While researching businesses is my true passion, tracking the herd’s movements via stocks is exhilarating! There is so much meaning expressed in the price changes. It's almost never what the headlines say. Things are almost never as they appear on the surface. This week's episode is yet another case study proving this reality.

While the average stock in the Pragmatic portfolio increased just .3%, looking beneath the surface reveals many unfolding stories. In this week's episode, I shed light on several interesting topics, including:

- The implications of Elliott securing 13% ownership in Etsy and appointment to the Board.

- Spotting short sellers in your portfolio and what to do about them.

- Meta’s strong earnings sending shockwaves across advertising, which drove demand for Pinterest, The Trade Desk, and Magnite.

There will be several key questions answered, including:

- What to do when an activist fund opens a large position in two of your stocks?

- What can we infer from Datadog's massive spike ahead of earnings?

- Why over 90% of the stocks in the Pragmatic portfolio beat earnings estimates?

- How can a curation of under 20 stocks give a portfolio substantial diversification without sacrificing performance or lowering your standards?

- How to process a stock that is having wild swings on no news?