Left Brain Thinking

Investors have been keying on inflation all year to determine the direction of markets. Finally this week we got some good news on that front, as the 7.7% print on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in below expectations.

We saw one of the strongest market days in recent memory on Thursday after the report, with the NASDAQ gaining more than 7% in a single trading session! Plenty more to talk about this week.

Earnings continued rolling in, including from a couple of our favorite companies in Axon Enterprise ($AXON) and EPAM Systems ($EPAM). CEO Noland Langford shares his views on these very strong earnings releases.

We would be remiss if we didn't mention the developments in the cryptocurrency space. We saw the blowup of high-profile crypto exchange at FTX, which caused an extreme loss of confidence in the space.

We have long cautioned investors to avoid crypto and this is just another data point to support our argument. At the same time, we know some investors are always drawn to speculative investments with upside.

We close out this week's show with some alternative investment ideas for the more intrepid investors among us. There are plenty of ways to invest for upside in the public regulated markets, especially with many stocks for quality companies down 50-80% from their all time highs!

Topic 1: A Changing Inflation Picture Topic 2: Crypto Blows Up -- What Are Some Alternatives?

A reminder of our webinar on Thursday, November 17 at 4pm Central, for our clients, friends, and other investors. We will cover opportunities in the bond markets to take advantage of higher interest rates, including CDs, municipal bonds, and high quality corporate bonds. To reserve your spot, head to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fortune-makers-income-investment-opportunities-in-todays-markets-tickets-461714670007

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For a portfolio review and to learn more about our growing list of fixed income investment opportunities, head to https://leftbrainir.com/free-portfolio-review

Get on Brian's calendar directly at https://calendly.com/briandress

Things in the markets are finally starting to look up!

We've cut a pessimistic figure over the last few months, and with good reason, but there seem to be signs that it could be time to become positive on investing again.

This week CEO Noland Langford and Director of Research, Brian Dress, cover many of the major earnings reports of the week, including from Alphabet ($GOOGL), ServiceNow ($NOW), Shopify ($SHOP), Facebook ($META), Enphase Energy ($ENPH) and many more.

The conclusion we are drawing is that as markets do begin to recover is that market leadership is likely to be different than in the last bull market. Large cap tech firms like Amazon and Microsoft may continue to underperform and we are focusing our attention more on opportunities in small and mid-cap stocks.

We close out the episode talking bonds again. We know that investors are starting to see CDs offering interest rates of approximately 4% out in the market, but we think investors should be focusing on investment grade corporate bonds, where rates are more like 7%, default risk is low, and where bondholders can maintain liquidity, in contrast to the way CDs tie up your funds.

Topic 1: Earnings -- Beat Down Companies Regain Footing Topic 2: Train Leaving the Station on High Quality Bonds?

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Sign up for our research service to receive this month's "The Chosen" report and access our library of 100s of full length stock reports at https://leftbrainir.com/subscribe

For a portfolio review and to learn more about our growing list of fixed income investment opportunities, head to https://leftbrainir.com/free-portfolio-review

Get on Brian's calendar directly at https://calendly.com/briandress

You can reach Brian at (630) 547-3316 or at [email protected]

Markets have floundered for most of 2022, but this week we moved again back to our favorite time of the year -- Earnings Season for the just-ended 3rd quarter.

What we have heard more than anything from investors over the past few months is the question: "are we close to the bottom in markets?" Our honest answer to that question continues to be "no."

In short, market volatility is too high and interest rates are too persistent in their rise for us to turn bullish in markets. This week CEO Noland Langford and Director of Research, Brian Dress, cover some of the most important earnings reports of the week, including Netflix (NFLX), Tesla (TSLA), the financial, and semiconductor companies like Lam Resources (LRCX).

We close out the show with our advice of the signs necessary for the markets to put in a durable bottom. We continue to be short-term cautious, but optimistic for the future and, accordingly, we continue to build our shopping list of stocks and bonds for when markets do finally begin to firm.

Topic 1: Earnings -- It Begins Topic 2: What Would Be Signs of a Stabilizing Market?

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For a portfolio review and to learn more about our growing list of fixed income investment opportunities, head to https://leftbrainir.com/free-portfolio-review

Get on Brian's calendar directly at https://calendly.com/briandress

You can reach Brian at (630) 547-3316 or at [email protected]

With inflation running consistently above 8%, cash sitting in our bank accounts is losing purchasing power quickly!

At the same time, both stocks and bonds have fallen throughout 2022.

