Warren Buffett is always quick to warn investors about becoming emotionally attached to a stock they own.  To paraphrase the Oracle of Omaha, “That 100 shares of stock doesn’t know that you own it.” I’ve echoed that philosophy on occasion, telling clients that a hundred shares of Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) won’t tell you it loves you when you come home at night. But as investors, we sometimes find ourselves gravitating toward the same group of… Read More

Warren Buffett is always quick to warn investors about becoming emotionally attached to a stock they own.  To paraphrase the Oracle of Omaha, “That 100 shares of stock doesn’t know that you own it.” I’ve echoed that philosophy on occasion, telling clients that a hundred shares of Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) won’t tell you it loves you when you come home at night. But as investors, we sometimes find ourselves gravitating toward the same group of stocks because of their dependable performance. Buffett himself is guilty of this with holdings such as Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) or The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO), which have served as two of Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK-A, BRK-B) stalwart holdings for decades.  At StreetAuthority, we refer to these names as “Forever” stocks. But there’s one stock in particular I find myself coming back to time and time again: Intel (Nasdaq: INTC). Long Live The PC Fifteen years ago, the strongest argument for owning shares of Intel was that the company manufactured the brains for 80% of the world’s computers. As… Read More

Of the 11 sectors covered by S&P Capital IQ, only one is on track for lower profits in 2013: technology.  The profit anemia stems from several factors, including: Extremely low levels of government spending due to the current sequester. Depressed sales activity in Europe. The tech sector has more exposure to Europe than any other sector. A lack of any hot new products or trends to trigger interest among buyers. #-ad_banner-#Yet as we’ve… Read More

Of the 11 sectors covered by S&P Capital IQ, only one is on track for lower profits in 2013: technology.  The profit anemia stems from several factors, including: Extremely low levels of government spending due to the current sequester. Depressed sales activity in Europe. The tech sector has more exposure to Europe than any other sector. A lack of any hot new products or trends to trigger interest among buyers. #-ad_banner-#Yet as we’ve noted many times, several tech firms are sitting on stunning levels of cash. Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) and others may have a hard time generating organic growth, but they have a long track record of acquisitions to help get the needle moving. Though it’s unwise to buy a stock simply because you suspect it is a buyout candidate, you can’t ignore a company’s appeal in a merger and… Read More

You hear about it often. A company buys back its own stock. The right way to do this — good for long-term holders of shares — is called a tontine. We’ll look at six tontines down below. But first, what is it? It may sound like a French pastry, but the tontine is a legal and (non-fattening) tactic for amassing riches. We have Lorenzo de Tonti to thank for it.#-ad_banner-# The year is 1652. The place: France. King Louis XIV broods… Read More

You hear about it often. A company buys back its own stock. The right way to do this — good for long-term holders of shares — is called a tontine. We’ll look at six tontines down below. But first, what is it? It may sound like a French pastry, but the tontine is a legal and (non-fattening) tactic for amassing riches. We have Lorenzo de Tonti to thank for it.#-ad_banner-# The year is 1652. The place: France. King Louis XIV broods on his throne. The French treasury is bare. Meanwhile, there is an ongoing war with Spain, and he needs money. Enter Lorenzo de Tonti, a banker from Naples. Tonti has an idea. “Let us have citizens invest in shares of a government-run pool,” Tonti suggests. “We will pay regular dividends to them from the pool. But they cannot transfer or sell their shares. And when they die, they lose their shares. We cancel them.” Tonti continues: “We promise to pay the same amount regardless of how many… Read More

When it comes to analyzing balance sheets, there are retailers, and there is everyone else.  Retail-based businesses need to worry about inventory levels, sales markdowns, cash balances and many other balance sheet items throughout the year, especially as many are profitable only during the holidays.            … Read More

When it comes to analyzing balance sheets, there are retailers, and there is everyone else.  Retail-based businesses need to worry about inventory levels, sales markdowns, cash balances and many other balance sheet items throughout the year, especially as many are profitable only during the holidays.             Edward Altman developed the “Z-Score” methodology in 1968.   That’s why Edward Altman, professor of New York University’s Stern School of Business, devised a broad measure of a retailer’s financial health. Ever since he developed his “Z-Score” methodology in 1968, investors have been using his gauge to see how their own retail investments are stacking up. Read More

Warren Buffett is always quick to warn investors about becoming emotionally attached to a stock they own.  To paraphrase the Oracle of Omaha, “That 100 shares of stock doesn’t know that you own it.” I’ve echoed that philosophy on occasion, telling clients that a hundred shares of Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) won’t tell you it loves you when you come home at night. But as investors, we sometimes find ourselves gravitating toward the same group of… Read More

