http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog A weekly investment blog highlighting the stock markets with specific recommendations and stock picks. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:02:35 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Stocks ended January with the S&P 500 up over 4% since December 31. Not only is this a substantial improvement from the full year of 2011, when it went nowhere, it is also its best January performance since 1997. This could be a favorable omen. Since 1928, the S&P 500 in ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2012/02/forget-facebook/ Apple (AAPL-$445) crushed Wall Street analysts’ earnings estimates. It did this the old fashioned way, not through juggling its accounting as many banks do, but through developing and marketing superior products. One hopes that this would subdue those chattering financial commentators who spent much of the quarter whining about competition ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2012/01/an-apple-a-day-keeps-the-down-market-away/ The Chinese New Year approaches, bringing in the Year of the Dragon, said to be a deliverer of good fortune. Stocks are anticipating this, up over four percent in the first three weeks of 2012. That’s over four percent better than they did last year, going nowhere after substantial swings ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2012/01/happy-new-year-of-the-dragon/ Stocks continue a stealth rally, quietly moving to their best levels in five months. The market has recently been untroubled by bad news from Europe, even receiving some sparks of good news like another small downtick in the unemployment rate. Quarterly earnings season kicked off with a few decent reports ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2012/01/383/ Stocks came out swinging at the opening bell of 2012. For a brief period, the market was not burdened with bad news from the bankers of Europe or the political candidates of America. As the holiday glow fades, we can expect the battering to resume as the bankers and politicians ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2012/01/the-opening-bell/ Stock columns at this time traditionally try to forecast the year ahead. Currently, the only certainty is that there will be continued uncertainty and accompanying volatility. That is more of a useful forecast than it might sound. Investors will do better if they accept that stocks will be buffeted by ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2011/12/investing-in-uncertain-times-and-markets/ Santa Claus seems to be still trying to figure out if the stock market has been naughty or nice. I think most investors would vote for “naughty” after experiencing the market swings of 2011. After all this volatility, it is down three percent for the year so far. It gained ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2011/12/is-santa-claus-coming/ Unemployment finally moved down a notch from 9% to 8.6%, mixed progress is taking place with Europe’s financial problems and stocks continue to bounce up and down. They always have but this year seems to have been particularly hard on investor nerves, probably because much of the fluctuating took place ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2011/12/a-world-of-uncertainties/ A couple of puffs of good news were enough to prompt a gale of buying that sent stocks up 800 points on the Dow in three days. Gales tend to blow out but the market’s ability to make a lot out of a little shows how depressed stock prices had ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2011/12/winds-of-change/ The stock market continues to be as irrational as an unhappy teenager. Corporate profits are at an all time high at levels that would support a Dow Jones Industrial Average three thousand points higher, were investors not so spooked by debt levels here and in Europe. Meanwhile, unemployment remains painfully ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2011/11/stock-market-thanksgiving/