http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog A weekly investment blog highlighting the stock markets with specific recommendations and stock picks. Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:01:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Uncertainty and anxiety are not quite the same but they have similar effects on investors. Respected economists currently differ whether the U.S. economy faces inflation, deflation or maybe a little of both. The plunge three years ago from the heady highs of the stock market of 2007 remains a vivid ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2010/08/pe-ratios-near-lows-time-to-buy-or-wait/ The frantic screamers of the financial media almost ignored two significant business milestones. China passed Japan as the second largest economy in the world and General Motors filed for its new public stock sale. News of house price declines and sour reports on continuing unemployment probably make for more grabby ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2010/08/looking-a-few-months-ahead/ Backsliding stocks have taken the averages back to their levels at the beginning of the year. As company earnings have continued their advance, stocks are now priced more cheaply but investor sentiment is pessimistic as investor emotion follows stock prices. Peddlers of stock newsletters and other commercial services often pander ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2010/08/discipline-not-omens/ Summer earnings season began with a bang on smash hit earnings from Intel and ended with a whimper on a mild disappointment from Cisco. (Ever the non-conformer, Cisco’s quarter ended in July.). The season lasted several weeks and a series of generally good news encouraged the market upward for a ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2010/08/seasons-end/ Many investors make the mistake of looking for stocks that are down sharply as if they were goods that had been marked down for bargain sales. Stocks are subject to more variables affecting their prices than even out of season women’s fashions or day old bread. They are also subject ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2010/08/fundamental-principles/ The arrival of quarterly earnings reports stiffened investor courage. The early reports, like the splendid one from Intel (INTC-$22), sparked initial buying interest but that faded, apparently due to prior fears accumulated during the financial crises. As succeeding favorable reports came in, increasing confidence became apparent and even disappointing reports ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2010/07/storm-clouds-clearing-time-to-resume-boarding/ As predicted, the arrival of a fresh round of quarterly earnings reports sparked stock market action. What was unusual were the manic investor reactions, jumping from buying to selling like beachgoers on the Gulf dodging oil spots. Testing times over the past two years in the stock markets have left ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2010/07/action-not-reaction/ Stocks challenged the prophets of doom with a five percent bounce to start the third quarter. That cut in half the loss for the first two quarters, strengthening my forecast that the full year will see a gain of at least ten percent. As this pickup came with the first ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2010/07/is-this-rally-for-real/ Fear continues to dominate the stock markets as they come off a terrible quarter that left the S&P 500 stock average down 12% for three months and 8% for the first six months of 2009. It’s still up 12% for the last twelve months, a reminder that keeping perspective on ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2010/07/from-9-to-zero/ Stocks are stumbling toward the close of the first half of the year like an exhausted World Cup team in extra time. As we approach the second half, the S&P 500 average is down 11% for the insipid current quarter and off 7% for the year-to-date. My emphasis on dividends ... http://www.crowellroberts.com/blog/2010/06/a-tiring-quarter/