Music Streaming: Hard for Artists, Good for The Stocks

A month ago I mused about the business of music streaming and wondered how music artists make any money from their music. A recent episode of Marketplace provided the simple answer: the transition from buying music by the unit to paying a flat monthly fee has been unprofitable for the vast majority of music artists. … Read more

A Great Stock Market Divergence – Above the 40 (March 12, 2021)

Stock Market Commentary A great stock market divergence clarified itself last week. Growth stocks, especially the expensive and/or speculative kind, took a back seat to industrial and consumer names and other stocks primed to benefit most from the global economies reopening on a fresh wave of liquidity. This divergence renders a generalized view of the … Read more

High-Tech Stocks Break Down In Fallout from Fierce Bear-Bull Battle – Above the 40 (March 5, 2021)

Stock Market Commentary The stock market continued its streak of trickiness. Buyers and sellers played a fierce bear-bull battle starting with one of the biggest fake-out one-day rallies since last September 2nd’s near parabolic run-up. Fresh money flowed into funds to start the month of March to for gains of 2.4% on the S&P 500 … Read more

Tricky Trading Quickly Took Stocks from Strength to Weakness – Above the 40 (February 26, 2021)

Stock Market Commentary The stock market got quite tricky last week. A day after buyers re-established control, sellers returned with a sustained fury. The selling on Thursday reflected the stock market’s split personality while the follow-up selling on Friday seemed broader. The pressure on the the stock market looks like an ominous setup for March … Read more