Do you ever feel like your portfolio is a beach ball randomly bouncing around a stadium? If that describes your recent experience, it’s easy to understand why. The S&P 500 was down over 13% last quarter. Now the index has staged a monster rally this quarter—bouncing back by 13%. Why such a dramatic reversal? Markets consist of millions of people...
Boeing is the best-performing Dow stock over the last ten years. Since March 1, 2009, shares have soared 1,307%. What propelled the aerospace giant into the stratosphere? Follow the firm's free-cash flow and you'll find your answer. Boeing's Cash Flow Surge Boeing is a modern manufacturing marvel. In 2018, top-line sales were $101 billion. 60% was derived from the commercial...
Ossie Dahl’s retirement didn’t go as planned. The 64-year old hospital exec had just completed a 40-year career at White Plains hospital in New York. Moments after finishing a speech at his retirement party, he collapsed and died. *** Nobody knows how long they will be “retired.” That indelible truth complicates financial planning. Time horizon is a key variable in...
This Valentine's Day, you may want to add Hershey shares to the chocolate Kisses you buy. Hershey offers equity investors an attractive risk/reward balance for the present environment. Equities may be up sharply in early-2019, but it gets tougher from here. A confluence of major indices are nearing key technical resistance. Meanwhile, fundamental uncertainties that recently plagued markets remain. For...
“Three Identical Strangers” delves into the age-old nature vs. nurture question. The documentary film chronicles the amazing story of identical triplets separated at birth and reunited 19 years later. How did it happen? A prominent psychologist worked secretly with an adoption agency to place the boys in very different households. He wanted to study how people with identical DNA would...
According to Lipper data, investors moved over $190 billion into money-market funds in the final quarter of 2018—the biggest dash to cash since 2008. How many got back in to catch the best January rally in over 30 years? Whipsaws are painful. And all too common in the stock market. Another example: Apple issued a profit warning after the market...
Would you trust a teenager to manage your life savings? What about a 94-year old? Most activities have a certain age where folks enter their prime. For instance, if you’re a professional football player, that's considered the mid-to-late 20s—when players have a few years of NFL experience and physical skills remain near peak levels. When do investors reach their "prime?"...
Around a year ago, I wrote a post about how I use the annual forecasts of Wall Street strategists to deduce a range for where I think the market will finish the year. My goal with this exercise is not to nail a precise earnings-per-share estimate or price target for the S&P 500. As a money manager, I’m simply trying...
"The Dogs of the Dow" is a popular screening technique many employ at the start of each year. To follow the strategy, investors buy the top ten dividend-yielding stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). It's an okay method to hunt for bargains, but I think there's a better way. A year ago, I introduced to Forbes readers my...
One of the world’s most successful investors is probably a person you’ve never heard of. In fact, she doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page. For Geraldine Weiss, that’s probably just fine. She spent decades of her life in disguise anyway. Geraldine started a financial advice newsletter in the 1960’s under the name “G. Weiss,” so readers wouldn't know she was...
Following several days of rampant selling, the Dow and S&P 500 are currently on track for their biggest December loss since 1931. Many investors are wondering: what's driving this? After the Fed's interest rate announcement yesterday, I recorded the following video, explaining why I don't think the Fed is to blame for the recent stock market selloff. Rather, it's Wall...
If you’re a Chicago Bears fan like me, it was a special moment when quarterback Mitch Trubisky took a knee with 10 seconds remaining in Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers. Not only did it close out a 24-17 victory against the team’s arch rival, but it also secured the Bears’ first NFC North title since 2010. Led by...