The markets have been amazing. Although I am cautious on the markets, I am net long and have been doing well. As those who read my blog know, I have overweighted positions in oil and gas as well as precious metal stocks. Those stocks have done well. The remainder of the portfolio is well diversified among many different sectors. If this current bullish trend continues, I will be a happy camper. I believe, however, that we will experience more turbulence in the near future.
I highly recommend that you follow your companies' earnings reports and listen to their conference calls. Because we have just entered earnings seasons, I went to The Wall Street Journal online Market Data Center's Earnings Calendar. I believe that this portion of the online WSJ is freely available to all. I entered my stock symbols to learn when the earnings release is expected. If you are unable to listen to the company's conference call live, you should listen to the playback afterwards. Another excellent source of information on conference calls is Seeking Alpha. As an aside and matter of disclosure, I am a contributor to Seeking Alpha. Seeking Alpha provides transcripts free of charge for a substantial number of the companies. I like having written transcripts because I can readily search the transcripts for key information.
I find the markets terribly interesting right now. You have the bulls that are proclaiming worldwide growth, strong job market, and overall buoyant economy will propel the markets higher. The bears point to the recent media reports concerning the U.S. housing markets and hedge funds' problems with the mortgages. Moreover the bears highlight problems with the war in Iraq, increased geopolitical turmoil, higher energy prices, less discretionary money, problems with the U.S. dollar, tepid retail sales, and inflation—just to mention a few.
I like it when the markets are more volatile because that give me the opportunity to buy some stocks when the markets dip and to release some stocks when the market rallies. I am using some derivatives too.
The key points from today's rambling are as follows:
- Although cautious on the markets I am net long;
- All investors should take note of their companies' upcoming earnings releases and conference calls—be sure to pay attention;
- The markets have been somewhat more volatile recently, which creates opportunities; and
- Be sure to have a diversified portfolio to weather the ups and downs.
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