Little Occurred During the Trading Week - Weekly Blog # 949

  

 

Mike Lipper’s Monday Morning Musings

 

Little Occurred During the Trading Week

 

Editors: Frank Harrison 1997-2018, Hylton Phillips-Page 2018

 

          

 

Introspection During a Trendless Market

I have always been curious as to why so many bright investors don’t perform better overtime. These smart people often underperform the defined middle of the market as measured by major indices for extended periods! This appears to be true for both professional and individual investors over their investing lifetime.

 

One possible answer to this riddle is that market forces at every moment offer choices. Some of these choices contribute significantly to long-term results, while most choices don’t. Excluding luck, which is always an individual factor but not a continuous factor, I believe at most critical turning points the long-term correct decision is less believable to a large majority of investors.

 

Examining Our Current Choices

Don’t look at future choices in terms of which dictate buy or sell signals, which is what most do. Instead, consider the potential impact of making the wrong decision. Does this suggest that if you make the wrong choice, you will be materially worse off? A possible third choice is to temporarily increase your liquidity and wait anxiously for more information?

 

The following current choices are before us, to either engage or wait.

• Large-Cap Growth Funds – 2026 year-to-date +7.19 %, 5-year +10.25%, 10-year +16.18%.
• Small-Cap Growth Funds - 2026 year-to-date +18.80%, 5-year +4.09%, 10-year +11.85%.
• S&P 500 Yearly Growth Rate by I/B/E/S - 26Q1 29.2 %, 27Q1 14.3%, 28Q1 17.6%
• Erika McEntarffer, former BLS Commissioner Interview comments:
• Payroll data is a little hard to predict due to the change in labor supply.
• Businesses response rates are harder to reach as US business data is largely an all-volunteer endeavor, whereas in many countries it is mandatory.
• BLS staff has declined by 20% in real terms in the last 15 years.

 

Conclusions

1. Analysts and portfolio managers must look deeper than published pundit headlines.
2. The appropriate reaction to some less believable content may be to not only look deeper, but to also slowly commit reserves into developing investment strategies.
3. Diversification helps reduce the chance of large losses but also reduces the chance of large gains, which are often larger than the losses.

 

Question: what do you think?  

 

 

 

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Mike Lipper's Blog: Searching for Future Long-Term Picks: Gathering Assets, Reasons to Search - Weekly Blog # 948

Mike Lipper's Blog: Too Many Short-Term Worries To Pick Long-Term Winners - Weekly Blog # 946

Mike Lipper's Blog: Is This the Last Hurrah? - Weekly Blog # 945

 

 

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Searching for Future Long-Term Picks: Gathering Assets, Reasons to Search - Weekly Blog # 948

 

 

 

Mike Lipper’s Monday Morning Musings

 

Searching for Future Long-Term Picks:

Gathering Assets, Reasons to Search

 

Editors: Frank Harrison 1997-2018, Hylton Phillips-Page 2018

 

          

 

 

Inputs from This Week

1. The Consumer Confidence Index was 91.4 vs the 94.4 expected. The index was however up from last month’s 90.6.
2. The American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) sample survey projections for next six months are Bullish 31.4% vs the prior week’s 42.3%, Bearish 42.3% vs the prior week’s 36.3%.
3. Workforce participation of 61.4% is the lowest since the covid readings. (We have made working on payroll unattractive for some.)
4. In some European countries the number of air conditioners is small, and some are even being removed. (The founder of modern Singapore stated that the installation of “AC” led to the economic growth, enabling it to become the fifth richest economy in the world.)

 

