Earnings

It’s earnings season right now which means that most public companies will be releasing their earnings results from the last quarter.

I’ve been on an individual stock buying freeze for most of the last 6 months. I of course am stilling DCA’ing into indexes, but my “liquid” portfolio has been frozen. Things are much too volatile for me right now to be putting more money into individual stocks, especially in the growth/tech sector.

With that said, I’ve been paying particular attention to earnings this time around, not because I am buying stocks, because I am trying to get a pulse for the health of the economy.

Sales trend of software, cloud computing, cars, etc. can be a telling picture of what is happening right now in the world economy. For example, Meta’s YoY revenue fell for the first time ever which is an indicator. Of course, these are just one indicator. Slowing Facebook ad sales does not necessarily mean that we are in a recession, but it does mean that businesses are spending less than they did last year.

So far, I’ve been seeing a mixed bag. Some companies are bracing for a recession, others are saying that we’re not in the recession. My philosophy here is to err on the side of caution and be happy that I’m wrong. I’m preparing for a tough few quarters ahead and hoping for the best.