The flipside of downside in markets is opportunity. The opportunities we are seeing are coming mostly in the fixed income markets and in individual bonds, where we are finding a number of investment grade securities where investors can lock in annual yields of 6-8%, coming close to combating the inflation that's hitting your pocketbook at the store, the pump, and everywhere else.

This week CEO Noland Langford and Director of Research, Brian Dress, discuss what types of securities we want to avoid in the current bear market.

After getting the negative news out of the way, the cover some of the areas where we do favor putting money to work: fixed return securities, high dividend shares like those associated with pipeline operators, and select small and mid cap shares, an area where we have seen consistent outperformance over the past 3 months.

We close out the show talking about one particular company that stands on the border between small and mid-cap and operates in a sector where we favor an overweight: healthcare. That stock is InMode (INMD).

Topic 1: What Investments to Avoid Topic 2: Cash in the Bank -- Keeping Up with Inflation

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Sign up for our research service to receive this month's "The Chosen" report at https://leftbrainir.com/subscribe

For a portfolio review and to learn more about our growing list of fixed income investment opportunities, head to https://leftbrainir.com/free-portfolio-review

Get on Brian's calendar directly at https://calendly.com/briandress

You can reach Brian at (630) 547-3316 or at [email protected]

If we like energy and bonds, why not energy bonds?

We love the synergy between two of our favorite segments of the investment markets today, as we see opportunities to lock in passive income streams in the fixed income markets as interest rates continue to rise.

In the last couple weeks, we have seen impressive outperformance out of the energy markets. However, because of some issues with liquidity in the credit markets, we have seen the prices of energy bonds drop, even as the corresponding stocks rally!

This week CEO Noland Langford and Director of Research, Brian Dress, discuss the fact that this divergence between energy stocks and energy bonds creates a very investible situation for investors waiting to put money to work.

In our first topic, we discuss the urgency for investors to lock in generous income streams with high quality bonds. We don't think the opportunity will last forever, as interest rates will peak when the Federal Reserve ultimately and inevitably ends its regime of higher and higher interest rates.

We share an example bond from the energy sector with you in our second topic. We like the opportunity to lock in 7% annual return for the next 4 years, with some capital appreciation possibilities which make the strategy tax efficient.

Topic 1: Are We Close to the Top in Rates? Topic 2: Energy and Energy Bonds -- A Continued Theme

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Sign up for our research service to receive this month's "The Chosen" report at https://leftbrainir.com/subscribe

For a portfolio review and to learn more about our growing list of fixed income investment opportunities, head to https://leftbrainir.com/free-portfolio-review

Get on Brian's calendar directly at https://calendly.com/briandress

You can reach Brian at (630) 547-3316 or at [email protected]

When is the right time to sell?

This is a question we address in this week's Jarvis® Update, one that has been on the mind of many investors as markets continue to struggle.

This week CEO Noland Langford and Director of Research, Brian Dress, cover the fact that macroeconomic conditions like interest rates and inflation, along with the Federal Reserve, are driving everything in this market.

Our second topic is "When to Sell?". When we look at an investment, we want to see four major characteristics: (1) accelerating sales and profits, (2) reasonable valuation, (3) positive stock price action, and (4) some catalyst on the horizon.

We take a look at a company we've covered for many years, Nvidia (NVDA) in the context of these characteristics. Noland explains that NVDA is 0 for 4 on these metrics and, thus, it's probably time to sell. Even if a stock is already down significantly, we still need to look at things through this prism.

Topic 1: Macroeconomic Picture: Driving All Markets Topic 2: When to Sell -- A Case Study: Nvidia (NVDA)

Get signed up to our newsletter list: https://leftbrainir.com/jarvisnewsletter

Sign up for our research service to receive this month's "The Chosen" report at https://leftbrainir.com/subscribe

For a portfolio review and to learn more about our growing list of fixed income investment opportunities, head to https://leftbrainir.com/free-portfolio-review

Get on Brian's calendar directly at https://calendly.com/briandress

You can reach Brian at (630) 547-3316 or at [email protected]

Federal Reserve rate hikes and rising interest rates are taking their toll on financial assets of all types.

We are always looking for the segments of the market that are performing in a difficult market environment.

This week CEO Noland Langford and Director of Research, Brian Dress, discuss the impact the Fed is having on all investment asset classes and spend more time covering our favorite opportunity set in this market: individual bonds.

Noland also explains the clear distinction between owning individual bonds and bond funds. Hint: bond funds do not create the fixed rate and fixed maturity exposure we think is appropriate given the current market circumstances.