Future Investment Problems

1. Americans misreading foreign data. The foreign performance of indices and positions is converted into US dollars from the local currency. As the US dollar is currently stronger than most other currencies, it makes foreign investments look more attractive. We tend to forget that most US investors temporarily rent foreign securities. When we sell in declining markets local buyers are often the only buyers and they are not generous.
2. When looking at the statics of a company, investors look at where the fiscal headquarters of the company is located, not where the product or service is sold. Consequently, many investors currently think they are investing in the UK, Taiwan, or South Korea. The Financial Times 100 largest companies, which dominate the local British stock market, makes almost none of its operating earnings are earned in the UK. It is my guess that a good many US investors think their rapidly expanding earnings are coming from South Korea and Taiwan, not by what is happening in the US.
3. Investors are often attracted to various securities indices due to a handful of the leading performing issues within the index. These companies, at least for a while, perform better than the indices. However, history tells us that it is only a matter of time before the leaders become laggards and detract from the performance of the index.
4. One recent concern of mine is that a senior American General in Europe is resigning. He is a four-star general with a very good battle record. I don’t believe it is an appropriate time to reduce our military leadership anywhere, particularly in Europe.
5. As a portfolio manager for long-term beneficiaries, I am very conscious of the variability of performance records. Looking at the recent five-year period, only six mutual fund sectors had average performance better than the S&P 500 Index Funds average. For the ten-year period, only Large-Cap Growth Funds and Domestic and Global Science and Technology Funds beat the S&P 500 Index Funds average. Considering the CEOs of many companies don’t last beyond five years, with even fewer lasting ten years, I am particularly nervous about those whose stock prices depend on “AI” products and services. (I wonder how many repeat orders there are for their present products and services.) Many of last year’s leaders are selling below last year’s performance ranks.

 

Possible Buys

The one major stock group selling below its 2000 price is Healthcare. I do not know these stocks well and tend to use specialty funds to invest in the sector. I will probably reach sell decisions without much help from the industry, but that may be a long time from now. Without a lot of knowledge, I am starting my learning efforts with Johnson & Johnson and CVS Health. I like their strategies but don’t know their tactics, managements, and their outlooks for their critical present and future drugs. Furthermore, I don’t know the outlook for government regulation. I need any help subscribers can provide.  

                                         

US Gifts to Others

Those in the US are incredibly lucky, or if you prefer God Given, considering the benefits/gifts we have received. However, it is wise to note that some of what we have given to the rest of the world is not always beneficial, as shown below:

1. A constitution that enshrines the rights of minorities.
2. An education process that attracts students from all over the world, who return to their homelands and contribute to them.
3. A military power that has critically helped defend other countries.
4. Innovation, which has produced great things for the world. 

 

Hope you had a good July 4th and life gets better.

 

 

 

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Mike Lipper's Blog: What is Pending and When - Weekly Blog # 947

Mike Lipper's Blog: Too Many Short-Term Worries To Pick Long-Term Winners - Weekly Blog # 946

Mike Lipper's Blog: Is This the Last Hurrah? - Weekly Blog # 945

 

 

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What is Pending and When - Weekly Blog # 947

 

Mike Lipper’s Monday Morning Musings

 

What is Pending and When

 

Editors: Frank Harrison 1997-2018, Hylton Phillips-Page 2018

 

          

 

Who is Foreseeing?

We are entering a new phase at the Federal Reserve Bank where the new chairman wants to look to the unknown future rather than recorded history. He is searching to find a different set of indicators than government collected survey data. I always thought that the lunch discussions presidents of the local reserve banks had with “captains” of local industry were an attempt to gather this data. I believe what he is looking for is the kind of inputs many companies gather daily or weekly. (I knew the number of subscribers for each of our fund data products plus the number of new subscribers each week. Additionally, I knew the number of special individual reports generated, and the amounts of commissions earned each week.) I hope he gets what he wants, it will probably improve the efficiency of what the Fed decides.

 

My big complaint to the members of my securities analysis profession is that most of their reports focus on relatively short-term investment performance: the quarter, the rest of the calendar year, or one year. While that has some value for the media or gatekeepers, it has very little analytical value.

 

In viewing the work produced under the rubric of Securities Analysis, it is important to remember that the original text on the subject was written by Ben Graham, an investment manager and adjunct professor who favored “cheap” stocks. He was assisted by David Dodd, a full professor at Columbia University who taught accounting courses. Their original text was written in the middle of the depression. The key to their writing and financial survival was to avoid losses. Little attention was paid to making money, which came later. This bearish bent was echoed in the SEC’s Investment Company Act of 1940, which was not written by members of the SEC or their staff, but by a bunch of trust lawyers with heavy input from lawyers in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. For them, the key issue was avoiding large losses and being sued. I took Securities Analysis under Professor Dodd at Columbia.

 

The More Modern Era

One could selectively make money by venturing into the market with new listings trading at a discount. An approach highlighted after WWII when war industries recommitted to the commercial world with new high energy leaders. However, far too many of the new ventures of the late 1940s produced large losses for their investors. By the late 1950s more pragmatic leaders emerged, with the “bull market” of the 60s bringing new generations into the market. The fear of losses ebbed in the late 60s, resulting in  the idea of some leading stocks being held forever. This led to economic decline and a downturn in market enthusiasm which lasted into the mid-1980s. Since then and up to this calendar year the emphasis has been on making money, not avoiding losses.

