Author: The INO.com Team

Investors: Beware the Ides of March!

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Please enjoy this updated version of weekly commentary from the Reitmeister Total Return newsletter. Steve Reitmeister is the CEO of StockNews.com and Editor of the Reitmeister Total Return.

Click Here to learn more about Reitmeister Total Return

January offered a rip roaring start for stock investors. The +6.2% result for S&P 500 (SPY) barely scratches the surface on how Risk On the month was versus the generous gains for many of 2022’s most beaten down growth stocks.

The party continued when the calendar first flipped to February. But then investors got served a series of far too hot inflation reports that reminded them the Fed’s fight was far from over. From there stocks headed lower with a -5% drop from the February peak to the current valley.

This sets up for a very interesting month of March with many potential catalysts on the calendar that could have stocks racing higher again… or more likely breaking back into bearish territory.

Let’s dig in deeper on the current market landscape to get our portfolios ready for what lies ahead.

Market Commentary

The best way to set the backdrop for the February sell off is by reminding everyone of this equation:

Higher Rates on the Way (5%+)

+

Higher Rates in Place til at Least End of 2023

+

6-12 months of lagged economic impact

+

Already weak economic readings

=

Fertile soil to create recession and thus extension of the bear market with lower lows on the way. Continue reading "Investors: Beware the Ides of March!" →

Why Warren Buffett Just Made a Huge Mistake

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Editor’s Note: Our experts here at INO.com cover a lot of investing topics and great stocks every week. To help you make sense of it all, every Wednesday we’re going to pick one of those stocks and use Magnifi Personal to compare it with its peers or competitors. Here we go…

Sometime in the third quarter of last year, legendary investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-A) took a $4 billion stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSM), the Taiwanese contract chipmaker.

With TSM being the world’s largest and most valuable semiconductor fabricator with chips in most high-tech equipment the world over, and with Warren Buffett’s reputation for making extremely savvy investments, lots of people took notice.

But just a few months later, Buffett seems to have said “never mind” and sold more than 85% of his stake.

We have no insight into Buffett’s thinking, but it does seem odd for a buy-and-hold value investor to sell a great company that is so cheap. TSM is a well-run business with wide competitive moats and big profits. Yet, the stock is at a discount to its peers, at 17 times forward earnings.

By comparison, its rival Intel Corp. (INTC) — thanks to its crashing profits — has a price-to-earnings ratio (p/e) in excess of 60 times. And the company just slashed its dividend.

So, we thought it would be interesting to compare TSM to INTC using the Magnifi Personal compare function. Comparing two or more stocks has never been easier than with Magnifi Personal. All you had to do was type “Compare TSM and INTC” and Magnifi Personal showed us this:

Compare TSM and INTC

This is an example of a response using Magnifi Personal. This image is not a recommendation or individual advice. Please see bottom disclaimer for additional information, including INO.com’s relationship with Magnifi. Continue reading "Why Warren Buffett Just Made a Huge Mistake" →

Are Bearish Investors Coming Out of Hibernation?

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Please enjoy this updated version of weekly commentary from the Reitmeister Total Return newsletter. Steve Reitmeister is the CEO of StockNews.com and Editor of the Reitmeister Total Return.

Click Here to learn more about Reitmeister Total Return

I have been bearish since May 2022. However, I have to admit that the early 2023 evidence did increase the odds of a potential return to a bull market.

That party is over!

Let’s discuss the increasing evidence that bears are ready to come out of hibernation with much more downside to follow. And yes, this will come hand in hand with a trading plan to stay on the right side of action.

Market Commentary

Plain and simple, stocks rallied on a false premise to start 2023.

That being some signs of moderating inflation that could lead the Fed to end their rate hiking regime earlier than expected. This soft landing scenario compelled more investors to believe that bottom was already established and time to bid up stocks for the birth of the next bull market.

The Fed whole heartedly repudiated this idea at the February 1st meeting. They saw inflation as too sticky with no plans to change their hawkish course with higher rates in place through year end.

Bulls were clearly huffing aerosol paint cans at the time because they rallied on the false notion these statements were somehow dovish. The best I can figure out is that because Powell was not pounding the podium and foaming at the mouth that he was somehow dovish.

Clearly not true.

Since then more investors have gotten the memo that the early year rally was premature. Especially after Thursday when the Producer Price Index showed that inflation is much higher than expected.

I saw that event as Strike 3 for bulls as it came on the heels of 2 other events showing inflation being much higher than expected. Continue reading "Are Bearish Investors Coming Out of Hibernation?" →

What’s the next AMC or GME?

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Were you in the action when AMC and GME exploded?

JC Parets of All Star Charts is on the search to find the next set of big squeezes - actually, he may have already found them.

He’s going to show you the tools he’s using in a free, live event on Thursday, February 16, at 1:00 pm E.T.

Just for showing up, he’ll share six tickers that look a lot like AMC and GME did before they posted explosive gains.

Register here FREE

The tickers he’ll share come from his Freshly Squeezed Watch List, with stocks under serious technical pressure right now.

He’ll talk about catalysts, entry points, and price targets for each of them.

And he’ll show you how to get “buy” alerts and “sell” alerts so you can capture major short-squeeze gains.

We're in the very early stages of a new bull market. It’s a period of expanding participation, where just about everything is working.

And we're about to see explosive moves for no other reason than some permabears have overstayed their welcome.

Join JC at 1:00 pm E.T. on Tuesday. Click here to reserve your seat!

The INO.com Team

Are Stock Investors "Dazed & Confused"?

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Please enjoy this updated version of weekly commentary from the Reitmeister Total Return newsletter. Steve Reitmeister is the CEO of StockNews.com and Editor of the Reitmeister Total Return.

Click Here to learn more about Reitmeister Total Return

The stock market (SPY) has been up, down and all around since last week’s commentary. That’s because bulls and bears are slugging it out for dominance during this “Dazed & Confused” phase for the market.

What does that mean?

What happens next?

What should an investor do about it?

We will explore the answers for each of these pressing questions in this week’s Reitmeister Total Return commentary.

Market Commentary

Now let’s a step back to last week’s commentary where I outlined 4 possible outcomes for the market after the very important Fed rate announcement on Wednesday 2/1. Indeed, we landed on the least of attractive of which. That being…

Scenario 4: Dazed & Confused

"This is where the Fed gives mixed signals. Still hawkish for a long time to save face given previous statements. And yet do tip their hat a little to moderating inflation.

This gray area leads to a trading range until investors have more facts in hand. I suspect that 4,000 is the low end with 4,200 at the high end. This comes hand in hand with a ton of volatility as each new headline has investors recalibrate the bull/bear odds."

The market since then has lived up to ever single syllable of the above expectations. Especially the part about the volatility that comes after every key headline. Continue reading "Are Stock Investors "Dazed & Confused"?" →