Topic 1: Impact of the Fed on Financial Assets Topic 2: Our Continued Pivot to the Bond Market

Get signed up to our newsletter list: https://leftbrainir.com/jarvisnewsletter

Sign up for our research service to receive this month's "The Chosen" report at https://leftbrainir.com/subscribe

For a portfolio review and to learn more about our growing list of fixed income investment opportunities, head to https://leftbrainir.com/free-portfolio-review

Get on Brian's calendar directly at https://calendly.com/briandress

You can reach Brian at (630) 547-3316 or at [email protected]

Stock market volatility is taking an emotional toll on investors.

Interest rates continue to rise, which continues to drive bond prices lower. This is creating opportunity for investors that are looking for fixed income investments in the bond market.

This week CEO Noland Langford and Director of Research, Brian Dress, discuss what investors need to be doing to respond to a difficult investment environment.

In this episode, we cover another bond that we think might make sense for investors looking to lock in a nice yield with a high quality company.

Noland gives our views on the Oracle 4.3% 2034 bonds, which investors can buy at a discount.

Noland also explains some of the tax benefits of investing in discount bonds.

We continue to build our list of discount bonds, so if you are looking for some fixed income securities, don't hesitate to reach out!

Get signed up to our newsletter list: https://leftbrainir.com/jarvisnewsletter

Sign up for our research service to receive this month's "The Chosen" report at https://leftbrainir.com/subscribe

For a portfolio review and to learn more about our growing list of fixed income investment opportunities, head to https://leftbrainir.com/free-portfolio-review

Get on Brian's calendar directly at https://calendly.com/briandress

You can reach Brian at (630) 547-3316 or at [email protected]

Higher interest rates and volatility are now a fact of life for investors.

At Left Brain, we're always looking for ways to take advantage of opportunities created by dislocation in markets.

This week CEO Noland Langford and Director of Research, Brian Dress, discuss what stocks are actually working in this difficult environment and in our 2nd topic, we speak more on our new bond strategy, the "Enhanced Bond Portfolio".

In this episode, we cover Starbucks bonds, which investors can buy at a discount and use the remainder of their investible funds to buy other securities that offer more upside, like growth stocks. This strategy will allow you to target a stock-like return with a bond-like risk profile.

If this strategy sounds interesting to you, contact me to find out if it is a fit for your financial circumstances and goals. We're always happy to have a conversation!

To hear more about our "Enhanced" Bond Portfolio strategy and how we are positioning in a difficult market, make sure to contact Brian directly to set a free appointment.

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Sign up for our research service to receive this month's "The Chosen" report at https://leftbrainir.com/subscribe.

For a portfolio review and to learn more about our "bounce back" list of stocks and our model bond portfolio, head to https://leftbrainir.com/free-portfolio-review

Get on Brian's calendar directly at https://calendly.com/briandress.

You can reach Brian at (630) 547-3316 or at [email protected]

It's been a challenging couple weeks in the market, to say the least. CEO Noland Langford,MBA,CFP® and Director of Research, Brian Dress, are back this week to help you make sense of the market weakness, both across stocks and bonds.

The Federal Reserve seems determined to talk this market down and we've seen interest rates rising rapidly, as a result. We're calling this the "Nothing is Working" market. It's probably best for investors to take a breath and focus on getting the right investments in the portfolio for the long haul.

We are taking advantage of the higher interest rates to deploy a new bond strategy. Some low coupon investment grade bonds are now trading at a discount. It is possible to buy $10,000 in face value in a bond like the Boeing example we mention in the video for $8,000 and deploy the excess capital in something with more upside, like a stock. It's a bit difficult to describe in words here, so listen to the podcast to hear Noland explain the strategy more artfully.

Topic 1: The "Nothing is Working" Market Topic 2: The "Enhanced" Bond Portfolio

To hear more about our "Enhanced" Bond Portfolio strategy and how we are positioning in a difficult market, make sure to contact me directly to set a free appointment. Get signed up to our newsletter list: https://leftbrainir.com/jarvisnewsletter.

Sign up for our research service to receive this week's "The Chosen" report at https://leftbrainir.com/subscribe. We think it's time for investors to consider putting excess cash back in stock and bond markets, where the momentum is looking better and long-term prospects look strong.

For a portfolio review and to learn more about our "bounce back" list of stocks and our model bond portfolio, head to https://leftbrainir.com/free-portfolio-review or get on Brian's calendar directly at https://calendly.com/briandress.

You can reach Brian at (630) 547-3316 or at [email protected]