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Anna-Louise Jackson

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  • What Is Contrarian Investing?

    Contrarians go against the grain: If you say up, they say down. Contrarian investing is choosing to put your money into assets that go against the grain of market sentiment. When the stock market is selling off, contrarian investors jump...
    What Is Contrarian Investing?

  • Is The U.S. Economy Heading For Stagflation?

    Stagflation is a period of stagnant economic growth accompanied by persistently high inflation and a sharp rise in unemployment. While stagflation is quite rare—the U.S. has only experienced one sustained period of stagflation in recent history, in the 1970s—it’s become...
    Is The U.S. Economy Heading For Stagflation?

  • Quantitative Easing Explained

    Quantitative easing—QE for short—is a monetary policy strategy used by central banks like the Federal Reserve. With QE, a central bank purchases securities in an attempt to reduce interest rates, increase the supply of money and drive more lending to...
    Quantitative Easing Explained

  • What Is The OTC Market?

    The over-the-counter market—commonly known as the OTC market—is where securities that aren’t listed on the major exchanges are traded. Stocks and bonds that trade on the OTC market are typically from smaller companies that don’t meet the requirements to be...
    What Is The OTC Market?

  • A Basic Guide To Forex Trading

    Foreign exchange trading—also commonly called forex trading or FX—is the global market for exchanging foreign currencies. Forex is the largest market in the world, and the trades that happen in it affect everything from the price of clothing imported from...
    A Basic Guide To Forex Trading

  • What Is Earnings Season? Why Is It Important?

    Anyone and everyone can invest in public companies, from market professionals to your uncle Bob. That's why regulators require publicly traded companies to disclose reports about their financial health, to help investors make informed decisions about whether they should buy...
    What Is Earnings Season? Why Is It Important?

  • Understanding Arbitrage

    Arbitrage means taking advantage of price differences across markets to make a buck. If a currency, commodity or security—or even a rare pair of sneakers—is priced differently in two separate markets, traders buy the cheaper version and then sell it...
    Understanding Arbitrage

  • Large-Cap Stocks

    Large-cap stocks are shares of the largest U.S. companies, or those with market capitalizations of $10 billion or more. Large-caps are generally safer investments than their mid- and small-cap counterparts because the companies are more established, but their stocks may...
    Large-Cap Stocks

  • How To Get Free Home Covid Tests Before Winter Surge

    With a surge of Covid-19 cases expected this winter, now is the time to stock up on free at-home tests. The free at-home Covid test program from the federal government was suspended in September, but there are still ways to...
    How To Get Free Home Covid Tests Before Winter Surge

  • How To Prepare For A Market Correction

    After a highly volatile summer, the stock market is right back in correction territory. That makes it a good time to remind yourself that market corrections are an inevitable part of investing. They tend to take people by surprise, but...
    How To Prepare For A Market Correction

  • Retirement Planning For A Recession

    A recession is a common, if unpleasant, part of life. People who are retiring now have endured around six of them across a four-decade professional career. Since the 1850s, there has only been one decade without at least one recession:...
    Retirement Planning For A Recession

  • Mid-Cap Stocks

    Mid-cap stocks are shares of companies with total market capitalization in the range of about $2 billion to $10 billion. Along with large-cap stocks and small-cap stocks, mid-cap stocks are one of the three main stock categories and offer a...
    Mid-Cap Stocks

  • Short Selling Guide

    Short selling is a strategy where you aim to profit from a decline in an asset’s price. Whereas most investing involves buying an asset and selling it later at a higher price, short sellers start by selling an asset and...
    Short Selling Guide

  • How To Invest In Crude Oil

    Crude oil is perhaps the most vital natural resource for the world economy. This raw commodity is refined to make gasoline, jet fuel and a host of other products. Price changes in the global market for crude oil are closely...
    How To Invest In Crude Oil

  • How To Invest In Rental Property

    Do you spend hours watching HGTV or looking at homes on Zillow? Maybe it’s time for you to get serious about real estate investing. While the housing market is hotter than it’s been in years, real estate investing beginners should...
    How To Invest In Rental Property

  • How Will Climate Change Impact Your Retirement?

    Finances, medical expenses and life expectancy top the list of worries for retirement savers. They might want to add climate change to that list. In 2021, more than 40% of Americans lived in a county that was struck by climate-related...
    How Will Climate Change Impact Your Retirement?

  • January Stock Market Outlook

    Where does the stock market go now? The S&P 500 surged nearly 27% in 2021, racking up its fourth best annual return in the last quarter century. Another good year could be forthcoming in 2022, though the stock market outlook...
    January Stock Market Outlook

  • 2021 Stock Market Year In Review

    It was a wild year in many respects, but the stock market turned in a solid performance in 2021. Except for a few brief sell-offs, the S&P 500 gained 26.9% for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained...
    2021 Stock Market Year In Review

  • 2022 Stock Market Outlook

    At just 21 months old, the bull market that began in March 2020 has already seen a gain of more than 114% in the S&P 500. This means it’s already outperformed the 2002 to 2007 rally, which lasted nearly four...
    2022 Stock Market Outlook

  • December 2021 Stock Market Outlook

    November began with stocks on another tear, setting record high after record high, but ended abruptly with the market in retreat. By the end of November, the S&P 500 had fallen 2.9% from its latest all-time high, and closed out...
    December 2021 Stock Market Outlook

  • November Stock Market Outlook

    So much for those predictions of a market correction in October. The S&P 500 finished the month at an all-time high and surged 6.9%, for its biggest monthly gain of 2021. This benchmark for the U.S. stock market is up...
    November Stock Market Outlook

  • Small-Cap Stocks

    Small-cap stocks are shares of companies with total market capitalization in the range of about $300 million to $2 billion. Small-cap companies have the potential for high rates of growth, making them appealing investments, though their stocks may experience more...
    Small-Cap Stocks

  • Earnings Calendar: When To Expect Third Quarter Earnings

    The U.S. stock market has just come out of its worst month since March 2020, and rattled investors may need to buckle up for more turbulence in the weeks ahead. That’s because earnings season begins in mid-October—a multi-week period that...
    Earnings Calendar: When To Expect Third Quarter Earnings

  • October Stock Market Outlook: Is The S&P 500 Ripe For A Correction?

    After seven months of gains, the U.S. stock market finally satisfied its skeptics by declining in September. The S&P 500 tumbled 4.8%, notching its worst month since March 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and Nasdaq Composite posted their...
    October Stock Market Outlook: Is The S&P 500 Ripe For A Correction?

  • September Stock Market Outlook: Fed Policy And Covid May Stymie The Market’s Weakest Month

    The stock market seems stuck in “up” mode lately. The S&P 500 just capped off a seventh straight month of gains, notching daily declines only six times in August and setting 53 new all-time highs so far this year. That...
    September Stock Market Outlook: Fed Policy And Covid May Stymie The Market’s Weakest Month

  • August Stock Market Outlook

    The S&P 500 rose for a fifth straight month in July, capping off its longest winning streak since 2018. Even as some volatility returned to the U.S. stock market, the major benchmarks were all up at least 12% for the...
    August Stock Market Outlook

  • What Is Sector Rotation?

    The stock market is broken down into what’s known as stock sectors, which group together public companies that operate in related industries and perform similarly. By dividing up public companies in this way, investors can more easily understand how segments...
    What Is Sector Rotation?

  • Earnings Season Preview: Q2 2021

    It’s been just over one year since the U.S. economy experienced its worst-ever contraction, and investors remain hyper-focused on the pace of growth. They’ll get some clues starting this week as the second quarter 2021 earnings season kicks off. Companies...
    Earnings Season Preview: Q2 2021

  • July Stock Market Outlook

    Halfway through 2021, the U.S. stock market is full speed ahead. The S&P 500 just rose for a fifth straight month, notching its latest all-time high to close out June. The benchmark index is up 14.4% year to date while...
    July Stock Market Outlook

  • June Stock Market Outlook

    After four straight months of gains, the market’s year-to-date surge of nearly 12% may seem like reason to bust out the fireworks and celebrate. Yet many investors have persistent concerns that higher inflation will force the Federal Reserve to stop...
    June Stock Market Outlook