“Preferred stock (also called preferred shares, preference shares or simply preferreds) is a form of stock which may have any combination of features not possessed by common stock including properties of both an equity and a debt instrument, and is generally considered a hybrid instrument.”
What is the difference between preferred stock and common stock?
” The main difference between preferred and common stock is that preferred stock gives no voting rights to shareholders while common stock does. … Common stockholders are last in line when it comes to company assets, which means they will be paid out after creditors, bondholders, and preferred shareholders”
“Preferreds are issued with a fixed par value and pay dividends based on a percentage of that par, usually at a fixed rate. Just like bonds, which also make fixed payments, the market value of preferred shares is sensitive to changes in interest rates. If interest rates rise, the value of the preferred shares falls. “
US stock market closed lower, Dow fell more than 580 points
The major US stock market indexes, fell today, as news about the coronavirus bill delayed and additional measures by the Fed to support the economy did not inspire confidence to traders and investors. At close today, March 23, 2020, this is the latest stock market update:
When will the stock market find a bottom, being an opportunity for stocks to buy
The answer to when will the US stock market find a bottom after the steep selloff during this global coronavirus crisis is not an easy one. In fact, if it is supported with facts that have great validity it is priceless for stock trading, stock investing. For now, all opinions mostly based on models, predictions and technical analysis about searches related to stock bottoming patterns, market bottom indicators, how to tell if a stock has bottomed, stock market bottom, has the market bottomed are just estimates.
The stock market will bottom when the good news about the vaccine for the coronavirus hit the news, or fear and panic are both reduced, and traders, investors start buying stocks and equities considering them to be near very attractive price levels. Most probably it will be another FOMO effect (fear of missing out), now buying stocks rather than selling stocks. There will be a great distortion for the fundamentals and valuation of stocks until we get official earnings reports and economic indicators which will show how the degree of economic impact coronavirus will have on the economy.
The stock market will bottom when a broader stock market index, Russell 3000 start to rise
“What Is the Russell 3000 Index? The Russell 3000 Index is a market-capitalization-weighted equity index maintained by FTSE Russell that provides exposure to the entire U.S. stock market. The index tracks the performance of the 3,000 largest U.S.-traded stocks which represent about 98% of all U.S incorporated equity securities.”
The Russell 3000 index has not made a death cross yet in 2020, despite the latest stock market selloffs
” A death cross occurs when the 50-day moving average (DMA), which many chart watchers use as a short-term trend tracker, crosses below the 200-DMA, which is widely viewed as a dividing line between longer-term uptrends and downtrends. The idea is the cross marks the spot that a shorter-term selloff can be defined as a longer-term downtrend.”
As seen on this chart with data at close on March 20, 2020, the Russell 3000, has not yet made any death cross in 2020. The Dow is the only stock index compared to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to have made a death cross recently. This could be a bullish sign for stocks.
Stocks
We place emphasis first on the fundamentals of stocks, and after that to technical analysis. But the fact that the Russell 3000, has not yet made any death cross in 2020, maybe an optimistic sign for stocks to invest in, stocks to buy. We just cannot predict the actual bottom for the stock market. Monitoring the news and stock prices, stock quotes and latest financial and business news will tell us about the when will stock market bottom. Important economic indicators to monitor are the retail sales, GDP figures, unemployment readings, non-farm payrolls readings. When will the stock market bottom in this coronavirus crisis is too risky now to make a prediction. Or where the market is headed. Caution is required for stock trading, stock investing, and mostly good risk management and money management.
How do you know if a stock hits the bottom?
The truth is, you do not. You just observe higher stock prices and other technical aspects. Bottom-fishing stocks can be too risky.
“Stocks on Friday plunged to a three-year low, closing out their worst week since the 2008 financial crisis and obliterating all of the gains made since President Donald Trump was inaugurated, as investors weighed the escalating coronavirus outbreak against vast stimulus measures designed to mitigate the crisis.
