The best way to understand how the stock market fluctuates is to study trends of individual stocks and broad market behaviors. I’ve created this infographic to help you do just that.
The above are edited excerpts from the introduction to an infographic* by Timothy Sykes (timothysykes.com) entitled Understanding the Behavior of the Stock Market.
The following infographic is presented by Lorimer Wilson, editor of www.munKNEE.com (Your Key to Making Money!) and the FREE Market Intelligence Report newsletter (sample here) and some aspects of the post may have been edited, abridged and/or reformatted (some sub-titles and bold/italics emphases) for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read. This paragraph must be included in any article re-posting to avoid copyright infringement.
Conclusion
Factors that affect stock prices include: inflation, interest rates, energy prices, oil prices and international issues like war, crime, fraud and political unrest.
Spikes in price are extremely difficult to predict but based on history, the stock market always rises over time and investors can make estimations of how the market will react to different influences and events. Recognizing a trend, hopefully before the curve, in an individual stock or the broader market will help you determine the best times to buy and sell. However, over time, research shows that investing in strong companies with growth potential pays off more than rumors and guesswork!
Editor’s Note: The author’s views and conclusions in the above article are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original post. Furthermore, the views, conclusions and any recommendations offered in this article are not to be construed as an endorsement of such by the editor.
1. Manage Your Own Portfolio? Then These Articles Are For YOU
The vast majority of people who have money saved have it invested in the stock market, be it stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs or warrants, and have it “managed” by their financial advisor/planner. Very, very few individuals manage their assets in self-directed accounts either through a full-service brokerage firm or totally on their own via an internet account. As such, very few articles are written for such an audience. This post changes all that with links to some very informative articles on virtually everything you need to know to succeed in today’s marketplace. Read More »
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If you want to make money long-term, you have to bet against the prevailing consensus of most financial experts. I have never seen such an overwhelming bullish consensus as there is today that the economy is going to do great, that gold is a sell, and that the stock market is going to go higher, and if you want to build speculative wealth, you have to bet against that. Read More »
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4. The Best Stock Market Indicator – Ever
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9. Is Using the VIX to “buy the freaking dips” a Good Strategy?
Since the U.S. stock market still appears to be trying to make up its mind which way things will go from here, this appears to be as good a time as any to expand on the idea of using the VIX to “buy the freaking dips.” Read More »
10. Index Funds are a MUST in Every Long-Term Investment Portfolio – Here’s why
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11. “The Small Dogs of the Dow” Strategy Is a Real Winner! Here’s What It Is & How It Works
The Small Dogs of the Dow is a simple and effective strategy that has outperformed the Dow and the S&P 500 significantly over the last 20 years. Let me present this in simple terms: Read More »
12. “Dogs of the Dow” Approach to Investing Really Works! Here’s Proof
The “Dogs of the Dow” is a widely-known passive investment strategy that says to simply buy the 10 highest yielding Dow 30 stocks at the start of each year. Below is a look at how 2013′s Dogs of the Dow have fared thus far. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. Words: 289 Read More »
13. Today’s Shiller PE Suggests the Stock Market Is Overvalued By 60%!
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14. EXPECT & PLAN For A Major Stock Market Correction In the Coming Weeks/Months – Here’s Why & How
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15. Extreme Greed By the Crowd Suggests You Show Some Fear! Here’s Why
Greed may have been good for Gordon Gekko. but in the investment world it rarely is. As Warren Buffett is famous for saying “…be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful” [and now is such a time]…to start showing some level of fear here in the face of extreme greed by the crowd. The crowd can be right for a long time, but they are rarely right at extremes. While this time may be different, the probabilities suggest that at the very least it will be a more difficult environment for equities going forward.
16. Make No Mistake – A Major Stock Sell-off Looms! Here Are 4 Ominous Signs
The 4 fundamentals and technicals discussed in this article accurately called stock market crashes in 2000 and 2007 and these same market metrics are again TODAY warning that a possible financial tsunami is brewing on the horizon. No one knows for certain WHEN the tsunami will hit Wall Street…but, without question, today’s stocks exhibit extremely exaggerated valuations, and extremes never last, so make no mistake, a major stock sell-off looms.
