In a bull market, traders can profit by buying companies with an exciting story behind them. Those stocks tend to be runaway winners. But when the market is trading flat or down, the slow-and-steady, boring businesses can be the better winners. That’s because these companies can be more recession resistant. And they tend not to get as overvalued on the way up. That makes for a solid value play, and often one that pays out a solid source of growing income. One such boring company isFerguson (FERG). The U.K.-based industrial manufacturer for plumbing and HVAC products is a slow-and-ste...

When an industry starts out, there may be dozens, if not hundreds of competitors. But, much like the automotive industry, eventually the space will consolidate into a few big players. Sometimes, that consolidation will occur through acquisitions. Other times, an economic crisis or two will also help to shake out weaker competitors. And consumer tastes and preferences may make it easy for a big player to stay big, even if newer companies try and grab market share. The shakeout in the cryptocurrency broker market over the past year has seen several companies go bankrupt. Others have...

When a growth trend is underway, nearly every company that plays to that trend will rally. At least, at first. However, weaker companies will get squeezed out by competition, leading to only a few big players. Of those players, a few will win based on quality. Others will cater to a lower-end market. When a sector is still new, chances are the higher-end product will perform better than the lower-end one until a few iterations of the technology are worked out. Right now, the market’s current interest in artificial intelligence (AI) is leading to a number of companies moving higher. B...

Some market sectors are cyclical. Others tend to be slow and steady. The financial sector has characteristics of both. It tends to be slow and steady most of the time, but fears hitting the financial sector can lead to big losses quickly. Investors who can sort through real dangers and find undervalued companies capable of growing their market share can win when the sector shifts back to slow and steady. One niche of the financial service space is asset management. This space can fare well during trouble in the banking sector. In the space,Morgan Stanley (MS) has fared well, having p...

Markets will likely remain uncertain for some time. That means daily swings will occur, punctuated with moments of extreme fear or greed. Traders can take advantage of the swings in both directions. And investors can use drops to buy great companies at a fair price. A great company, such as one with a strong brand and a history of consistent dividend growth, will rarely trade at a great price. But they’re also usually overpriced, and it takes market fear to knock it down to a fair one. A combination of a falling share price amid a slight rise in revenues has takenConstellation Bra...

Wall Street is fond of saying that investors shouldn’t look to catch a falling knife. However, once a stock has had a big drop, fears of a further decline tend to leave investors on the sidelines. That can mean missing out on the early part of a rally off extreme lows, which can be a big part of a total bull rally. That means it’s often ideal to buy when there’s still some lingering fear. Right now, the regional banks are teetering. However, it’s been a few weeks since any bank failures. And it’s clear that big banks are willing to store excess deposits with smaller institutions to a...

There’s a common strategy for a company to take a short position in a company, then issue a research report explaining why. Typically, such reports will take company statements and claim that they’re embellished in some fashion. Often, these reports aren’t true, or have an element of truth to them that are grossly exaggerated, even if allowed under accounting standards. But in the short term, shares can get knocked down, allowing the short seller to profit quickly. The most recent short seller attack has come forC3.ai (AI). The artificial intelligence company has now shed 30 percent ...

Many companies hire as they need to when growing like gangbusters. But when things go down, it’s a time to assess the size of a company and its needs, no matter what sector it’s in. For some companies, the worst bloat can come from its executive offices. The growth of middle management can cause a big payroll expense to build up, and take away capital from lower-level workers that make a company’s success possible. That’s why a number of big-name, labor-intensive companies have announced cuts in the past few months. One of the latest,McDonald’s (MCD), even temporarily closed corporat...

The end of the first quarter of the year saw the Nasdaq rebound more than 20 percent off of its lows from last year. Technically, that means the index is in a new bull market. And that’s no surprise when looking at some of last year’s hardest-hit tech stocks. A few have managed to nearly double off their lows. And they could move higher, as the flood of money hasn’t hit this space yet. One company that’s benefited from this trend is streaming giantNetflix (NFLX). Shares are nearly double off of last year’s lows. Plus, the company’s bond rating was just upgraded to investment grade. T...

Some companies tend to be growth plays. Others can be steady. A few are more cyclical, having obvious booms and busts. Tech companies that fall out of favor can become cyclical companies, provided they manage to find new products to invest in to get back on the growth track, even if it’s just for a few years. Playing this cycle can lead to bigger returns than buying and holding, particularly if buying near the start of a new cycle higher. Chipmakers tend to be long-term growth plays with deep cuts when the cycle isn’t in boom mode. But companies that adapt can perform well.Intel (INT...