 

We Have Possibly Entered a New Era

In last week’s blog I suggested that the critical market indicator has shifted from the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), from the late 1940s through the mid-1980s, to the institutional Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) from the mid-1980s to until very recently, and in the current period to the NASDAQ Composite. This week the DJIA was up 3 days and the S&P 500 was down 5 days. The NASDAQ was also down 5 days, but by a larger amount each day than the S&P 500 institutional measure. This seems appropriate as it rose more, driven by “AI” and the technology craze. I believe it is sensible to label this a technical correction.

 

More concerning is the market sensing a change in our future. Much of the current leadership comes from the retail side, whose increased numbers were driven by the conversion of retail brokers becoming wealth managers to earn a fee rather than a commission. The significance of this shift is that for the first time investment performance will be measured on the retail side. These new “managers” may panic and be quicker to sell than the institutionally oriented mutual fund portfolio managers. We may already be seeing this in redemption rates and attempts to redeem closed-end target date funds. Institutions have long experience with the cyclical results of below investment grade debt. Is it possible retail investors will lead the whole market in worries about declines?

 

Are There Reasons to be Worried?

I believe it is too early to be categorical about the next major decline, though I do believe it could happen. The following are potential signs of one or more major declines. (Going back to my course with Professor Dodd, I believe we should be prepared for the following pending triggers to generate meaningful declines.)

• The biggest potential trigger is that we have not experienced a depression since the election of FDR in 1933, which did not end until 1942 because of his mismanagement. Skipping several cyclical recessions, the prior depression globally was in 1873. Thus, it has been 93 years since the beginning of the last depression or 84 years since it ended. (Depressions are caused by mismanagement and too much debt in the financial system.) The present administration, by personality, not policies, is very similar to FDR’s.
• The surprise to the leaderships of attacks on Bahrain’s US Naval Base and Ukraine’s attack on Crimea. The nations hurt were thought by their people to be prepared for these attacks. Both nations have people worried about their country’s intelligence and governance.
• Changes in Federal Reserve governance may be destabilizing.
• ACA Insurance healthcare payments showed unexpected reductions.
• Lack of progress on addressing Social Security solvency
• Focus on innovation, but only on the mechanical side. In the US innovation typically has a bigger impact on sales size and structure.
• Quality of schooling and home life vs. education retards growth and military preparedness. Probably negatively impacting marriage and childbearing.
• Legal immigration

 

For the last 10 years only the average Large Cap Growth and domestic global Science and tech funds have beaten the S&P 500 Index fund average. For the current year-to-date period, 57 sector averages did better out of 104 equity sectors. The game has changed.  

  

What are Your Thoughts About?

• A possible Depression?
• What are we not prepared for?
• Will the 2026 election decide anything?
• What will the 2028 election decide?
• Any other thoughts or comments?

                                         

 

 

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Mike Lipper's Blog: Too Many Short-Term Worries To Pick Long-Term Winners - Weekly Blog # 946

Mike Lipper's Blog: Is This the Last Hurrah? - Weekly Blog # 945

Mike Lipper's Blog: New Era? - Weekly Blog # 944

 

 

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Too Many Short-Term Worries To Pick Long-Term Winners - Weekly Blog # 946

 

  

 

Mike Lipper’s Monday Morning Musings

 

Too Many Short-Term Worries

To Pick Long-Term Winners

 

Editors: Frank Harrison 1997-2018, Hylton Phillips-Page 2018

 

          

 

Current Concerns

Both the management of our international and domestic actions increasingly seem to be personality driven, and for the moment have at best a one-year focus. The level of smart intelligence applied is from a smaller and smaller number of people. The level of wisdom applied to Iran, Israel, and the greater middle east does not appear to be working. Observers believe it will take a considerable time to totally clear the Straits, while pictures of shopping areas in Iran show them to be well stocked.

 

On the domestic side, there does not appear to be recognition that large portions of the workforce are not working, at least regularly for taxable pay. Part of the problem is people in government believing in test scores and mandated promotions. Homes are stressed and less and less people have the education desired by companies and governments to find qualified people.

