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Britannica Money

Karl Montevirgen | Britannica Money

Karl Montevirgen

THE BIG PICTURE

Karl Montevirgen is a freelance writer whose multifaceted focus includes technical analysis, economics, corporate history, and experimental practices in art and music. His work has appeared in Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities, StockCharts.com, and The Ticker Tape, as well as various client sites and publications across finance and the arts. Before working as an independent writer, Karl led the foreign exchange trading desk at a futures and forex brokerage as he remained active in the Los Angeles experimental arts scene.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

FINRA Series 3

FINRA Series 34

EDUCATION

BFA, Music Composition | California Institute of the Arts

MFA, Interschool—Writing & Critical Studies and Music Composition | California Institute of the Arts

IN KARL’S OWN WORDS …

Throughout my career, I’ve written on a wide range of exceedingly complex topics—spanning art criticism, music theory, business strategy, financial analysis, and corporate history—for both lay readers and professionals. One guiding principle has remained constant: make even the most complex topics accessible without ever “dumbing down” critical information.

I stick to this principle, no matter the domain. Whether I’m breaking down basic concepts or tackling advanced ideas, my goal is to ensure you fully understand these topics without compromising the depth or integrity of the information.

Recent Articles

Finance & the Economy

Succession plan

Berkshire Hathaway

American company

SoftBank Group

Japanese company

Anthropic, PBC

American artificial intelligence company

Microsoft Corporation

American company

Salesforce, Inc.

American company

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Finance & the Economy

Equation of exchange

Finance & the Economy

Velocity of money

SK Group

South Korean conglomerate

Finance & the Economy

Debt-to-GDP ratio

What is private credit? A guide to direct lending

Diversifying in the alternative debt market.

Stock buybacks: The strategy behind share repurchases

Fewer shares, bigger stakes

Angel investor vs. venture capitalist: What’s the difference?

Do angels lead the way where VCs fear to tread?

Alphabet, Inc.

American conglomerate and holding company

Starbucks

American company

Dots and dollars: The Fed dot plot, explained

For interest rate projections, read between the dots.

Apple Inc.

American company

Understanding consumer confidence and consumer sentiment data

Wallets open or closed?

What does the monthly jobs report tell us and why is it so important?

The big kahuna of government economic reports.

Market sentiment: Measuring fear, greed, and investor mood

The market has feelings. Here’s how investors measure them.

Warner Music Group

American company

Private economic reports: What they can tell you about the economy

There’s more than one way to read the economy.

Hyperscale data centers: Reshaping cloud computing and powering AI

Separating the hype from the hyperscalers.

Finance & the Economy

production possibilities frontier

Kraft Heinz

American company

How do crude oil prices affect gasoline prices?

From the ground to the pump.

Personal Finance

The franchise disclosure document (FDD): An all-in-one rulebook, guidebook, and almanac

A 23-step business tango.

Defensive and cyclical stocks: What investors should know

Safe havens vs. boom-or-bust.

What is market seasonality and why does it occur?

To everything—turn, turn, turn.

Navigating the markets with moving average convergence/divergence (MACD)

A technical indicator that tracks momentum.

The greater fool theory: The root cause of market bubbles?

Bubbles blow, bubbles grow, bubbles pop.

What housing market data can indicate about the broader economy

Home sweet home.

Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC)

Safeguards if your brokerage firm fails.

Ichimoku cloud: At-a-glance view of trend and momentum

Five lines, one cloud, and a clearer view of market direction.

The gold-silver ratio: Industrial growth, flights to safety, and storing value

Relatively precious.

Oil benchmarks: Why crude prices aren’t one-size-fits-all

Sweet vs. sour; light vs. heavy.

K-shaped economy: When growth moves in two different directions

A tale of two recoveries.

Momentum investing: Riding the wave of winning stocks

Just know when to jump off.

Personal Finance

How to use an inflation calculator (and what it really measures)

Tracking the CPI market basket.

GDP price deflator: Nominal output vs. real output

For apples-to-apples comparisons, check what apples cost last year.

The alphabet soup of unemployment data: U-3, U-6, and beyond

Unemployment, underemployment, and marginal attachment.

Sahm rule: A real-time recession indicator

Gauging momentum in the unemployment rate.

Financial benchmarks: Does your portfolio measure up or fall short?

A scorecard for your investments.

In search of alpha: Hard to prove; hard to sustain

Alpha is in the eye of the beholder (and the fund manager).

Labor force participation rate: Completing the employment picture

Even the jobs report gets participation points.

Personal Finance

Franchising as an investment: How does it work?

Your ambition, their vision.

