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Today we are watching…
1. Proctor and Gamble (#pg)
Here’s another stock for your coronavirus watch list, desperate to impress. Proctor & Gamble has raised its dividend at a time when almost all other companies are lowering or suspending theirs. The company sells detergent, relatively recession-proof, but it doesn’t have many opportunities to reinvest its profit back into its operations at good rates of return. This company is an ancient blue-chip, so it distributes its earnings straight to investors instead. Most of its investor-base treasure their dividend stream, and that’s why the stock rose 5% yesterday when the company backed it up. It’s lifted sentiment before its earnings report on Friday!
2. Wells Fargo (#wells)
This ailing “Big Four” bank just lost 90% of its net income, put over five-billion-dollars in an emergency fund to cover losses on loans, and saw its share price plummet 4%. Its results might be a bellwether for the broader economy, along with those of JP Morgan, so this is dicey news. The two banks also experienced 13-15% declines in credit card spending, with even e-commerce spend going negative. Almost every stock on the S&P will reveal its earnings over the next four weeks, so no chief executive can escape carefully written prepared remarks. It’s now about being positive about the second half of the year, and proving the value is still being created for shareholders while the word is offline.
Staying Bust During Market Closures
Anyone out there? American markets took the day off on Good Friday, as did many exchanges around the world on Easter Monday. With no action on the indices, what’s a trader to do?
Well, out goes the noise. There are no momentary mega-risers or flash crashing mega-fallers to distract you from your investing analyses. Some will hit the Invstr feed with hot topics and questions, how long the rally will run. Others will unplug completely, crunch numbers in silence, and return to markets with conviction next week. One thing’s for certain, now’s the time to extend an advantage over market rivals.
Investing is not a zero-sum game, there’s plenty dollar to go round. However, to make more than the average investor, you need an ‘edge’ that the average investor doesn’t have. You need to know something he or she doesn’t know. You need a stronger gut, more practice, experience, and you need to work harder flat-out.
Most buyers and sellers are active between 9:30 a.m. and 4.00 p.m., official trading hours on the New York Stock Exchange. Others start at 8:00 a.m., catching pre-market, and they don’t go home until the bulk of after-market moves are made at 6.30 p.m. Commendable, but what if they took it a step further.
What if they didn’t take leave on days like today, studied companies at night, and traded them during the day? What if they took investing as seriously as athletes take their training? It won’t matter what your rivals do in the pre-market if they’re already ten years behind you. Down to business!
