Clif Droke's Contributions

By Clif Droke – The stock market’s relentless low-volatility rise with scarcely a dip along the way since August has left many observers scratching their heads. The market’s admittedly abnormal behavior in refusing to decline in the face of what is a technically “overbought”...

To most individual traders, there is no bigger buzz kill than a narrow trading range. It takes the wind out of the sails of breakout and momentum traders, and even expert stock pickers have a tough time finding the stocks which are bucking the sideways trend.

The first legislative setback of the Trump Administration is being celebrated by many, but not by middle-class taxpayers and business owners. A Republican-led Congress last week failed to generate the consensus required to overturn...

The stock market has once again entered a period of consolidation as investors wait for the results of the most important legislative decision of the year. The fight to repeal and replace Obamacare has taken the spotlight as Congress debates...

One of the biggest contributors to losses for traders in the financial market is the temptation to sell short. Borrowing shares of a company that is not owned by the seller in the hopes of making a massive profit have shipwrecked...

The evidence strongly suggests that the past two years served the purpose of clearing out the excesses generated by the long-term bull market which began in 2009. In other words, the market is rested and ready to resume its potential as we head further into 2017...

After touching the benchmark 20,000 level last month, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has spent the last five weeks in a tight, narrow trading range just under this level. Famed trader Jesse Livermore theorized in his...

If you thought the pace of the head-spinning political events of the last two months couldn’t get any faster, think again. One of the most critical decisions of President-Elect Trump’s reign will soon be decided. The final verdict will have...

Now that another New Year is upon us, it’s time to reflect on what the coming months might unfold. Normally when market analysts try their hand at predicting the year ahead it involves either wild guessing or linear extrapolation...

The word “collapse” instantly conjures primal feelings of both fear and excitement whenever we hear it. We fear it because it evokes our collective belief that collapse is fatal and final, yet it excites our imagination to the possibility...

With the US presidential election now behind us, many investors feel they can finally breathe easy again after a nail-biting period of uncertainty since last year. The rally in the major equity market indices since Nov. 9 has been in...

In many ways, 2016 has been a banner year for US real estate. Housing prices continued to strengthen in several major metropolitan markets and even reached frothy proportions in at least three major markets.

As the dust settles from the US presidential election, multitudes of political analysts and news commentators continue to scratch their heads wondering “what went wrong?” The collective question they’re asking, of course, is in reference...

They’re calling it the Great Revolution, and rightfully so. Donald Trump’s earth-shattering victory over Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8 must surely rate as one of the greatest political upsets in U.S. history. It stretches the mind to recall the last time a true political outsider...

We’re about to enter that time when financial commentators offer up their best guesses as to what investors can expect in the Near Year. It always makes for fun reading, but it also never fails to disappoint.

America’s economic condition is truly a “tale of two cities.” Upper middle class and wealthy earners have never been more flush thanks in large part to the record liquidity creation of the last eight years as well as to their financial market exposure.