But what about when others are neutral?

Be Greedy When Others Are Fearful I love Warren Buffett's mantra to be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy, but the Oracle of Omaha is missing an important question with that advice: What do you do when people are neutral? It's not as easy to answer. If people are fearful, it can mean that stocks are oversold and it's a good time to buy quality companies at a discount compared to where they could be trading in the long term. We just saw this play out, thanks to TradeSmith's Market Health tool and its Fear & Greed feature. The S&P 500 closed on Sept. 29, 2022, at 3,640.47, with the sentiment of Extreme Fear. By the time the first Extreme Greed signal hit on Jan. 31, 2023, the S&P 500 closed at 4,076.60, representing an 11.98% rally from September's Extreme Fear signal. You can also see in the image above that from January to February, sentiment bounced around between Greed and Extreme Greed (indicated by the light blue and dark blue lines). RECOMMENDED LINK Better Than Oil Stocks The best way to profit from energy is NOT a stock... Rather, it's this little-known alternative investment. CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE The tool obviously didn't predict that a banking crisis was ahead, but it indicated that the markets may have been overbought at that point and due for a cooldown anyway. Then, banking collapses dominated the headlines, and Fear sentiment took over. There was a slight shift to Greed after that, but sentiment is now Neutral. So, if you're supposed to be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy, what do you do when there isn't a firm direction? What you can do is look at the data. Stuck in Neutral Being Neutral makes sense, as folks are likely still digesting the Federal Reserve's rate hike last week… and there was a lot to digest. If the Fed didn't hike rates, it would have been a sign that the Fed didn't believe the economy was strong enough to handle it. If the Fed hiked rates higher than expected, it could have put even more pressure on the cracks already spiderwebbing around the banking sector. The Fed matched expectations with its quarter-point hike, but there is still obvious concern about other banks collapsing. It will also be worrying if inflation comes in much higher than expected in the next Consumer Price Index release. That may keep people Neutral for the time being. But what you should be focusing in on next is the fact that the Fed signaled it is nearing the end of its rate hikes. Here's what I told the members of Dividends on Demand yesterday. (You must be logged in to access; if you're not a Dividends on Demand member and would like to learn more, you can click here.) The Fed knows full well that the banking system is the lifeblood of commerce in America. Regional banks in particular account for the majority of small business and real estate lending nationwide. Make no mistake, the Fed will do whatever it takes to backstop the financial system. On that note, stocks and bonds rebounded across the board last week, with the S&P 500 Index up 1.4%. The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell to 3.38% as bonds rallied too. That's down considerably from the recent high in yields of more than 4% in early March. The Fed is clearly coming to the end of the rate hike cycle, and it cannot happen too soon for stocks. RECOMMENDED LINK My #1 way to make money right now If you're worried about your portfolio... Drop everything and watch this demo immediately. It reveals how just ONE trade could make you $1,000 (or more) every month, regardless of the state of the markets. It's my #1 way of making money right now. In fact, it's the ONLY strategy I'm using while the markets remain this crazy. Because no matter what's going on, it consistently pays me, and it has an 89.47% win rate. As you can see in the chart below, stocks tend to perform quite well in the 12 months after the end of rate tightening cycles in the past. The S&P 500 has posted gains after five of the past six cycles and has gone up an average of 17.6%. It's an oversimplification to say that there are a lot of forces at play right now, and the overall markets may be volatile or trade sideways in the short term. But if history is going to repeat itself after this tightening cycle, it may be well worth it to start thinking about being greedy when others are neutral. Good investing, Mike Burnick Senior Analyst, TradeSmith Finding Your New Income Stream Locating great companies that are beat-up and buying them when everyone else is scared to invest gives you a great competitive edge. When those stock prices rebound, you will reap the benefits of not following the crowd. But understanding investor sentiment is just one piece of the puzzle of being a successful investor in this type of market… In addition to making money over the long term, you could start using an investing system that would help you generate monthly income. In short: It's a new way to trade and potentially make all the money you need — no matter what happens in the stock market. Sound too good to be true? This free demo reveals everything you need to know. More Investable Information at Your Fingertips TradeSmith's 2023 Guide to Beating Inflation Bitcoin Is Far from Dead (Here's Proof) This Could Be the Amazon of Gene-Editing Stocks Electric Vehicles Passed This 5% Tipping Point – Here Are 2 Investments to Make Customer Support: 866.385.2076 |  support@tradesmith.com Mailbag Questions ©TradeSmith, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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