The Journal
Blog
Market insights and trading education from the Alpha Sentinel team.
Discounted Cash Flow Explained: The Idea Behind Intrinsic Value
Discounted cash flow values a business by the cash it may produce in the future, brought back to today. See how it works and where its estimates break.
The PEG Ratio: Adjusting Valuation for Growth
The PEG ratio divides the price-to-earnings ratio by expected earnings growth. See how it is calculated, when it helps, and where it can mislead you.
How Many Holdings Does a Diversified Portfolio Need?
How many holdings does a diversified portfolio need? Why the count matters less than overlap, sizing and how differently each holding behaves.
T+1 Settlement Explained: What Changed and What It Means for Investors
What T+1 settlement changed in the US, how it affects sales, purchases and dividends, and why tax treatment still follows the trade date.
Market-Wide Circuit Breakers: How Levels and Pauses Work
How market-wide circuit breakers work: the 7, 13 and 20 percent levels, the 15-minute pauses, the 3:25 p.m. cutoff, and what they mean for your orders.
Trading Halts Explained: Why Exchanges Pause a Stock
Why exchanges pause trading in a single stock, the main types of halt, what happens to open orders, and a simple routine for when a holding halts.
Setting Realistic Return Expectations: What History Suggests
What long-run market history says about returns, why averages hide wide swings, and how inflation, fees and time horizon shape what you keep.
Total Return: Why Price Alone Understates What You Earned
Total return adds dividends and interest to price change. Learn why price charts understate gains and how to read the return figures on your statements.
How to Track Your Net Worth Without Spreadsheet Fatigue
Learn how to track your net worth with a simple list, a fixed schedule and a few rules that keep the work short. Build one you will still use next year.
How RSUs Work: Vesting, Withholding and Taxes
How RSUs work: when restricted stock units vest, how withholding is set, and why your tax bill can exceed what was withheld. Here is the sequence.
Alternative Minimum Tax and Stock Options: A Plain-English Explainer
Exercising incentive stock options can trigger the alternative minimum tax even if you sell nothing. Here is how AMT and stock options interact.
Gifting Appreciated Stock: How It Can Reduce Capital Gains
Gifting appreciated stock can shift capital gains to a lower-bracket recipient or to charity. Learn how basis, holding period and gift rules actually work.