 

The new Chair of the Federal Reserve appears to recognize these problems and finds government-generated statistics to be moderately helpful at best. He believes the private economy can supply better numbers. One of the time series I look at each Saturday morning is the list of weekly prices in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), covering 72 commodities, currencies, ETFs, and securities prices. For many weeks the two largest weekly changes at the top and bottom of the list may have been deceptive. In the current week the two top performers were the KOPSI (South Korean stock prices) +11.43% and the Nikkei (Japanese stock prices) +7.92%. The two biggest decliners were NYMEX Crude -9.75% and NYMEX Crude (US listed) -8.14%. The third numbers in array were +3.64% and -6.57%. Thus, four out of seventy-two were extreme and perhaps only of use to specific traders.

 

Turning to the securities markets which have also been shifting in terms of importance. When our Grandparents followed the market, they looked at the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), which was carried in most newspapers and on most radio stations. As financial intuitions became larger, they were followed too, as well as the brokers servicing them. Additionally, larger individuals that somewhat competed with them followed the Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500), which was on most wire (electric) services.

 

I am suggesting that the growth of relatively new Technology companies, particularly those involved with “AI” captured in the NASDAQ Composite, is more of a speculative market as many of these companies have only been publicly traded for a few years. One way to see the difference between those stocks tracked by the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ is to look at the percent of new lows vs the percent of new highs. For this week new lows on the NASDAQ were 65% of new highs vs. 47% on the SWX. Another way to look at this picture is to use the percentage of stocks on the new low list, which was 46% for the NASDAQ and 53% for the NYSE. This would indicate that older and larger companies on the “Big Board” are portraying more problems on the NASDAQ. I suspect that a relatively higher portion of “AI” related companies trade on the NASDAQ. If this is true, it should help their outlook.

 

This weekend’s development changes everything. You don’t have to accept my views, but you should understand them and I will be happy to communicate with you.

 

Many of us are impacted by what our family passes on to us, long before we realize how the world really works. Fred Trump, a real estate operator sitting in Queens, New York passed on to his two sons the fears generated by President Hoover’s economic recession. The recession created encampments of unemployed workers, which were then labeled after the President. The current President grew up hearing these deep concerns without a fully understanding the 1929 Wall Street crash. The crash bottomed before the next President, FDR and his “Harvard Brain Trust”, took over in 1933. They turned the Hoover recession, caused by lose-money and the Smoot Hawley tariff, into a depression. FDR was the third of four structuralist presidents, after Andrew Jackson and FDR’s distant cousin Teddy Roosevelt. It was his various actions that took a serious recession into a much deeper and longer depression and was one of the causes of the rise in military governance in Italy. Germany and Japan were the alliance that created WW II. But the current restructures’ President Trump, who by personality and political skills, not policies, is much closer to FDR than he recognizes, panicked this weekend. He very likely saw a depression coming and looked at his battle with Iran as a costly distraction. He is now anxious to end his war with Iran to prevent the 1930s type depression he fears.

 

Longer-Term View

At times I feel that I am the only one focused on investing for my grandchildren and now great grandchildren. With them in mind I look at past “bull markets”, which indicate that it is rare for leading investments may repeat in the next “bull market” and increasingly that is where I choose to devote my time.

 

Any suggestions are most desired, as few people seem to think that way.

                                         

 

 

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Mike Lipper's Blog: Is This the Last Hurrah? - Weekly Blog # 945

Mike Lipper's Blog: New Era? - Weekly Blog # 944

Mike Lipper's Blog: Warnings Increasing - Weekly Blog # 943

 

 

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Is This the Last Hurrah? - Weekly Blog # 945

 

 

 

Mike Lipper’s Monday Morning Musings

 

Is This the Last Hurrah?

 

Editors: Frank Harrison 1997-2018, Hylton Phillips-Page 2018

 

          

 

 Preface

Hurrah is both a shout of victory and a political world about aging politicians, warning that the following election won’t be a happy one. (BTW it is pronounced Oorah in the Marines and Hoorah by the Army.)

 

I don’t know whether the reception for the largest IPO of all time is a sign we will not see larger market enthusiasm in the future. I am talking about both the size of the SpaceX offering and the further gains generated after underwriting.  What I do know that it was a record fundraise at a time when many non “AI” stocks are dealing with mediocre sales. Consumer sentiment is at its lowest on record going back to the early 1950s

 

More importantly, I am trying to find investments for the next “bull” market. My assumption is that we will experience a substantial rise after a major correction to the present market level.

