☕️ 1/3rd of the S&P 500 reports in the next 72 hours – most investors aren't ready
Jul 28, 2026Howdy! 👋
177 S&P 500 companies report this week – roughly 1/3rd of the S&P 500 in the next 72 hours.
Most investors aren’t ready.
It’s one of the single most concentrated windows of the entire year, and it’s sitting on your calendar right now.
The spreadsheet gang and valuation crews are out in force, of course. Same with the CapEx haters and AI obliterators. To hear any of ‘em tell it, the jig is up and its game over.
Hardly.
The real problem is that “they” don’t have a plan, so they’re hoping to yell and scream loudly enough that you lose your nerve, your focus and your discipline.
Good luck with that!
Have you ever seen the legendary Warren Buffett bail at a moment like this?
Me neither.
He says “be greedy when others are fearful.”
Billionaire investor Ron Baron often points out that the best long-term opportunities often show up when the market is punishing companies for investing in their future.
The fabulous Suze Orman encourages you to stay the course and keep buying quality when others are running.
I say simply Buy the best, ignore the rest.®
Most investors think they’re being smart by trying to second guess moments like this.
My experience is that almost never works out.
My research shows that investors are their own worst enemy.
Case in point, here’s a chart I shared with the One Bar Ahead® Family yesterday.
Decisions you make over the next few days about how you handle this window could follow your portfolio for years, maybe decades.
So make ‘em good ones.
How?
We’ve got an important teaching moment on our hands.
Here’s 5 things to get under control right now before the fireworks start.
1 – The person in the mirror
Every reporting season, the biggest risk in your portfolio isn't Azure growth or iPhone margins.
It's the person staring back at you in the mirror every morning.
Get that person under control and keep your emotions out of the equation.
Everything else gets easier, more consistent and – dare I say it – more profitable over time if you do. And no, watching headline numbers and reaching for the sell button before you’ve read past the first paragraph doesn’t count.
Keith's Investing Tip: There is no rush. A headline at market close and a decision at market open the next day are two very different things. After hours markets, too.
2 – Your psychology – are you trading or investing?
Traders react to whatever earnings hit the tape, but smart investors built a plan weeks ago.
Good, bad or even downright ugly doesn’t matter.
If you find yourself glued to a screen Wednesday afternoon waiting to see which way Microsoft moves so you can decide what to do, you've already answered the question.
You're trading, not investing.
Nothing wrong with that if you know that and size accordingly. But everything’s wrong with it if you think you're investing.
Keith's Investing Tip: Write down, before the numbers hit, what you'll do if the stock is up 5% and what you'll do if it's down 5%. If you can't answer that right now, sorry but you're not even remotely ready for earnings this season. 🤷️
3 – Your “buy list” is the real path to profits
Buy the best, ignore the rest®.
I've said it for years because it works.
This week will produce noise about capex, about margins, about whether AI spending is a bridge to nowhere. Some of it will be real but most of it won’t.
Wall Street's merry marauders LOVE shaking the weak money loose from strong companies because it gives them the chance to buy shares in great companies at lower prices. It’s nothing personal; it’s their job.
You’ll want to do the same dang thing … if you’re really an investor, that is.
Don’t kid yourself.
I advocate having a “buy list” at the ready constantly in the event the market puts something you want to own “on sale” unexpectedly.
You do, right??!!
If not, I’d urge you to rethink what it is you really hope to accomplish in the markets.
Keith's Investing Tip: If you can't explain in one sentence why you own a specific stock, that's your answer on what to do with it Thursday morning.
4 – Your tactics – having a hammer doesn't mean you can use a wrench
DCA, VCA, cash-secured puts, LowBall Orders, LEAPs – every one of these tools can be devastatingly powerful profit makers over time especially when you use ‘em consistently.
That’s the rub.
Most investors don’t have a clue when to use what, let alone how… and that can do a lot of damage to their portfolio over time.
This is why so many well-intentioned investors cower in fear or, worse, blow up their portfolios.
A 2012 study referenced in Barron’s years ago showed that as much as 85% of all buy/sell decisions are made incorrectly – meaning that investors tend to buy when they should be selling and sell when they should be buying. That’s not a rounding error, btw.
The tactic that made sense for you in March isn't automatically the right one for a week when four trillion-dollar companies and a Fed decision land inside 48 hours.
Higher volatility changes the math on options premiums. It also changes where something like a LowBall Order should sit and how you place it. But it makes for great Dollar Cost Averaging and Value Cost Averaging as long as you’re consistent.
There is ALWAYS a path to profits.
Keith's Investing Tip: If you're not sure what to buy or sell and how, that's your signal to do less, not more. Doing nothing under the circumstances is perfectly acceptable. So turn off the news, go for a lovely walk with your spouse or significant other. Do some gardening or hop on a motorcycle. The markets will still be there when you get back… and so will your sanity.
5 – Your time horizon
This is the one most investors skip, usually with predictable results.
That’s too bad because my experience is that it’s the one thing that can decide nearly everything else on today’s list.
For example… are you positioned for what happens in the next quarter, or the next decade? Those are different portfolios built with different tools and different tolerances.
Make no bones about it.
This week will test both kinds of investors but only one kind tends to look back on weeks like this and smile. And yes, I want you to smile.
I believe there will be more profit potential creating in the next 10 years than the last 50 combined.
Not surprisingly given my perspective and research…
An hour, a day, a week, a quarter, decades… they’re all viable choices.
Just be dang sure you know what you’re building towards and trying to accomplish.
The last thing you want to do is accidentally figure out that what you thought was investing was really thinly disguised gambling.
Getting this under control can make a monumental and massive difference in the wealth you built, the profit potential you enjoy and the money you make over time.
One last item.
Know exactly what you are prepared to pay or you will inevitably pay too much.
A few well-placed LowBall Orders can make a difference.
Btw, keep an eye on your email if you’re an OBAer because that’s exactly what I’ll be sharing shortly.
Keith's Investing Tip: So before you check a single earnings headline this week, answer this: what does my portfolio need to look like in 2036? Then measure every decision against that, not against Wednesday's close. Work backwards.
Bottom Line
The most important investment skill you can learn is to calculate the future cost of decisions you make today.
Investing is about focus, not noise.
- Plan
- Execute
- Adjust
- Repeat
You got this – I promise!
Now and as always, let’s MAKE it a great day.
Keith 😊