Wall Street’s winged icons: How hawks and doves shape the economy

Hawks remove the punch bowl; doves spike the punch.

An alchemy of assets: Understanding the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet

Your Fed balance sheet cheat sheet.

Direct peer-to-peer lending: An alternative investment?

Know the risks if you want to lend like a bank.

Using Porter’s 5 forces to analyze stocks and identify market leaders

Decode the strategy behind the shares.

Municipal bonds: Build a brighter future for your community and your savings

Where your money meets Main Street.

Jobless claims and JOLTS: Piecing together the job market jigsaw

The puzzling job of analyzing jobs.

What is stagflation? A double whammy of headwinds

When the economy slows, but prices don’t get the memo.

Market makers: Keeping markets efficient, liquid, and robust

They bridge the gap between buyer and seller.

Investing in chip stocks: What are semiconductors?

A micro thing with a macro impact.

What causes currency exchange rates to rise and fall?

Money never sits still.

Retail forex trading: An introduction for active investors

The global currency market at your doorstep.

Following the money flow: How the global currency market works

Money: It sorta makes the world go round.

Fractional shares: Slicing stock into bite-size pieces

No long-division calculations necessary.

Personal Finance

What is due diligence? A professional and personal standard

Be sure to do your homework.

Navigating the pattern day trader rules

How a 25-year-old trading restriction worked—and what replaced it in 2026.

Entrepreneurs vs. small business owners and corporate executives: What’s the difference?

Building a business from the ground up—and assuming the risk.

Slicing the market pie: How stock splits work and why they matter

If you cut it in half, will it grow back?

Personal Finance

Filing for personal bankruptcy: What it is, how to do it, and when to consider it

It could solve some problems but create others.

Rare earth metals: What are they, and are they a solid investment?

It’s amazing how much they impact modern life.

What is reshoring, and why are American companies shifting toward it?

Globalization in reverse? Deglobalization?

Equity crowdfunding: A bold new frontier for investors and entrepreneurs?

Crowdfunding just got leveled up.

What’s the difference between day trading and swing trading?

A quick move or a longer setup.

Using the stochastic oscillator to anticipate market turning points

Looking for a price reversal?

Economic cycles: Investing through boom and bust

Four phases to monitor.

Gross domestic product (GDP): Measuring economic output

It’s like taking the economy’s temperature.

What is the relative strength index (RSI)?

Identify what’s overbought and oversold.

What is the industrial production and capacity utilization report?

A way to mine for economic clues.

A trio of inflation indicators: CPI, PPI, and PCE

Price indexes to track inflation.

What is blockchain and how does it work?

Decentralized and immutable.

Beyond banks and brokers: All about decentralized finance (DeFi)

Can it be trusted with your assets?

Altcoins, coins, and tokens: What’s the difference?

Dissecting “crypto-speak.”

Proof of work vs. proof of stake: Comparing two blockchain verification types

Two validation methods, one goal.

Investment types: Your building blocks for diversification

Stocks, bonds, funds, and more—mix, match, and customize.

Stability amid the volatility of crypto: Stablecoins explained

The crypto facilitators.

Central bank digital currencies: How they could change money

Digital cash, without the crypto chaos.

What is proof of work? Explaining blockchain verification

Trust but verify.

Anduril Industries

American company

What is the metaverse? Understanding investment opportunities and risks

Investing in virtually anything.

Personal Finance

How much will it cost me to buy a franchise?

Four kinds of start-up costs.

McCormick & Company, Inc.

American corporation

Finance & the Economy

opportunity cost

OpenAI

American company

Palantir Technologies, Inc.

American company

Durable goods report: Reading the economy’s big-ticket purchases

Follow the money. And the machinery.

Finance & the Economy

The economics of the FIFA World Cup: Ticket pricing, tourism revenue, and costs explained

Investing in speculative start-up stocks? 14 alternative fundamentals to follow

You can’t look at the P/E if the company has no E.

TKO Group Holdings

American company

Personal Finance

Dynamic pricing: Fair market, surge, or gouge?

The invisible hand in plain sight.

Finance & the Economy

Big Mac index

Verizon Communications Inc.

American company

Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS): Bonds that adjust with the cost of living

Worried about inflation? Here’s a tip for you.

Finance & the Economy

hyperinflation

Live Nation Entertainment

American company

Financial services sector: Investing in stocks with a fiscal focus

Money never sleeps.

My stock is drifting down. Should I buy the dip?

Just watch out for falling knives.

Concentration risk: When winners (and company shares) take over your portfolio

Good eggs may need more baskets.

Finance & the Economy

inflation

Personal Finance

How money moves in the era of digital payment systems

From tapping (Morse) code to an encoded tap.

CITGO Petroleum Corp.

American company

Finance & the Economy

externality

Ferrero Group

multinational company

Finance & the Economy

price discovery

Systematic risk: The PRIME forces that move markets

You can’t just diversify them away.

Risk-on vs. risk-off: How market mood moves money

Chasing growth, or running for cover?

Finance & the Economy

HODL (crypto)

How to build an investment policy statement—even if you don’t have a financial advisor

Your money; your road map.

Crypto forks: What they are and how they work

When a blockchain needs to forge its own path.

Polymarket

American company

Universal Music Group

international music conglomerate

Mark-to-market, variation margin, and daily settlement in futures

Every day is a day of reckoning.

Portfolio beta weighting: What it is, why it matters, and how to use it

Your portfolio’s volatility in a single number.

Nasdaq, Inc.

American organization

Head and shoulders pattern: Indicating a shift in market sentiment

Market psychology in a graphic display.

Golden cross and death cross: Identifying and confirming chart trends

Moving averages can send signals.

Technical analysis: Is there predictive power in chart data?

Discover why the trend is your friend.

Perplexity AI

search engine company

Top-down vs. bottom-up: Two paths to smarter stock picks

The macro and micro of fundamental analysis.

Contrarian investing: Buying shares of the unloved, unwanted, and underpriced

Do you zag when the crowd is zigging?

Finance & the Economy

liquidity

Trend following: A time-tested strategy for riding market momentum

Just go with the flow.

Regret minimization theory: Making peace with uncertainty

From “rue the day” to “rule the day.”

Finance & the Economy

technical breakout

Finance & the Economy

Federal Open Market Committee

United States Federal Reserve System

Alternative investments: Beyond stocks and bonds

What are alternative investments?

What are cryptocurrencies and why is the world paying attention?

A crypto FAQ for beginners.

Finance & the Economy

dead-cat bounce

securities and commodities trading

Dow theory and the foundations of technical analysis

Timeless, trendy wisdom on market timing and trends.

Simple moving average vs. exponential moving average

Playing the “weighting” game.

How housing inflation is measured: Prices, rent, and construction costs

No single number tells the full story.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC)

Taiwanese company

Using moving averages to gauge market trends

Smooth out price volatility.

Double top and double bottom patterns: Spotting trend exhaustion

Walking a fine (neck)line.

Flag and pennant patterns: When a trend hits the pause button

Consolidate, continue, confirm.

How value at risk (VAR) helps estimate investment losses

The science of worst-case comfort.

HYBE Corp.

South Korean company

Beta, benchmarks, and risk: Measuring volatility

Plus 4 ways to use beta beyond vol.

Western Union Corporation

American company

Mondelēz International

American company

Want to be a pairs trader? How to assess, enter, and exit a pairs trade

Strategies for when the price isn’t right.

It’s all relative (value): The art and science of pairs trading

It takes two to tango, but eventually, the music stops.

Industrials sector: Investing in big companies that do big things

The economy’s quiet titans.

Should I try to time the market? Tops, bottoms, and trends

Timing your trades? Don’t get clocked.

Health care sector: Investing in stocks that help keep you well

A shot in the arm for your portfolio.

Finance & the Economy

EBITDA

Finance & the Economy

spot price

Contango vs. backwardation: What’s the difference?

Navigating the price slopes.

Finance & the Economy

commission

Investing in tech sector stocks: A beginner’s guide

Today’s technology is always so yesterday.

The stock investor’s guide to Blue Ocean Strategy

Dive into innovation without getting bitten.

What is a value chain, and how can you use it to make better investment decisions?

It’s what links supply to success.

General Electric

American corporation

3 liquidity ratios: Assessing short-term financial viability

A liquid moat to pay the note and stay afloat.

Supply chain management: From raw materials to retail

Getting from ground to gadget.

Finance & the Economy

accredited investor

How to spot and invest in a unicorn company

The payoff (and the risks) can be real.

How you can use SWOT analysis when choosing investments

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats.

Commission-free stock trading: Is there a catch?

There’s always a cost to “free.”

From the Nifty Fifty to the Magnificent Seven: How all-star stocks are picked

Growth, glitz, and guts.

Trading with price action analysis

Explore price territory without a map.

Price floors and ceilings: Areas of support and resistance in the markets

Know where price might bounce.

Finance & the Economy

price

Finance & the Economy

retailing

Finance & the Economy

comparative advantage

economic theory

Finance & the Economy

diminishing returns

Finance & the Economy

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

United States banking

Trying to choose a franchise? 9 tips to consider

The homework before the hard work.