ARMCHAIR INVESTOR NEWSLETTER

THURSDAY 1/4/2024:  The Nasdaq fell for the last 5 days but only 2 days had higher volume for distribution days, the last trading day of 2023 and the first trading day of 2024. (See the last 20 trading days price and volume near the end of this newsletter.)

Thursday was a down day but also had lower volume.  Perhaps the traders have not yet returned to the Wall Street.

I will watch Friday but expect a lower volume day to end the holiday season.

>>> If you take the time to look at the recent runup in the S&P500 and Nasdaq, you will see quite a wild rise over the last 2 months of 2023. THEN …. You see the market fizzzzzzle over the last 5 days. The Nasdaq’s drop is slowed down over the last 2 trading days.

Note the Nasdaq composite seems to have found support at the July 2023 high. The Nasdaq drop has slowed down around the July 2023 high.

I am anxious to see what the market does to close the week on Friday. Will it honor the July high?

For the 2023 year, the Nasdaq took the lead! rising 43.4%versus less than half of that rise (21.8%) for the S&P500.

In2024, I plan to include the S&P500 for comparison to the Nasdaq. But overall, the S&P500 just hasn’t kept up with the Nasdaq so why should I waste your time? So you will appreciate the Nasdaq’s greater growth!

Last year the Nasdaq more than doubled the S&P500’sreturns. (see table above,)

So I will keep the S&P500 with the Nasdaq on my charts for comparison purposes. There is no other Mainstream ETF to compare it with.

>>> CONCLUSION: I suggest you don’t waste your time on the DJIA or even the S&P500 unless it is in a period of  outperforming the Nasdaq.  

LOOK AT THESE HUGE 2023 QQQ RETURNS below! Which one would you prefer to have earned?

Where can you look for easy access to higher returns?

How about the triple QQQ an Exchange Traded Fund known by its TQQQ ticker?  

>>>> What you have to remember about rising ETF’s is that they  usually fall faster than they rise.

NOW LET’S TURN TO 2024.

If I had only 5 minutes one night to turn on my computer and check my stocks, I would check the ETFs above.  Their movement tells me if I made or lost money last month and it tells me about the health of the current market.

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I hope you enjoyed the extraordinary gains of the TQQQ (TripleQQQ ETF) for at least part of 2023! I did not get into the triple in this newsletter until the last2-month run-up. And I regret my hesitation. But the final returns were very satisfying. And now you know what I did for higher returns that I didn’t tell you about. My hesitation was in the fact that some investors go into the triple ETFs with vigor,…. Get sidetracks….. and when they return to managing their portfolios, have missed the highs and might even be looking at losses.

Imagine how you would have earned if you had just planted your portfolio in the TQQQ for all of 2023!......But then realize neither of us knew what was coming next. So that last thought was just a fantasy.

>>> WARNING #1: RISING MARKETS are always followed by FALLING MARKETS. It is your job to watch the markets (or just read this newsletter nightly) to be clear on what direction the market is going.

I will clearly let you know when I make the market direction switches from TQQQ to inverse SQQQ in this newsletter.

REMEMBER:  I do NOT know how to:

·       Get in at the bottom or

·       Get out at the top.

·      ….. but I have consistently gotten closer than most …. And that timing has returned significant growth in my portfolio.

>>>WARNING #1:  RISING MARKETS are always followed by FALLING MARKETS. It is your job to watch the markets for changes in direction (or just read this newsletter nightly.)

>>>>NOTE: In a rising market, the Triple QQQ (TQQQ) is where I made the biggest returns last year. And I am very open to stashing my money with the TQQQ again, but NOT RIGHT NOW. The last 4 days were serious down days.

If you had gotten in and out with the Armchair Investor signals, you would have avoided many of the losses and participated in more of the rising markets, than just holding a strong ETF resulting in a significant larger return.

THE TIMING OF THE TQQQ (triple QQQ) is one strategy I will focus on this year.

Are you concerned that the market may have risen as much as it could, for the moment? … I’m not.  

I simply follow what is actually going on in the current market and utilize “best practices” to scrape off the wins  avoid the losses. That means that I watch which way the market is going intraday and the strength of the movements.Then I play on those two critical aspects.

·      Remember: The market and individual stocks continue in the direction they are going until they don’t.

Please do not expect the above gains in the coming year. 2023 was an amazing year but the market may see itself as “extended.”

And with the blow-out in some of the AI stocks, it will be worth your time to read at least the first page of this newsletter nightly to be sure you don’t miss my notes on when and where the big growth (or fall) is happening!  

I hope you have enjoyed an investment in the TQQQ (triple QQQ.)  They have grown almost 4 times the single QQQ this year. ….. But remember…. The TQQQ also can fall at 3 (or more) times the QQQ.  

What to do about the high volatility of the TQQQ?

>>> I suggest you read at least the first two pages of this newsletter each night.  This action will keep you tapped into the current market. And remember:

·       I do NOT know how to get in at the market bottoms and out at the tops.----- I just get closer than most others.

Note on the table of the price/volume action of the last 20 days,  only 3 days were Distribution days – when the price dropped and the volume rose, indicated some serious selling.

Look at the amazing percentage of stocks that have “A” or “B” ratings – Even after a drop from recent A+B s owning 732%....today’s 68% As+Bs is still very strong.!!!

Please watch this newsletter daily. Note that the percentage of A rated stocks dropped today.

The percent of “A” and “B” rated stocks is a STRONG 61%.  You can find winners easily!

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   REMEMBER:      

I do NOT know how to get  in at the bottom… or out at the top.      

I just usually get closer than most!    

And you  can make some nice returns with the signals I talk about in this newsletter.

>>>>> AND ALSO REMEMBER:_____EVEN IF CASH IS A VALID POSITION,…in a fast rising market, you should consider holding a position that allows you to position your portfolio to rise with the market (or a multiple of it.) Stay tuned! And watch daily!

And….. those birds still aren’t going anywhere!

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One additional “Word to the Wise”…

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>>>>>--- MOST MARKETS FALL FASTER THAN THEY RISE. Beware of buying any new positions unless they are very healthy.

Wishing you big returns in your portfolio!.

I APPRECIATE YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS FOR SUPPORTING THIS NEWSLETTER.  I USUALLY SPEND  MORE THAN 4 HOURS RESEARCHING THE IDEAS IN THIS NEWSLETTER, CALCULATING ALL THE DATA I NEED, WRITING THE TEXT FOR THE NEWSLETTER AND…. FORMATING THE NEWSLETTER.

I WELCOME YOUR COMMENTS ON THE MINOR CHANGES IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER (as described in the notes.)

Thank you for your kind feedback and ideas. Please keep sending them.

Charlotte Hudgin

The ArmchairInvestor

CharlotteDH100@mail.com

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