The losses, which came to more than 4% for the S&P 500 and Dow during Friday’s session alone, brought the S&P 500’s total weekly losses to 15% for its worst weekly performance since October 2008. The Dow swan-dived 17.3% on the week, with all the benchmarks settling at their lowest levels since early 2017.” Yahoo Finance
The US stock market had very steep losses for the week ending on Friday, March 20. All major stock market indexes hit a three-year low. The Federal Reserve cut rates by 100 basis points, with the benchmark Fed fund rate to a range of 0% to 0.25%. The US government said it will apply a huge stimulus plan, estimated at more than $1.0 trillion to boost the economy and support the workforce. It is too risky to make any prediction now if the stock market is bottoming. The reason for that is that panic, fear and extreme volatility are all present and dominant in the global financial markets. And from fundamental analysis, all estimates about what the real negative impact on both the economy and stocks will be are just estimates. We will have to wait at least three consecutive quarters to evaluate the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the global economy and the US economy.
How to research stocks on your own? At a minimum, you can research stocks on your own starting with fundamental analysis and the financial ratios for stocks:
5 Categories of Financial Ratios for stocks
Liquidity Ratios
Activity Ratios
Debt Ratios
Profitability Ratios
Market Ratios
Study also the latest 3 to 5-year trend analysis of these financial ratios for stocks
How to research stocks on your own. There are many stock research tools, stock research sites, stock research reports. It is very important to know how to research a stock before you buy and the time frame of your investment. From how to research stocks for day trading to how to research penny stocks and analyze stock research reports. Then you can also analyze the technical analysis of stocks that you are interested in. Stock trading differs from stock investing. How to research stocks on your own takes time, it is not done within a few minutes.
Why stock analysts are always wrong
This is not true, being a stock analyst requires constant flexibility to market and financial conditions. We have a stock market newsletter that focuses on US stocks, US stock market.
All major US stock market indexes fell more than 3.5%. Dow fell more than 900 points, closing at 19,173.98 points,-913.21(-4.55%).
“The Dow’s close at 19,173 points marked its lowest level since December 2, 2016. In just this past week the Dow lost more than 4,000 points, making this its worst weekly point loss ever. On a percentage basis, March is set to be the worst month since September 1931 as the Dow has dropped more than 24%. Finally, all 11 sectors in the S&P 500 are now more than 20% below their respective 52-week highs, a drop that analysts define as a bear market. – Sheetz, Francolla”
Dow Jones Industrial Average chart, March 20, 2020, US stock market
Stocks and their valuation
“Valuation is ‘completely out the window,’ Charles Schwab strategist says
Charles Schwab chief investment strategist Liz Ann Sonders said on “Closing Bell” that the market won’t bottom until the growth of coronavirus cases starts to flatten out and said that traditional valuation metrics do not make sense in this environment. “I think valuation is completely out of the window because we have the numerator and denominator completely imploding. What’s unique about this particular crisis is that instead of just guiding down …. most of them that are most hit by this are simply withdrawing guidance,” Sonders said. Sanders said she is telling clients to consider re-balancing their portfolios more frequently if possible. — Pound“
The coronavirus crisis has made stock trading, stock investing very risky and difficult. Stock valuations are now ignored, as the risk-off sentiment is dominant and sends stock prices lower. Stocks that were not at extreme stock prices before this selloff are now at much lower price levels and stocks that had a stock price well beyond their intrinsic value have now faced a deep correction. Stocks to buy, stocks to sell, stocks to invest in, investing and trading, in general, are very risky with all this increased volatility. And the truth is that when the next earnings reports are released, there will be a very large distortion in their trend and stock price valuations have to be adjusted accordingly and revised to the downside, justifying at a large degree this stock market selloff.
A promising stock market rally at the open soon faded, and all major US stock market indexes closed lower. Dow fell more than 900 points and stocks had another day of increased volatility.
At close today, March 20, 2020, the stock market data is:
The more heavy losses are for the small-cap stocks, it is worth mentioning that tech stocks which were the main driver for the stock market rally in 2019, have so far in 2020 less losses than the Dow and S&P 500.
The US stock market made new highs as all major stock market indices closed higher This is the summary for US stock market at close on Thursday, December 19, 2019:
Stock market news, December 18, 2019. The US stock market closed little changed for the second consecutive day. This is the summary for US stock market at close on Wesnesday, December 18, 2019:
