Unless you have been living under a rock the last several years, dividend paying stocks have been all the rage and it is certainly understandable. With the way the Fed has kept rates low we have been hard pressed to find somewhere to park money and make any decent return. The usual suspects of CDs, [...]
6 Secrets Behind Effective Retirement Planning
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Whether you plan on retiring early or working into your 80’s, we all need to be purposeful with our retirement planning. The mass media is replete with tricks that claim to help you achieve that million dollar portfolio (truthfully, that number is likely on the small side) and set sail into retirement so you can [...]
Facebook Stock: One Year Later – What Have We Learned From the Hype?
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I remember the day like it was yesterday. Investors were calling in left and right wanting to know what they could do to get their hands on the much-discussed Facebook stock (FB). The Facebook IPO had been hyped for weeks and it seemed like whatever channel you were on, the talking heads were all abuzz [...]
Political Contributions, High Frequency Trading and You
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I read an article recently on Yahoo Finance that caught my attention as something worthy of sharing with others. The article addressed the issue of high frequency trading. If you follow the market much at all, you’re likely familiar with the term and the increasingly relevant role it is playing in the stock market. The [...]
The Stock Market is on a Tear – But Have You Been Feeling the Love?
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If you are a headline reader, then you probably have a good sense of what the stock market has been doing lately. It seems like not a day that goes by lately where we are reading about how stocks are supposedly at all-time highs. The Dow has hit 15,000 and stocks are posting, in general, [...]
The Problem Behind Sell in May and Go Away
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There are many weird stock market indicators that pundits try to use to explain what you should be doing in the stock market at any given time. From the January effect to following the Presidential cycle to believing which conference wins the Super Bowl determines how well stocks will fare, there seems to be many [...]
When to Pull Out of Your Investment
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Do you currently consider yourself to be an investor? Do you have money in the stock market right now (hopefully earning you money)? If so, you most likely have two questions: ‘How do I know when the market is ready to surge’ ‘How do I know when I should pull out of the market?’ Maybe [...]
How to Choose the Best Online Brokerage
If you’re looking for an online discount broker, it can be difficult to go through the maze of online brokerages out there on the internet. A quick search yields dozens of options to choose from, which can make your decision of what platform to use to invest in the stock market a difficult one. As [...]
JCPenney Stock: What to do When Your Stock Goes South
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When I was a kid, there were a number of things my mom and I did every year without fail. One of our annual traditions was going to JCPenney (JCP) every fall to buy new clothes for the upcoming school year. In fact, I know many families did the same thing, which garnered JCPenney a [...]
Beware of Black Swan Events
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As I mentioned last week, I’m a believer that this upcoming decade will be a bull market, with a solid run over time. But I also forewarned that it may not be a perfect line, and it could be mired with a couple Black Swan Events. Black Swan Events are a metaphor for a surprise [...]
The Bull Market is Set to Run for Years
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If you’ve been paying attention to any financial news this last week, you know that stocks have been nearing their five-year highs. Whenever the stock market reaches a new high, it always creates two different arguments: Bears: Stocks have reached their peaks – sell, sell, sell! Bulls: Stocks have room to grow – buy, buy, [...]
Top Ten Investment Options In The Current Market
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If you are new to investing, you would definitely want to know how to invest your money. While there are many investment options available, it is financially prudent to select the best – so that even in the worst market scenario, your investment is safe and provides the anticipated returns. Here are the top ten [...]
Groupon’s Woes Can’t Be Solved by “Friendly” Hedge Funds
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Over the past month, shareholders of famed internet deals site Groupon (GRPN) have encountered a wild ride up and down more than 50% as top-performing hedge funds claimed a stake in the company. One of the best performing funds in the last two years, Tiger Global, disclosed it owned 9.9% of the company. Someone close [...]
Avoid Businesses Without Solid Profit Plans
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A big part of investing is knowing what NOT to invest in. For me, I like to invest in companies with a solid plan to profitability, that even a monkey could run, like utility stocks. However, it is essential to avoid companies that have no solid profitability plans, like Best Buy. Here is what I’m [...]
Reader Question: What To Do If I Don’t Have Time To Invest
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I’m loving the great questions. I actually waited a week to post this question because I had a post scheduled earlier in the week that would help answer the question. This week’s question comes from Sean, who is struggling to get started investing because he keeps procrastinating…here’s the question: The Question My name is [...]
What is a Spin Off and How Do They Work?
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Ahead of tax concerns from the fiscal cliff, there is potential that the investing universe will again shift its focus to taxation. One integral method of avoiding corporate and personal taxation is the spin off. What Happens in a Spin Off? A spin off is what happens when a piece of a company is [...]
My Favorite Discount Brokerages
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There have been a lot of changes in the brokerage world since I last wrote about my favorite discount brokerages. Most recently, Sharebuilder was acquired by Captial One. As such, I thought it would be a good idea to share with you my two favorite brokerages, and why I like them, use them myself, and [...]
Betting on Crime: Investing in Private Prisons
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One of my (foreign) economics professors always said that Americans are good at two things: gaining weight and human storage. Human storage was referring to the millions of Americans locked behind bars. More than 2.2 million Americans currently call a jail cell their home, and the industry is booming. Thanks to a favorable legal environment [...]
How Shark Tank is Making Me a Better Investor
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I’m enjoying the new season of Shark Tank, a reality show where entrepreneurs pitch their businesses to venture capitalists who decide whether or not to invest in a business. The show provides some great investment lessons from very successful business leaders, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists. Here are just a few reminders that Shark Tank gives [...]
The Easiest Way To Find Great Companies To Invest In
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Thinking and finding companies to invest in can be hard. That’s why I wanted to share with you the best way to find great companies that you can invest in right now. It doesn’t require diligent research; it doesn’t require vast investment knowledge; and it doesn’t require any special skills. All it requires is a [...]