Warren Buffett is always quick to warn investors about becoming emotionally attached to a stock they own.  To paraphrase the Oracle of Omaha, “That 100 shares of stock doesn’t know that you own it.” I’ve echoed that philosophy on occasion, telling clients that a hundred shares of Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) won’t tell you it loves you when you come home at night. But as investors, we sometimes find ourselves gravitating toward the same group of stocks because of their dependable performance. Buffett himself is guilty of this with holdings such as Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) or The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO), which have served as two of Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK-A, BRK-B) stalwart holdings for decades.  At StreetAuthority, we refer to these names as “Forever” stocks. But there’s one stock in particular I find myself coming back to time and time again: Intel (Nasdaq: INTC). Long Live The PC Fifteen years ago, the strongest argument for owning shares of Intel was that the company manufactured the brains for 80% of the world’s computers. As… Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are… Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are so amateurish or commonly known now that it makes you wonder how anyone could fall for them anymore. (Take the Nigerian email scam, for example.) However, the reality is that some of these scams are rather sophisticated. They often appear to be official or legitimate. And many of them succeed for years. And yes, even you might fall for a scam, no matter how careful you are. But to reduce the chances of being taken in by a Wall Street scam, here is a rundown of the five biggest Wall Street scams, and what… Read More

Of the 11 sectors covered by S&P Capital IQ, only one is on track for lower profits in 2013: technology.  The profit anemia stems from several factors, including: Extremely low levels of government spending due to the current sequester. Depressed sales activity in Europe. The tech sector has more exposure to Europe than any other sector. A lack of any hot new products or trends to trigger interest among buyers. #-ad_banner-#Yet as we’ve… Read More

Of the 11 sectors covered by S&P Capital IQ, only one is on track for lower profits in 2013: technology.  The profit anemia stems from several factors, including: Extremely low levels of government spending due to the current sequester. Depressed sales activity in Europe. The tech sector has more exposure to Europe than any other sector. A lack of any hot new products or trends to trigger interest among buyers. #-ad_banner-#Yet as we’ve noted many times, several tech firms are sitting on stunning levels of cash. Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) and others may have a hard time generating organic growth, but they have a long track record of acquisitions to help get the needle moving. Though it’s unwise to buy a stock simply because you suspect it is a buyout candidate, you can’t ignore a company’s appeal in a merger and… Read More

You hear about it often. A company buys back its own stock. The right way to do this — good for long-term holders of shares — is called a tontine. We’ll look at six tontines down below. But first, what is it? It may sound like a French pastry, but the tontine is a legal and (non-fattening) tactic for amassing riches. We have Lorenzo de Tonti to thank for it.#-ad_banner-# The year is 1652. The place: France. King Louis XIV broods… Read More

You hear about it often. A company buys back its own stock. The right way to do this — good for long-term holders of shares — is called a tontine. We’ll look at six tontines down below. But first, what is it? It may sound like a French pastry, but the tontine is a legal and (non-fattening) tactic for amassing riches. We have Lorenzo de Tonti to thank for it.#-ad_banner-# The year is 1652. The place: France. King Louis XIV broods on his throne. The French treasury is bare. Meanwhile, there is an ongoing war with Spain, and he needs money. Enter Lorenzo de Tonti, a banker from Naples. Tonti has an idea. “Let us have citizens invest in shares of a government-run pool,” Tonti suggests. “We will pay regular dividends to them from the pool. But they cannot transfer or sell their shares. And when they die, they lose their shares. We cancel them.” Tonti continues: “We promise to pay the same amount regardless of how many… Read More

When it comes to analyzing balance sheets, there are retailers, and there is everyone else.  Retail-based businesses need to worry about inventory levels, sales markdowns, cash balances and many other balance sheet items throughout the year, especially as many are profitable only during the holidays.            … Read More

When it comes to analyzing balance sheets, there are retailers, and there is everyone else.  Retail-based businesses need to worry about inventory levels, sales markdowns, cash balances and many other balance sheet items throughout the year, especially as many are profitable only during the holidays.             Edward Altman developed the “Z-Score” methodology in 1968.   That’s why Edward Altman, professor of New York University’s Stern School of Business, devised a broad measure of a retailer’s financial health. Ever since he developed his “Z-Score” methodology in 1968, investors have been using his gauge to see how their own retail investments are stacking up. Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are… Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are so amateurish or commonly known now that it makes you wonder how anyone could fall for them anymore. (Take the Nigerian email scam, for example.) However, the reality is that some of these scams are rather sophisticated. They often appear to be official or legitimate. And many of them succeed for years. And yes, even you might fall for a scam, no matter how careful you are. But to reduce the chances of being taken in by a Wall Street scam, here is a rundown of the five biggest Wall Street scams, and what… Read More