Investors are getting nervous about the stock market and are making moves to more traditionally defensive sectors of the market. Remember to stay diversified because it’s not what you invest in but how you invest that stirs the drink. Hardika Singh reports in The Wall Street Journal: Investors are playing defense ahead of the Federal Reserve’s looming interest-rate decision. They are piling into corners of the market that are considered safety plays, after a roaring first half powered by big technology stocks. Shares of real-estate, utilities and consumer-staples companies are among the … [Read more...]

Video game workers. Now, that’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one. What’s noteworthy is the continued softening of sales post-pandemic. I like Microsoft’s positioning to reduce its video game workforce in the face of what might be a slowdown in demand. Sarah E. Needleman reports for The Wall Street Journal: Microsoft is laying off approximately 650 employees from its videogame business, the tech giant’s latest move to cut costs after its $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year. The layoffs affect mostly workers in corporate and support roles and are being done to … [Read more...]

America's sunbelt is attracting businesses eager to invest in the usually low-tax, low-regulatory states. Will Parker reports for The Wall Street Journal: The U.S. is experiencing a manufacturing revival. More property investors are eager to capitalize on it. American and overseas companies have committed nearly half a trillion dollars to build new factories for electric vehicles, semiconductors and other products in the U.S., according to real estate analytics firm Green Street. Investors are planning to acquire or build warehouses, hotels, office buildings and apartments near coming … [Read more...]

In The Wall Street Journal, Tom Dotan discusses the revitalization of Oracle, which "missed the tech industry’s move to cloud computing last decade and ended up an also-ran." Dotan explains that the AI boom has given Oracle another shot, writing: The 47-year-old company that made its name on relational database software has emerged as an attractive cloud-computing provider for AI developers such as OpenAI, sending its long-stagnant stock to new heights. Oracle shares are up 34% since January, well outpacing the Nasdaq’s 14% rise and those of bigger competitors Microsoft, Amazon.com and … [Read more...]

The stock market has minted millionaires this year, reports Gunjan Banjerji in The Wall Street Journal. That's not bad, but Americans, as Banerji explains, "have rarely been this giddy about the stock market." Banerji writes: U.S. households’ stock allocations have steadily inched up this year, according to JPMorgan estimates, and recently accounted for around 42% of their total financial assets. That is the most on record in data going back to 1952. And investors are still feeling good about the market. At a time when many people have been stung by higher prices for eggs, bread and other … [Read more...]

When investors are feeling good about the stock market, like they are now, it’s time to evaluate your portfolio. As Warren Buffett said you want “to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.” Remember the big pullbacks in stocks this century and think how you would handle them in your retirement life. Portfolio losses are ruinous because long-term investors become focused on short-term issues. It’s easy for one to say he is a long-term investor. It’s much harder to be one. Losses can happen out of nowhere. Action Line: Use your time wisely. … [Read more...]