Mortgage rates still remain near 7%. And many borrowers were able to refinance well under 5% in recent years. That’s keeping potential sellers on the sidelines, as the cost to carry a mortgage factors heavily into the total cost. While the housing market remains sticky, homeowners continue to spend on projects to maintain the value of their home. And that bodes well for companies that provide those goods and services to homeowners. For instance, retailer Home Depot (HD) reported its first increase in same-store sales in two years. That was a bullish sign for the company, even more th...

Although the market hit all-time highs just last week, the latest market weakness suggests that stocks will continue to struggle to push higher. It’s even possible that, if markets fail to break meaningfully higher, we could see a sizeable selloff. In a market drawdown, stocks that have had the biggest moves higher could likely see the biggest declines. So investors who are looking for a safe place to invest should look for companies with a strong defensive position today. One such defensive play is Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B). After gradually selling off stocks in recent quarters,...

Consumer spending has slowed down in January. Given that the start of a new year means the end of the holiday season, some slowdown isn’t a surprise. But for fearful investors, it may be time to look for retailers that can continue to bring in money from shoppers. One way to keep buyers coming is to create bargains that bring investors back time and again. One small niche of the retail space uses deep discounting to provide such deals. That may be why The TJX Companies (TJX), parent of T.J. Maxx, has seen shares double over the past five years. The off-price retailer keeps its invent...

Earnings season is entering its tail end. Most companies have beat on earnings expectations. However, some companies have beat on earnings but saw shares sell off. Why? Because of more cautious guidance. When companies offer guidance, it sets expectations for the next few quarters. But many companies tend to be conservative with their guidance. So, when shares sell off following cautious guidance, the longer-term trend tends to be higher as earnings grow over time. Recently, retailer Walmart (WMT) offered cautious guidance, as it often does. Consumers are spending less on goods and m...

While AI has certainly stolen the headlines and investors may have started to use some programs such as ChatGPT over the past few years, many are still skeptical about what AI can accomplish. But many companies are using AI tools to find ways to improve their operations right away. It’s not just in high-tech spaces where AI tools can be used to improve productivity. AI is making its presence felt throughout the economy and across many seemingly low-tech sectors. For instance, the food industry may not have a high-tech feel for it. But AI tools can be used to find ways to improve the ...

Following a few years of above-average inflation, some food items remain at a premium. Thanks to poor weather, crops such as cocoa and coffee have jumped to all-time highs. Other agricultural crops have also held up well. These higher prices provide farmers with the capital that they may need to make improvements on their farms. That can include investing in newer technologies to better farm more efficiently and increase their productivity and output. That trend could benefit Deere & Company (DE). Shares have been in an uptrend over the past few years as crop prices have been mov...

The latest retail spending data indicates a strong slowdown after the holidays. Consumers aren’t entirely tapped out yet. But they do continue to show a propensity to spend more on experiences over goods in the post-pandemic era. That means that travel and vacation spending is likely to remain strong, and earnings from companies in those industries continue to point to a strong trend. With that trend likely to continue, those companies are starting to see some momentum. One such play is Airbnb (ABNB). The company is working to expand its offerings, to become more travel-oriented rath...

Investors are starting to look beyond the chipmakers when it comes to the AI story. That’s because strong demand for AI chips has made this a place to get big returns. But other parts of the AI story matter as well. That’s why investors are shifting to software plays. But other hardware components are equally valuable as AI tools continue to grow. Especially for hardware that can enable AI communications between humans and machines, as well as between machines. That’s why communications hardware company Cisco (CSCO) could be a surprise AI play here. Growth and revenues are improving,...

For the past two years, semiconductor companies have been the big focus for AI investors. There are massive orders of chips needed to power today’s AI programs, with more demand down the line. However, stocks of leading chipmakers have already had a substantial move. Investors may fare better looking at other constituents of the AI market. That’s especially true for software companies, given that AI is ultimately a software, and that can provide higher margins for investors than hardware. For instance, software giant Adobe (ADBE) is down 20% over the past year. But growing cloud serv...

Markets tend to rotate over time. It’s a way to give a leading sector a break, while continuing an overall market trend. Recently, tech stocks have slowed significantly. But other sectors have taken over the lead. One potential winning sector in the months ahead is healthcare. A laggard last year, the space is starting to show some investor interest and signs of life. Investing in the sector trending higher makes for a simple momentum trade. Right now, healthcare-related companies appear to be coming out of their funk. The latest healthcare-related play looking better is CVS Health (...