 

The Process

The first thing I don’t do is look for clues to a different future by crunching GAAP numbers found in today’s annual reports or other regulatory accounting statements. To the extent present sales data may be useful, they need to be adjusted to match reality. For example, today it looks like semiconductor companies are doing very well in Taiwan and South Korea. Truth is, only some of their product sales are produced in their home country, with increasingly more in other countries. More importantly, I am guessing their ultimate sales are to US customers. Thus, investors are concerned that many of these so-labeled international companies are extremely sensitive to what is happening in the US.

 

Forward Looking Analysis (Guessing)

The example that I discuss should not be treated as a buy recommendation and should only be rendered knowing the economic condition, resources, and personality of the buyer. The case I will discuss shortly is a long-standing large position with a large unrealized potential tax liability, although the analytical thinking may also be appropriate for the reader.

 

The stock is Berkshire Hathaway. The news item is the $8.5 billion purchase of Taylor-Morrison Homes for cash, including the assumption of some debt. The initial size is about 1/3rd of Berkshire’s annual net free cash flow, excluding their large cash reserves.

 

The decision made by the new CEO of Berkshire was completed in matter of weeks and was applauded by Warren Buffet. The announced plan is to create a housing group combining Taylor-Morrison with already owned Clayton Homes, which manufactures homes at a lower price point. Taylor-Morrison builds communities of new middle-class houses as well as rental housing. There is a national need for more housing.

 

I believe this purchase is very similar to Berkshire buying See’s Candy, which was initially misunderstood by some as Berkshire going into the Candy business. They were instead going into the franchising business, which has been an excellent business for McDonalds. In this case they would be going into the home mortgage business in a major way, with a controlled sample.  Furthermore, this is a sign that Greg Able the new CEO of Berkshire, has different talents and proclivities than Mr. Buffet without the guidance of the late Charlie Munger.

 

This is an example of how to investigate the future. 

 

Let us know what you think about our views?

                                         

 

 

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Mike Lipper's Blog: Warnings Increasing - Weekly Blog # 943

Mike Lipper's Blog: Rhymes + Future Opportunities - Weekly Blog # 942

Mike Lipper's Blog: Many Trends Within the Same Market - Weekly Blog # 941

 

 

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New Era? - Weekly Blog # 944

 

Mike Lipper’s Monday Morning Musings

 

New Era?

 

Editors: Frank Harrison 1997-2018, Hylton Phillips-Page 2018

 

          

Evidence

After an extended period of daily market movements below 1% per day, the most meaningful stock market index fell -2.64%, with the technology sector falling much more. The 30-company Philadelphia Semiconductor Index which produces the critical needs for “AIs” explosive growth fell -10.3%, while the NASDAQ Composite fell -4.18%. (This is not the first decline for a new technology driven bull market, which was led by railroads, canals, and undersea cables in 1873. These stocks traded on exchanges in America, London, and Vienna. In Vienna the market dropped 45% in one day.) Despite the happy talk from Washington and various pundits, we have seen continued notices of layoffs from large, seasoned companies, including by Macy and Saks. In New Jersey, April unemployment was 4.8% vs 4.3% nationally. (It was just announced that Exxon and Chevron have changed their state of incorporation from New Jersey to Texas.) What is more significant to me is the number of bank branches that are closing. Perhaps more significant is the observable factor that attractive, wealthy women, are not wearing expensive jewelry while shopping or at performances.

 

Midweek, the AAII sample survey showed the market outlook for the next six months being 36% bullish and 37% bearish. (I suspect that if the survey was done after Friday’s market, we would have seen a bigger total for the bears). Interestingly, some stocks that typically don’t attract tech buyers, like Coca Cola* (+3.46%), Moody’s* (0.49%), and even Apple*, fell less than the market (-1.25%).

*Owned in managed or personal accounts.

 

My View 

Most analysts and pundits compare stock price performance to past cycles to determine investment policies, much like telling time with a stopped clock. Seldom in an investment career does it pay to look for meaningful structural change. One way to do this is to recognize that old firmly held beliefs, like a flat earth, keep us from falling into the abyss. Like Columbus, we should seek to find new riches by going against the popular view, putting faith in a compass over an orderly world view. Similar to Columbus I may be wrong, but I will hopefully reward my backers with fabulous wealth by addressing society’s real problem, far too many unproductive people. Not only are the young unproductive, but there are also healthy seniors not working for money or the good of society.

 

Today’s government employment data shows that there are sufficient job openings for all the unemployed, although the hirers say they can’t find enough people to meet their needs. Only 61% of our population are employed. I translate that to mean they can’t find people with the correct attitudes and education to meet their needs. This is an indictment of both our schools and homelife. To solve this problem, they should automate wherever possible, which can mean using “AI”. 

