More Americans Than Ever Own Stocks
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/stocks-americans-own-most-ever-9f6fd963
Pandemic, zero-commission trading ‘created a whole generation of investors’
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/stocks-americans-own-most-ever-9f6fd963
Pandemic, zero-commission trading ‘created a whole generation of investors’
Everyone knows stock market predictions are awful.
So why make them and should investors care?
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/household-finances/article-everyone-knows-stock-market-predictions-are-awful-so-why-make-them-and/
Get it wrong and everyone forgets about it, because they know the track records are awful anyway. But there is also a professional playbook for deflecting blame that you’ll see once you know to look.
The top three excuses: 1. We were just early. Wait and see. 2. An unexpected event occurred during the year that wasn’t in our model. 3. We were wrong for the right reasons.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/household-finances/article-everyone-knows-stock-market-predictions-are-awful-so-why-make-them-and/
Get it wrong and everyone forgets about it, because they know the track records are awful anyway. But there is also a professional playbook for deflecting blame that you’ll see once you know to look.
The top three excuses: 1. We were just early. Wait and see. 2. An unexpected event occurred during the year that wasn’t in our model. 3. We were wrong for the right reasons.
It’s the Magnificent Seven’s Market. The Other
Stocks Are Just Living in It.
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/its-the-magnificent-sevens-market-the-other-stocks-are-just-living-in-it-5d212f95
Big tech stocks have jumped 75% in 2023—and now make up about 30% of the S&P 500
Share buybacks are nice. But as a market signal, they’re terrible
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/inside-the-market/article-manulife-share-buybacks/
But as a market-timing signal, buyback activity leaves a lot to be desired: Companies, in aggregate, often buy their own shares when prices are high and ignore buying opportunities when their stocks are cheap.
“Companies may believe they are buying low, but the evidence in support of managers successfully timing the market is at best mixed,” Ms. Bonaime said in an e-mail.
This is likely because stock prices and repurchases tend to rise when corporate earnings are high, she said. Companies often cut back on repurchases during recessions, when profits are down and hoarding cash may be necessary.
She added that stock options can also play a role here. Employees tend to exercise their options when share prices are high, pushing companies to initiate buybacks to combat the dilutive effect of issuing new shares.
Bond Market, Not Banks, Dominates a World of Looser Lending
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-12-17/credit-markets-risks-in-a-crisis-are-distorted-when-everyone-s-a-lender
Even strong believers in free markets worry that they’re distorting judgments and misdirecting credit.
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/its-the-magnificent-sevens-market-the-other-stocks-are-just-living-in-it-5d212f95
Big tech stocks have jumped 75% in 2023—and now make up about 30% of the S&P 500
Share buybacks are nice. But as a market signal, they’re terrible
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/inside-the-market/article-manulife-share-buybacks/
But as a market-timing signal, buyback activity leaves a lot to be desired: Companies, in aggregate, often buy their own shares when prices are high and ignore buying opportunities when their stocks are cheap.
“Companies may believe they are buying low, but the evidence in support of managers successfully timing the market is at best mixed,” Ms. Bonaime said in an e-mail.
This is likely because stock prices and repurchases tend to rise when corporate earnings are high, she said. Companies often cut back on repurchases during recessions, when profits are down and hoarding cash may be necessary.
She added that stock options can also play a role here. Employees tend to exercise their options when share prices are high, pushing companies to initiate buybacks to combat the dilutive effect of issuing new shares.
Bond Market, Not Banks, Dominates a World of Looser Lending
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-12-17/credit-markets-risks-in-a-crisis-are-distorted-when-everyone-s-a-lender
Even strong believers in free markets worry that they’re distorting judgments and misdirecting credit.