The Top 5 Most Popular Investment Stories of 2020

Now that 2020 has drawn to a close, I’m revisiting my most popular investment posts of the year, based on views. It was a truly historic 12 months, to say the least, but I won’t be covering everything that happened.

For many of you, that’s probably a good thing.

So without further ado, below are the top five most read stories of 2020, in descending order.

5. Should You Buy the Panic?

from March 16
The U.S. reported its first case of the novel coronavirus on January 20, 2020, and in less than two months, economic activity came to a screeching halt. In March alone, the number of passengers boarding commercial flights in the U.S. plummeted from 2.3 million per day to under 150,000. The shock was enough to sink stocks more than 30% from their highs, bringing an end to the historic bull market.

In this Frank Talk from mid-March, I asked whether investors should buy the panic. At the time, many may have thought it too early to begin bargain hunting, but there were compelling signs that it was now or never.

Our very own U.S. Global Sentiment Index, which tracks a variety of asset classes, fell to an all-time low on March 18, indicating an unprecedented buy signal. Global airline stocks became most oversold since September 2001, following the attacks on 9/11, and we saw millennial Robinhood investors gobble up shares, even as Warren Buffett sold his airline holdings.

4. Gold Is Within Striking Distance of Its All-Time High. Here’s How to Play the Rally

from July 23
When this post was published in late July, gold had just touched an all-time high in intraday trading. The record high closing price of $2,070 an ounce wouldn’t come until August 6, but at the time, I wrote that my favorite way to play the historic stimulus-driven rally was with gold royalty stocks.

I also commented on the blistering tech rally that’s seen firms as diverse as PayPal Holdings, Nvidia and Etsy end the year up by triple digits.

And the top S&P 500 of 2020 (by far)? Newcomer Tesla, which has increased by more than 700% year-to-date.

Tech stocks, as measured by the NASDAQ 100, are now more overvalued relative to the market than at any other time since the dotcom bubble. Will the rally continue into 2021?