I’ll be blunt…For a casual investor, right now seems like a crappy time to be in the market.

Take a look at these recent headlines:

  • From The Wall Street Journal: “Amazon Layoffs to Hit Over 18,000 Workers, the Most in Recent Tech Wave.”
  • From Yahoo: “Tesla stock is in the midst of its worst-ever drawdown.”
  • From Nasdaq: “Wall Street Ends 2022 in the Red.”

But it’s never been my style to focus on the negative.I’m more of a glass-half-full kind of guy. I’m always looking for opportunities amidst the carnage.“Buy when there’s blood in the streets” is a cliché for a reason. It’s how my company and I helped people make a 100% gain in 2000. And I guided investors to a profit of 261% in 2008.Heck, I even helped my readers make an 18,000% gain in 2020!The truth is, there is no crappy time to be in the market … if you have the right strategy.I’ve used volatility to my advantage many times in the past to uncover huge future winners. And I aim to do the same in the months and years ahead.That’s why in today’s special video, I’m joined by my colleague Amber Lancaster. We’re revealing why things may get worse before they get better, even with inflation subsiding.But we also point out how there’s nothing stopping you from finding 10X, 50X and even 100X opportunities in the meantime.(Sneak peek: One way is to make sure you sign up to see Michael Carr’s exclusive webinar on the “Silicon Shakeout” this Thursday, January 12. Details here.)Watch our video now:

(Click here if you’d like to read a transcript.)

Again, I recommend you check out my colleague Mike Carr’s webinar this Thursday. While I’m a long-term investor, in volatile markets like these, it makes sense to complement your portfolio with a more nimble trading strategy.Sign up for free for Mike’s upcoming talk on The Silicon Shakeout here.Regards,Ian King's SignatureIan KingEditor, Strategic FortunesP.S. Even though the markets are down, there is still opportunity out there. The sell-off — sometimes they throw the baby out with the bath water. There are some amazing buying opportunities that you can have in these bear markets that if your time frame is a little longer. If you’d like to learn more about how a stock in my True Momentum service is up 21% while the rest of the market is flat, click here.

Market Edge: In Case You Missed It…

By Charles Sizemore, Chief Editor, The Banyan Edge

Last week saw a rush of economic data releases, driving huge volatility…You probably saw the unemployment and payroll reports, which came in both better and worse than expected, respectively.But you may have missed potentially the most important release of all — U.S. Services Purchasing Managers Index.The broader and more widely followed Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) covers factory orders and is a decent leading indicator for the industrial sector.But given that the United States is predominantly a service-based economy today, I find the Services PMI to be more relevant.The Services PMI surveys over 400 private-sector companies. Everything from communications and financial firms to hotels and restaurants.It mainly tracks sales, employment, inventories and prices. Values above 50 indicate that the services sector is generally expanding … and below 50 means it’s declining.So … how’s it looking out there?

S&P Global US Services Business Activity Index (Services PMI)

Not so good…The services PMI was revised to 44.7 for December of 2022, pointing to a major slide in the services sector. The index has been below 50 since July, and — apart from the sharp dip at the beginning of the pandemic — is now sitting at its lowest levels in at least 22 years.Whether it’s inflation, higher interest rates, lower expectations of growth or some combination of the above, businesses are signaling significant slowdown ahead.The news wasn’t all bad though. While headline inflation is still nauseatingly high, the data showed the slowest growth in inflation since October 2020.Last week, Ian offered a contrarian prediction that the Fed would likely end up pivoting and lowering rates far sooner than Wall Street expects. The news coming out of the services PMI would certainly support that notion.It suggests a recession sooner rather than later and a drop in inflationary pressures that would give the Fed the flexibility it needs to change course.In the meantime, there are still opportunities to be found trading the downside. And my friend Mike Carr is preparing to do exactly that.Ian and Amber mentioned above they’ll be tuning in to his presentation on Thursday. You should know that I will as well, and I highly suggest you do the same!This will be, as Mike puts it, a trader’s market. It’s important to be nimble in tough market environments, with this one being no exception. Click here for all the details on how Mike’s tackling it.

Charles' signatureCharles SizemoreChief Editor, The Banyan Edge Turn Your Images On