 

 For many years I boarded a 6 AM train with papers to read, reaching the office at about 7 AM prepared for my first meeting with colleagues or committee members of the New York Society of Securities Analysts, the trade association of my profession. I was not alone, I would meet other analysts outside their offices for a bite of breakfast, where executive committee members were also having breakfast with their direct reports or others that were on the way up. (This was not the normal day that the executive committee officially met, but they were still doing business.) After a full day working numbers and writing reports, I caught the 6 PM train home. I arrived at close to 7 PM and then spent time with my children going over how they spent their day. Thus, my workday was 12 hours, with some additional time spent on the weekend. I probably spent some 70 hours a week fighting my way up the ladder.

 

The law calls for a 40-hour week, which does not include lunch. Today, according to the Department of Labor, the average American works a little more than 34 hours a week and that time probably includes lunch. If you listen to the young people of today, they believe in a work/life balance of at least 50/50. No wonder our productivity grows at around 3%, which appears to be higher than in China.

 

“Evidently, when Trump visited Xi Jinping last month, the Chinese president made a pointed reference to the concept of overstretch. A concept that was put forward over two millennia ago by the ancient historian and general, Thucydides. Can China and the US overcome this trap? There is also the risk of war expenditures becoming greater than the rest of the economy. The current administration, unlike China, is extremely focused on short-term-announcements impacting the mid-terms. Strategically however, both the President and Xi Jinping are aware of the seminal work by Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahon, titled The Influence of Sea Power Upon History.

 

See what you can do to increase productivity and put more of us to work for society. Your help is needed.

                                         

 

 

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Mike Lipper's Blog: Warnings Increasing - Weekly Blog # 943

Mike Lipper's Blog: Rhymes + Future Opportunities - Weekly Blog # 942

Mike Lipper's Blog: Many Trends Within the Same Market - Weekly Blog # 941

 

 

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Warnings Increasing - Weekly Blog # 943

 

 

 

Mike Lipper’s Monday Morning Musings

 

Warnings Increasing

 

Editors: Frank Harrison 1997-2018, Hylton Phillips-Page 2018

 

          

 

Preface

I cannot predict the future, and I believe none can. The best I can do is use a life-long habit of dealing with chances of what may happen. In other words, odds are one possibility is more likely than another.

 

We all hope that the various problems facing the financial world will be quickly solved to our personal benefit. However, as a trained analyst I am compelled to increasingly doubt the expressed views found in most US media and by other pundits which are not completely echoed beyond our borders. These items came out last week.

 

Worry List in Chronological Order

1. The number of farm bankruptcies rose 40%. (The same thing happened before the depression.)
2. The University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Survey dropped to 93.1 from 93.7.
3. Another Fund Management Company is looking to find a new home - Dimensional Fund Advisors. (I expect there will be others.)
4. Perella Weinberg, an investment bank, is laying off 10 partners and 10% of the firm. (More to come?)
5. Gary Shelling predicts a 30 % chance of a S&P 500 bear market in 2026 and a 60-70% chance in 2027.
6. Canada has economically contracted for 3 of the past 5 quarters, falling into a recession. (The US is their largest customer, and our companies own lots of Canadian companies.)
7. Prudential Insurance, Meta Holdings, and Johnson & Johnson, are compelled to announce layoffs.
8. On Friday, the last day of the month, more stocks were sold on a decline on both the NYSE and NASDAQ. However, this may be typical selling before the weekend.
9. In May only three S&P 500 sectors rose: InfoTech+5.6%, Consumer Discretionary +0.26%, and Healthcare +0.21%. Eight sectors fell.
10. The three forces that led to the market index rising were:  Affluent Consumers, “AI” investments, and Asset Allocation. (Contrary points: Inflation was up more than wages. Other industries that were similar and didn’t work out: canals, railroads, radio, airlines, atomic energy, and computers. Bonds were a safe way to beat stocks and “private debt and equity”) 

 

Warning: Be Careful, Let Others Have Some of your Winners.

                                        

 

 

Did you miss my blog last week? Click here to read.

Mike Lipper's Blog: Rhymes + Future Opportunities - Weekly Blog # 942

Mike Lipper's Blog: Many Trends Within the Same Market - Weekly Blog # 941

Mike Lipper's Blog: What Can Go Wrong - Weekly Blog # 940

 

 

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