving them wrong.  After all investors have bought, the sellers eventually take control.  After you’re #1, there’s only one way to go.  That’s one reason the dollar, which you might view as a proxy for the value of the U.S., is down.  It was previously [...]

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A few months ago, I wrote an issue of Cabot Wealth Advisory about the business of Green. I’m really interested in environmental issues and always on the lookout for when Green topics overlap with investing. I stumbled across an interesting article in The New York Times special Education Life section that talked about Greening college [...]

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I don’t want to give the impression of being on a soap box with all the lessons recently, but given the action by Crocs (CROX) on Friday, I just can’t resist. Ironically, I’m writing this on my balcony in Back Bay, Boston, on a sunny Sunday morning … wearing my Crocs flip-flops. No love [...]

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I went out at lunch today to get some gasoline before heading up to Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire for the weekend and I got a very pleasant surprise. The per gallon price had dropped yet again to $3.91! This is down from $3.99 earlier in the week and about $4.12 at its peak in [...]

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The New England Patriots began their training camp today, beginning what every team hopes will be a six-month journey to the Super Bowl.  I’ve always found the strategy and intricacies of football interesting; players and coaches literally spend 60 to 80 hours per week preparing for every game, evaluating their own team and other teams, [...]

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A few days ago I posted a lesson about looking for the stocks and sectors that display outstanding price and, especially, volume gains during the first few days of a new market rally.  Oftentimes, the stocks that show the best performance initially will go on to big gains in the months to come.
And, interestingly, many [...]

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