The Changing Course of Amazon

The world of investing is fraught with uncertainty and disagreement, but one fact remains indisputable: Over the past 100 years, stocks in the United States have generally gone up in price. Pick virtually any stock at random during any point in history, and in all likelihood 10 years later that stock would be higher in … Continued

SPACtacular Growth, Mixed Returns

The “blank check” companies known these days as SPACs, or special-purpose acquisition companies, have enjoyed an astonishing burst of popularity. Check out their growth below, as recorded by spacresearch.com. In other words, from 2014 to 2020, the funds that SPAC offerings raised increased nearly 50-fold. But spectacular growth has brought investors less-than-impressive results. Those who … Continued

Failure to Launch

It’s no secret that equity investors are always on the lookout for the “next big thing.” In years past, they’ve become fascinated with cannabis stocks, 3-D printing and the gig economy. Lately, thanks to the repeated pronouncements of a few astro-fixated billionaires, space exploration has been attracting a lot of attention, even though the sector … Continued

Seven Smart Stocks

Is Luckbox focuses on the measure of intelligence, let’s turn our attention toward the sector of the equity markets dedicated to education companies. Most well-known institutions of higher learning, such as Harvard, Stanford and MIT, are multi-billion-dollar entities but aren’t publicly held. In recent years, however—particularly with the surge in online learning—dozens of corporations focused … Continued

2021 Portends Some Trends to End

The markets—and the Federal Reserve’s efforts to move them—have been in persistently unprecedented territory for more than a dozen years. Looking forward to the new year, there’s no doubt the Fed will keep its hand in the financial markets. So, let’s divine the likely direction of some major asset classes. The nine charts that follow … Continued

The Stock Market is Apolitical

A casual observer might assume that who wins or loses the presidency would have a profound effect on both the economy and the stock market, but that’s not the case. History has shown presidents are the unwitting beneficiaries of economic good times (such as Bill Clinton in the 1990s) or unfortunate scapegoats during severe downturns (such … Continued

Don’t Touch That Dial

This year marks the 100th birthday of commercial radio. On Nov. 2, 1920, the first commercial station began broadcasting in Pittsburgh, and the next 20 years became known as the Golden Age of Radio. Popular culture would never be the same. As the years passed, some of the biggest hit songs, in a true “meta” … Continued

Britain’s Cautionary Tale

Investors and analysts usually go back 10, 20 or 30 years when they consider long-term economic data. But how about taking a really long view? Let’s fire up the time machine and travel back to the middle of the 19th century. And to keep it really interesting, let’s look at the undisputed No. 1 economic … Continued

Technically Speaking, the Future Does Not Look Very Bright

 While the year began with tremendous optimism, record-high stock prices and an extraordinarily positive business environment, much of the economy soon came screeching to a virtual standstill in the face of the pandemic. The speed and violence of the reversal ravaged the economy in the first quarter. Take, for example, vehicle sales in the United … Continued

Nine Health Stock Trades

Nearly one-fifth of the nation’s economy is dedicated to health care and, at this writing, the sector’s stock prices are caught up in the wild market fluctuations spawned by the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus. So, for a long-range look at the performance of some prominent health-related companies, Luckbox is disregarding recent trends. With … Continued