"Cash is king," counsels market sector expert Jim Farrish who has chosen "cash" as his latest "sector spotlight". Here is his latest on the need for "patience" from his SectorExchange service.

The sector expert explains, "The market volatility and downside momentum has been king for 2008. Outside of short term trading and/or being short the markets the best place to have been invested is cash.

"My question is why is it so hard for investors to hold cash in their portfolios? Why do so many investment advisors not increase cash positions when market trends shift? Why do professionally managed mutual funds not increase their cash holdings?

"It goes against the psychological grain of investing. It is human nature to believe we may miss out on something. The emotions of investing are in full swing when a prolonged downtrend begins. These emotions dictate how we think and how we act during this period.

Continue reading Sector expert: 'Don't forget cash'

Sector expert: 'Don't forget cash' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jim Farrish, founder of Money Strategies, is a leading expert on sector investing; his approach combines technical and fundamental analysis within the framework of investor psychology.

In the latest from his SectorExchange.com, he says, "This week's spotlight is the energy sector with a focus on the current trend, what the outlook is and what strategy to take looking forward." Here's his latest, along with some ETFs to play this trend.

"Over the last six weeks, the financial media has warned that 'consumption will decline as a result of the US recession.' But so far we have not seen any slowdown in consumption and may not based on recent studies.

"In fact, we have seen China and India absorb any lack of consumption by the US. The key here is not so much who is right and who is wrong, but how you manage your own positions within the energy sector.

Continue reading Sector expert focuses on oil & gas ETFs

Sector expert focuses on oil & gas ETFs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"We have chosen Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) as our favorite for 2008," says Jim Farrish, editor of Sector Exchange.

"Looking into 2008, one area we like is technology, and one of the stronger sub sectors has been the internet. It is important to note the build-out of the internet is not done. Content is still being created at a rate no one can fathom and technological advances continue to explode.

"This brave new world comes with the ability to provide internet video downloading at a rate that will excite and attract users like never before. Why? First, the ability to increasingly compress data and more effectively use bandwidth and second, the expanding infrastructure of the internet.

"While the sector has struggled since the negative Cisco earnings announcement in November, we see opportunity in this downward move. If we consider the reason for the decline, we find it wasn't fundamental; it was judgmental.

Continue reading Best Stocks for 2008: Sector expert sticks with Cisco (CSCO)

Best Stocks for 2008: Sector expert sticks with Cisco (CSCO) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 31 Dec 2007 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.