Stock Picker’s Market (Stock Pickers’ Market)

In a strong bull market, just about any stock that anyone picks is a winner. A “stock picker’s market” or “stockpicker’s market” (also “stock pickers’ market” or “stockpickers’ market”) is a flat market or a bear market where an investor can still make money, but needs the help of an experienced stock picker. Some people have argued, however, that the term is useless and that every market is a “stock picker’s market”—that’s what stock pickers get paid to do.
 
“Stock picker’s market” has been cited in print since at least 1993.
 
   
Google Books
U.S. News & World Report
Volume 114, Issues 1-7
1993
Pg. 73:
But 1993 should be a stock picker’s market, with gains concentrated in ever fewer stocks.
 
Google Books
Moneyletter
Volume 15, Issue 9
1994
Pg. ?:
As stated earlier in the year, we believe that we are moving into a trading-range market, a “stockpicker’s market,” and we also feel that our Model Portfolios continue to be well-positioned for this scenario.
       
Google Books 
BusinessWeek
Issues 3602-3610
1998
Pg. 52:
Equities are no longer the screaming buy they were just a month ago. “Now, it’s a stock picker’s market,” says Margard.
 
Google Books
All About Exchange Traded Funds
By Archie M. Richards, Jr.
New York, NY: McGraw Hill Professional
2003
Pg. 107:
You’ve heard the term “stock picker’s market” bandied about on TV, haven’t you? It means, of course, picking stocks that outperform their industries and stocks that outperform the market as a whole.
 
Google Books
You’ve lost it, now what?:
how to beat the bear market and still retire on time
By Jonathan Clements
New York, NY: Portfolio
2003
Pg. 28:
That is why you should be suspicious when you hear talk of the supposed “stock picker’s market.” Brokers and market strategists often make this comment in flat and falling markets. The notion is that anybody can score decent profits in a bull market. But when stock prices are struggling, you need to select the right stocks to earn decent gains. This advice may work for some investors. But it can’t work for everyone.
 
Seeking Alpha
Stock-Picker’s Market: Buy The Dips, Prepare For The Next Upside Surge
BY Marc Courtenay
Oct. 30, 2011 7:17 AM ET |
Have you ever said to yourself, “Why does everything in the world of investing and money have to be so darn complicated?”
   
Seeking Alpha
Joachim Berlenbach’s Ideas On How To Succeed In A Stock Picker’s Market
Mar. 12, 2013 3:51 PM ET
In an environment of rising capital expenses, gold producers big and small are left with little or no free cash flow. Instead of investing in exploration to maintain production, too many companies are cutting costs and high-grading their current resources. Joachim Berlenbach, fund adviser with Switzerland’s Earth Resource Investment Group, believes this kind of short-term thinking will lead to decreased production and a higher gold price. In this Gold Report interview, Berlenbach shares his ideas on how to succeed in this stock-picker’s market.
 
Index Fund Advisors
A Stock Picker’s Market?
Jay D. Franklin and Mark Hebner
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Of all the nonsensical terms that pervade the financial media, there are few that reach the stupidity level of “a stock picker’s market.” It is a refrain often heard at the beginning of the year, particularly when the stock pickers (i.e., active mutual fund managers) of the prior year turned in a dismal performance, as they did in 20111 and 20122. The pundit who proclaims it means to say that stocks are not expected to move together as much as they normally do, and therefore a talented stock picker will be richly rewarded for separating the wheat from the chaff. How the pundit would know the future behavior of individual stock returns relative to each other is unfathomable to both himself and his audience.
 
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
Why a stock pickers’ market is just a myth for retail investors
DAN HALLETT
Published Thursday, Jul. 18 2013, 3:01 PM EDT
Last updated Friday, Jul. 19 2013, 10:28 AM EDT
Whenever the notion of a volatile sideways market bubbles up among portfolio managers, they claim indexing will fail in comparison to active stock selection. In other words, portfolio managers argue that trendless volatility is ripe for active management skill to shine. They call it a stock pickers’ market. I call it a myth for retail investors.
 
Zero Hedge
Cliff Asness Blasts Those Who Call It “A Stock Picker’s Market”
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/03/2014 21:45 -0500
Cliff Asness would politely request people stop saying “It’s a stock picker’s market.” While pairwise correlations have dropped to post-crisis lows, they remain elevated to ‘normal’ levels but, as Asness rages, perhaps asset managers who rely on this ‘weak’ phrase should more honestly note “I think they mean, “We will have to pick stocks now because the market isn’t making us money the easy way.”
 
Twitter
Douglas Kass ‏@DougKass 13h
So 2014 will be a “stock pickers’ market—Question: When isnt the market a stock picker’s market? $SPY
 
Wendy J
‏@BuffettJunkie
@DougKass Exactly. It’s always a stock picker’s market. That’s what we get paid for.
10:47 PM - 3 Jan 14