Two steps forward, two steps back. High inflation remains front and center. – C.J. Lawrence – Market Commentary – 10/7/2022

Markets finished the week up 1.8%.  Recent economic data continues to be good for workers and bad for markets. We are still adding jobs at a healthy 250,000+ monthly rate.  The unemployment rate remains at a very low 3.5%.  This is consistent with tight labor markets and continued inflationary pr...
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Relative Strength Indicator (RSI) Back to Extreme Oversold Condition – C.J. Lawrence Market Commentary – 9/23/2022

It has been a tough couple of weeks for the bulls. The S&P500 is back to the June low at 3693, wiping out the strong momentum we saw in August and back to extreme oversold conditions as measured by the relative strength indicator (RSI).  The culprit is core inflation or what is often called PCE...
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Back to Work for Labor Day! Introducing INFLATION PROOF Investing 1.0 – C.J. Lawrence Market Commentary – September 2, 2022

We had another strong employment report today. August added another 315,000 jobs, ahead of expectations. Labor force participation also rose to 62%, indicating that workers are returning to work. As a result of the higher labor force participation, the unemployment rate rose to a very low 3.7%. This...
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Strong Earnings, Peak Margins, and 2022 Headwinds, Terry Gardner, CJ Lawrence Market Comment 11.3.21 – YouTube Video & Transcript

In this video, C.J. Lawrence Portfolio Strategist, Terry Gardner, discusses the strong 1Q21 results being delivered by S&P 500 companies, examines profit margins and margin expectations, assesses the "market playbook", and advocates investing in IRP (Innovation at a Reasonable Price)....
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C.J. Lawrence Weekly – Economic Fears Feed Market Volatility but Slow Stable Growth and Tame Inflation Could Be Bullish for Stocks in 2019

Positioning portfolios for next year and beyond will be challenging for top down investors and managers. The 2019 and 2020 economic and corporate profit outlooks are murky and investors who remember the sting of the 2008 downtown may choose to remain in safe ports rather than face the risk that the...
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C.J. Lawrence Weekly Market Comment – Healthy Corporate Fundamentals and Stalled Bond Yields Keep the CJL Market Monitor in BUY Territory

The Market Monitor’s current reading is “BUY”, with a numerical score of +1, the lowest reading in BUY territory, on a scale of -6 to +6. As the Fed has lifted the Fed Funds target rate, the year-over-year interest rate rate-of-change models have weighed on the Monitor score. But despite ri...
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C.J. Lawrence Weekly – The Tug‐of‐War Between Lower Valuations and Faster Earnings Growth Still Skews Towards Growth

The race between earnings growth rates and the rate of decline in the market’s P/E multiple is on. Along the way, the 10-30 year treasury bond spread may provide insights into the appropriate market multiple to apply. The challenge for equity investors will be to find stocks with earnings growth r...
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