| With The S&P In A Bear Market, Read This Before Your Next Trade By: Kevin Matras June 15, 2022 | The S&P officially entered bear market territory on Monday, June 13th, when it closed down -21.3% from their all-time high close made earlier this year. For the record, the Nasdaq entered bear market territory in March. And they made a new low on Monday as well, putting their total decline at -32.7%. The Dow has so far avoided a bear market (given their lesser exposure to tech, which has been weighing on the markets). But at -17.1%, those few percentage points separating a bear market from a correction is of little consolation. Raging inflation (41-year high according to the latest CPI report last week), is largely responsible for the economic and market angst. With inflation running hot, and the Fed way behind the curve in trying to mitigate it, fears of a recession are growing. Problem is, if the Fed remains too slow in raising rates, then inflation itself will take its toll by reducing demand and eating away at consumers' purchasing power. On the other hand, if the Fed raises too high and too fast, that could bring about the kind of demand destruction that could send the economy into a recession. So, the Fed has to thread the needle. We will see how the Fed's 75 basis point rate increase on Wednesday, and the expectation for another 50 basis points in July (culminating in 3.4% by year's end), does in trying to do just that. But now that we're in a bear market, now what? For one, it suggests we're closer to hitting bottom than we were previously. The average bear market decline for the S&P (going back 100+ years), is -38%. With the S&P down by more than -21%, we're more than halfway there. If a hard landing is to be seen, there's likely more downside to go. If the worst-case scenario does not unfold, however, and a softer landing indeed is what we see (no recession), then stocks are grossly oversold and a sharp repricing higher should be seen. The question on whether we see a recession or not won't be answered until at least the end of the second quarter, plus a few weeks, for the stats to come out. In the meantime, with over 1,450 stocks down more than -50% YTD, and over 500 stocks down more than -70%, there's tons of bargains out there right now. And it presents an opportunity to pick up some great names at prices you could only have wished for a few short months, or even years ago. And in spite of inflation, and fears of recession (we shall see), there's plenty of positives in the economy that have been virtually ignored during this sell-off, including a strong labor market (near 50-year low unemployment), strong household spending, strong business investment, and strong industrial production. So much so that the Fed (in the latest FOMC Minutes), said they anticipate GDP would 'advance at a solid pace over the remainder of the year.' Which means now is a great time to start looking for new stocks to buy, especially with valuations having fallen to their lowest levels in more than 2 years. But you need to be selective. And it's now more important than ever to make sure you're doing everything you can to get the most out of your trades. Because there will be distinct winners and losers as we move forward. So, before you make your next trade, please read this first to learn how to put the probabilities of success in your favor. Knowledge Is Power We've all heard the old adage, 'knowledge is power.' It's a great saying because it's true. And that saying couldn't be truer than when it comes to investing. Take a look at your last big loser for example. After analyzing what went wrong, you soon discover some piece of information that 'had you known beforehand, you never would have gotten into it in the first place.' I'm not talking about things that are unknowable, like inside information or surprise announcements that can catch even the most professional of professionals off guard. I'm talking about things that you could have known about or SHOULD have known about before you got in. Did You Know? . . . | • | Did you know that roughly half of a stock's price movement can be attributed to the group that it's in? | | • | Did you also know that oftentimes a mediocre stock in a top performing group will outperform a 'great' stock in a poor performing group? | | • | And did you know that the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries outperforms the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1? | | • | And did you also know that the top 10% of industries outperformed the most? | More . . . |
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