17. These Indicators Should Scare the Hell Out of Anyone With A Stock Portfolio
For US stocks — and by implication most other equity markets — the danger signals are piling up to the point where a case can be made that the end is, at last, near. Take a look at these examples of indicators that should scare the hell out of anyone with a big stock portfolio.
18. Remember the “Nifty 50″? It’s Back! What Does It Means For the Markets Going Forward?
Market historians will recall the term “Nifty 50” originated in the 1960’s bull market to describe 50 wildly popular large-cap stocks at the time. Interestingly, some of the same names from that list are leading the market higher today. The question for investors, of course, is what this selective advance means for the markets going forward.
19. This Is One “Crazy, Nastyass” Stock Market! Here’s Why
You can call this current stock market a blowoff or call it a Wile E. Coyote moment or call it a divergence or call it a disconnect or call it a lapse of judgement. You can call it whatever you want but I call it the “Honey Badger” market because this is one “crazy, nastyass” stock market – and I can’t believe I’m watching it happen all over again. Read More »
20. Are You A Bull Or A Bear? Here Are Indicators & Charts That Support Your Thesis
The current U.S. equity market has something for everyone. Whether you are bullish or bearish, there is no shortage of indicators or charts you can use to support your thesis. Let’s run through both the Bull and the Bear case here. In the spirit of Confirmation Bias, feel free to skip ahead to the part that best supports your current positioning. Read More »
21. Are We In Phase 3 – the Final Phase – of This Bull Market Yet?
Are we in the third phase of a bull market? Most who will read this article will immediately say “no” but isn’t that what was always believed during the “mania” phase of every previous bull market cycle? With the current bull market now stretching into its sixth year; it seems appropriate to review the three very distinct phases of historical bull market cycles. Read More »
22. Is Now the Calm Before the Storm?
I’d argue that the record low volume shows investors aren’t looking ahead as much as looking behind and reminiscing at how good things have been over the past five years or so. They’re expecting more of the same even though it’s mathematically impossible people. Read More »
23. Should You Care What’s Happening On the Nikkei 225? YES! Here’s Why
Should markets around the world really care about what the Nikkei 225 Index does? The Power of the Pattern suggests “yes”! Here’s why. Read More »
24. Collapse of S&P 500 May Be Only Weeks Ahead! Here’s Why
When Staple sector (i.e. defensive) stocks started to reflect greater relative strength than Discretionary sector stocks back in 2000 and again in 2007, the S&P 500 began to fall dramatically in the ensuing months. That’s happening again. Can a collapse of the S&P 500 be far behind? Read More »
25. There’s Evidence – Plenty of It – That the Bear Is No Longer Hibernating. Here’s Why
The health of a market is best assessed along three vectors: fundamentals, technicals (price action) and sentiment and this is what each is saying about the health of the markets these days. Read More »
26. A 20%+ Sell-off is Brewing In the Lofty U.S. Stock Markets – Here’s Why & What the Future Holds
For today’s seriously overextended and overvalued US stock markets the best-case scenario is a full-blown correction approaching 20% emerging soon while the worst case is a new cyclical bear market that ultimately leads to catastrophic 50% losses. Read More »
27. Margin Debt: It Doesn’t Matter ’til It Matters! Is Now the Time to Be Worried About the S&P 500?
It doesn’t matter until it matters! IF margin debt should start decreasing swiftly, history would suggest something different is taking place in the mind of aggressive investors. Will a decline in margin debt from all-time highs matter this time? Read More »
28. 2 Stock Market Indicators Are Saying “Be careful, don’t get caught up in the euphoria”
In the midst of all the optimism we see towards key stock indices these days, there are two leading indicators that are flashing warning signals. They say, “Be careful, and don’t get caught up in the euphoria.” Read More »
29. Beginnings of Massive Stock Market Correction Developing: Don’t Delay, Prepare Today!
No stock can resist gravity forever. What goes up must eventually come down. This is especially true for stock prices that become grotesquely distorted. We have been – and still are – living in another dotcom bubble, and – like the last one – it is inevitable that it is going to burst. Read More »
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31. The Stock Market Is a Risky Place to Be – Here’s Why
With both the fundamentals and the technicals saying the stock market is a risky place to be, we await its crash back to reality. Here’s why. Read More »
Question for Mr. Timothy Sykes, Can you do a similar article comparing the Stock Market to PM’s?