Investments
3 Big Themes, and What It Means for Investing
One of the central themes in our 2024 Outlook was higher productivity growth over the next several years. The key idea was that tight and mature labor markets enhance worker productivity and incentivize businesses to organize work more efficiently and invest in technological resources. That’s something that doesn’t happen when labor is cheap. With better …
Sonu Varghese
April 19, 2024
Rates Are Higher, Just Like Everyone Expected
“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” -General Patton The quote above is one that I’ve used more in my career than probably any other quote. Markets are all about what is priced in and what isn’t, suggesting that the big opportunities can be found by going against the crowd in some …
Ryan Detrick
April 18, 2024
The Art of Investing
“It’s obvious that studying history and philosophy was much better preparation for the stock market than, say, studying statistics. Investing in stocks is an art, not a science, and people who’ve been trained to rigidly quantify everything have a big disadvantage.” -Peter Lynch For more than twenty years, I’ve invested in individual stocks with …
Carson Group
April 17, 2024
Talking About AI with Dan Ives
Discover the transformative power of AI as we explore its impact on the tech industry and beyond! This week on the Facts vs Feelings podcast, Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group & Sonu Varghese, VP, Global Macro Strategist at Carson Group, chat with Dan Ives, Managing Director, Equity Research at Wedbush Securities. They …
Ryan Detrick
April 17, 2024
Stocks Can Go Down
“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”- Winston Churchill After more than a 30% total return on the S&P 500 the past 12 calendar months, a five month win streak, and a 27% rally in the first 100 trading days off the late October lows, we could finally be looking …
Ryan Detrick
April 16, 2024
Earnings Season is Springing into Bloom: A Look Under the Hood
As the daffodils bloom, signaling the arrival of spring, it’s also time for the earnings season to commence for the first quarter. Despite the S&P 500’s impressive double-digit rally to start the year, expectations for Q1 remain modest, with analysts forecasting just under 4% earnings growth. However, forecasts suggest a significant acceleration, culminating in double-digit …
Carson Group
April 15, 2024
What’s Happening with Interest Rates
We’ve been getting a lot of questions about the interest rate environment, and especially what might happen to longer-term rates if the Federal Reserve (“Fed”) begins to cut the fed funds rate, even though the short-term increase in rates has been front of mind, but we’ll cover that as well. I’m going to cut to …
Barry Gilbert
April 12, 2024
Is It Time to Worry About Inflation Again?
Short answer: likely not. Make no mistake, inflation ran hot in the first quarter, especially relative to the fourth quarter of 2023. The March Consumer Price Index (CPI) report was an unwelcome surprise. Both headline and core inflation (excluding food and energy) came in above expectations. Headline inflation is up 3.5% from last year, and …
Sonu Varghese
April 11, 2024
Are Democrats or Republicans Better for Stocks?
“George Washington was the only president who didn’t blame the previous administration.” -Source unknown How’s that for a title for a blog? Now that I have your attention, let’s talk a little bit about election years. We are getting the question of who is better for stocks a lot lately and given the election …
Ryan Detrick
April 10, 2024
Total Eclipse of the Bears
With the bull market we have had for several months now, it is normal for some to have doubts about its continuation. What can we expect for the markets? How is the economy doing and why should investors consider it? In this episode, Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group & Sonu Varghese, VP, …
Ryan Detrick
April 10, 2024
Beyond the Proxy: Disney’s Magical Path to Profitability
The recent proxy battle between the Walt Disney Company and Nelson Peltz thrust shareholder discontent into the spotlight, underscoring concerns about the company’s performance. While activist investors like Peltz often come under fire for their short-term focus and disruptive methods, Disney’s struggles over the past four years warranted closer scrutiny. Peltz mounted a robust campaign, …
Carson Group
April 8, 2024
A Blockbuster Payroll Report Suggests the Economy Is Far From Recession
We’ve been getting good news about the labor market in recent months – job growth has been strong, and the unemployment rate has been below 4% for 26 straight months (the longest streak since the late 1960s). However, there were some concerns at the edges if you looked hard enough. The March payroll report set …
Sonu Varghese
April 5, 2024