Most of my investment strategies share a simple backbone... I watch how price behaves around the 10, 30, and 50 day averages. Trend, for me, is not a mystical concept... it’s a practical way of asking whether price is moving with conviction or just drifting.
In all my strategies, including the Augmented Income Strategy (AIS), I look for a specific pattern before
committing more capital:
Price below the 50 day average... below the 30 day average... and then a 10 day average that starts to turn up above them.
That “below, below, and 10 day above” contradiction is my way of letting the market prove that selling pressure has exhausted itself and that a new, healthier trend may be forming. It’s a simple structure, but it keeps me from chasing strength too early or buying weakness without confirmation.
Interestingly, this way of thinking about trend has some coincidental overlap with work I’ve seen from Gary Antonacci... a well known voice in momentum and trend‑based investing. While my approach is tailored to income securities and my own AIS framework, it’s reassuring to see echoes of similar logic in academic and professional trend research.
Today’s Divergence... Telecoms Down, Crown Castle Up
Today’s tape offered a clear example of why I pay attention to trend and structure. My largest declines came from three familiar telecom names: TMUS, T, and VZ. They were down roughly -2.44%, -3.31%, and -3.82%, respectively.
At the same time, CCI... Crown Castle... closed up about 5.83%, making it my biggest gainer of the day. All four names sit inside my AIS universe, but they clearly weren’t telling the same story.
Telecom operators have been leaning hard into “cheaper” messaging... lower plan prices, more discounts, more “value” language. That’s rarely a sign of comfort. It usually means margins are under pressure, cash flow is tighter, and competition is forcing them to fight for every subscriber.
But here’s the structural twist... while TMUS, T, and VZ battle on price, they still rely on the same tower infrastructure. They can’t simply walk away from leases with CCI. Coverage has to stay up... contracts are long term... and tower cash flows remain relatively stable even when the operators are under stress.
So you end up with a divergence that looks strange at first glance... telecom stocks retreating while the tower REIT rallies. From a trend perspective, it’s the market quietly saying that infrastructure revenue is viewed as more durable than operator margins right now. More importantly, we have to acknowledge, not many people want to see Tower in their backyard!
AIS, Income, And Staying Neutral
Within AIS, my posture toward this whole ecosystem remains neutral. I’m not trying to pick a hero or a villain... I’m trying to build a durable income engine.
Recently, I’ve been accumulating AT&T preferreds and junior debt... for example issues that show up on my screen as T.PR.A or similar... while Yahoo Finance lists them as T-PA. I’m also adding T‑Mobile junior debt to my screener... issues that might appear as TMUS.PR.A on my broker’s platform but link to Yahoo as TMUS-PA. Each of these sits around a 6.4% yield, which is competitive in the current rate environment and fits AIS’s income‑first philosophy.
The common shares... TMUS, T, VZ, and CCI... give me the trend picture. The preferreds and junior debt give me the income structure. My methodology is simple... I look to buy more when prices retreat and only consider selling when prices become astonishingly high relative to their history, yield, and risk.
Until I see that “below, below, and 10 day above” contradiction in the averages... I’m content to watch, take notes, and let the market reveal where the real stress and real stability live.
Disclaimer: The content in this post reflects my personal opinions, observations, and investment activity. It is not financial advice, tax advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. I am not a financial advisor, and my decisions are based on my own research, risk tolerance, and long-term income strategy. Every investor’s situation is different, and anyone considering an investment should perform their own due diligence and consult a qualified financial professional before making decisions. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal.