Rarely has there been a market where both stocks and bonds have fallen so hard at the same time. And if you’ve tried to hide in cash, well inflation is crushing you too. From an investor standpoint, there is blood in the streets, and things can still get much worse, especially considering the precipitous technical level of the S&P 500, the rising S&P 500 Fear Index, the dangerous S&P 500 style reversion trend and the Fed’s extreme focus on battling inflation. In this report, we share our take on the current unsettling position of the S&P 500, three big risks to be aware of, and three dividend-growth stocks worth considering. We conclude with an important takeaway and our strong opinion on investing in this market.

With the blue chip Dow Jones Industrials Average now down 20% from its recent highs, it’s officially in bear market territory by that popular definition.

Futures are pointing to a lower market open today, as the S&P 500 is set to re-test the June low of 3,636. Having closed Friday at 3,693, and with pre-market futures trading around 3,688, technical analysts are left wondering if the market will take out the prior lows—and does that mean there is more pain ahead?

On Wednesday, the Fed made clear it will continue to aggressively fight the high inflation that it previously ignored and dismissed as “transitory.” Specifically, the Fed just raised rates by 75bps for the third FOMC meeting in a row, and these hikes continue to harshly punish investment accounts holding both stocks and bonds.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was the worst day for stocks since mid 2020 (when Covid lockdowns were being announced) because a higher than expected inflation number (CPI) spooked investors. And as the Fed fights aggressively to battle inflation (with interest rate hikes) some pundits believe the Fed is going WAY too far, and deflation is now the bigger risk.

So the much anticipated monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation number was released this morning. The year-over-year number ticked slightly higher (even though gas prices are down) and the market is selling off hard. Here are four ways to keep the media’s unrelenting sensationalized fearmongering in check as you stay focused on your investment goals.

Here are 85 high-growth software stocks, sorted by market cap. As a group they have performed very badly this year (as the fed raises rates to fight inflation), but as you can see there is a very noticeable difference in valuation between the 10 largest and the 10 smallest. This includes price-to-sales ratios (the large caps have much higher multiples), price versus 52-week range (the large caps have fallen a lot less) and more. In this note, we share a few points about this group, and discuss the upcoming CPI number as a catalyst.

The Internet is full of rags to riches stories, whereby Joe Dirt bet it all on a hot stock tip and got rich overnight.

Interest rates continue to be the the proxy for everything: the fed, inflation, the stock market and the “recession.” As you can see in the following chart, the market’s latest pullback (green line) began shortly after…

Here is a look at the S&P 500 (including its 20-, 50- and 200-day moving averages). As you can see, it’s still down significantly this year, but has rebounded hard since June. The question some investors are wondering is if they should take some chips off the table before the downtrend resumes. Afterall, inflation is still sky high, the fed is still raising rates aggressively and your account balance is likely a lot higher than it was 2-months ago. We share a few data points and our opinion in this note.

Here is a look at the volatile performance of some of the largest and most popular semiconductor (chip) stocks so far this year. As you can see based on the green bars, performance has been very strong over the last month, but they are still down a lot this year (red bars). Some investors may view these stocks as still too expensive based on the current valuation (EV/EBITDA), but that is not necessarily the case when you compare these stocks to their strong revenue growth rates (this year and next) and their very healthy net margins.