Weekly Market Update for February 24, 2023, from DeWayne Hall: Active Management

As active management proponents, we believe there are times when you can try to make money in the stock market, and other times when you just try not to lose money in the stock market, and we believe right now we’re in the latter. 

On a normal day, it takes us a little over two hours to scan the 500 stocks that make up our investment universe. During times when the stock market is strong with lots of potential candidates to buy, we may take all morning to work through our scans. On the other hand, when the market is weak we may run through everything in around an hour and a half. 

So the fact that, for the third day in a row, we finished our scans in 45 minutes this morning should tell you something.

Additionally, in a typical week, we may have 20 – 30 stocks that make our active management watch list for potential purchases. But this week our list contains only three names, and all three may be removed before we head to lunch today. 

So something is up, and it’s not the stock market. 

The charts are showing weakness, and need to stabilize quickly or we’re rolling back to the 2022 lows, or lower. And since the stock market is a forward-looking mechanism, always looking out six to twelve months, there may be more tough times ahead in 2024.

The views expressed represent the opinion of Good Life Asset Strategies, LLC. The views are subject to change and are not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results. This material is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice and is not intended as an endorsement of any specific investment. Stated information is derived from proprietary and nonproprietary sources that have not been independently verified for accuracy or completeness.