Lodging real estate investment trusts (REITs) are in the early stages of what promises to be a multiyear recovery that is creating profit opportunities for dividend investors.#-ad_banner-# A key hotel metric, revenue per available room (RevPAR), is forecast to rise 6% this year and next year, reversing a trend of double-digit declines during the recession. The… Read More

Lodging real estate investment trusts (REITs) are in the early stages of what promises to be a multiyear recovery that is creating profit opportunities for dividend investors.#-ad_banner-# A key hotel metric, revenue per available room (RevPAR), is forecast to rise 6% this year and next year, reversing a trend of double-digit declines during the recession. The premium hotel segment is expected to experience even stronger gains, according to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers study. These gains are being fueled by an improving U.S. economy, increasing business and vacation travel, and anemic growth in the supply of new hotels. The lodging sector struggled during the recession, and difficulties in obtaining financing kept hotel developers on the sidelines. As a result, the domestic supply of new hotel rooms grew only 0.5% in 2011 and 2012, well below the 25-year average annual growth rate of 2.6%. There has not been… Read More

The S&P 500 is on fire. The index is on track for its ninth consecutive month of gains. And chances are any stock you’ve owned in that time has risen at a respectable pace as well. Yet one thought is gnawing at many investors: Is it time to think about locking in profits?  After all, we’re already past the point where stocks saw substantial pullbacks in recent years. And this… Read More

The S&P 500 is on fire. The index is on track for its ninth consecutive month of gains. And chances are any stock you’ve owned in that time has risen at a respectable pace as well. Yet one thought is gnawing at many investors: Is it time to think about locking in profits?  After all, we’re already past the point where stocks saw substantial pullbacks in recent years. And this year‘s surge is even more impressive than the surges we saw early in 2010, 2011 and 2012. S&P 500: A Surge, A Swoon And A Surge Again Yet even if one chooses to start selling stocks, it’s not always clear which candidates in your portfolio are ripe for jettisoning. Here are five guideposts I look for to spot potential sell candidates. 1. Portfolio Concentration If you aim to construct a portfolio with an equal weighting given to all stocks, you’ll notice that the weighting changes over time,… Read More

Today, I want to share a little history lesson with you. It comes from one of the worst periods of human history but makes a point about human innovation that can’t be said enough — that given enough time and capital, we’re capable of some pretty remarkable things. And the good news for investors like you and me is that we can use this universal truth to profit handsomely… The Great Famine was among the worst episodes of starvation in recorded history. #-ad_banner-#Crops were devastated after an abrupt… Read More

Today, I want to share a little history lesson with you. It comes from one of the worst periods of human history but makes a point about human innovation that can’t be said enough — that given enough time and capital, we’re capable of some pretty remarkable things. And the good news for investors like you and me is that we can use this universal truth to profit handsomely… The Great Famine was among the worst episodes of starvation in recorded history. #-ad_banner-#Crops were devastated after an abrupt change in weather patterns in the early 1300s. Many seeds that were planted simply rotted in the soil. Livestock couldn’t be fed due to lack of grain, and malnourished stock succumbed to disease. Famine began to spread from poorer peasants to wealthier nobleman and merchants. Even King Edward II had trouble finding food for himself. Millions starved and died. By 1400, Britain’s population stood at an estimated 2 million people, off as much as two-thirds from its peak less than a century earlier. But over time, something happened that… Read More

The old adage of risk equaling reward couldn’t have been truer in 2008, when the stock market was in chaos.#-ad_banner-# Great rewards went to investors who took the risk of stepping into the fray to buy the lows. But during the same time, many investors were practically wiped out because they failed to manage their risks wisely in the highly volatile environment. The stock market today isn’t as volatile as it was during the financial crisis. However, the same investing maxim… Read More

The old adage of risk equaling reward couldn’t have been truer in 2008, when the stock market was in chaos.#-ad_banner-# Great rewards went to investors who took the risk of stepping into the fray to buy the lows. But during the same time, many investors were practically wiped out because they failed to manage their risks wisely in the highly volatile environment. The stock market today isn’t as volatile as it was during the financial crisis. However, the same investing maxim still holds: The greater the risk, the greater the rewards.  Many investors shun risk. These risk-averse investors pile into the safest possible investments in an effort to preserve principal at all costs. This attitude will most likely preserve your portfolio, but it will also greatly decrease your potential for market-beating rewards.  Lessons Learned What I learned from the risk-embracing derivative culture of 2008 is that both the shunning of risk and the gunslinging embracing… Read More

Long live the bond market bull.  It started running in 1980, when a series of interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve finally broke the back of… Read More

The S&P 500 is on fire. The index is on track for its ninth consecutive month of gains. And chances are any stock you’ve owned in that time has risen at a respectable pace as well. Yet one thought is gnawing at many investors: Is it time to think about locking in profits?  After all, we’re already past the point where stocks saw substantial pullbacks in recent years. And this… Read More

The S&P 500 is on fire. The index is on track for its ninth consecutive month of gains. And chances are any stock you’ve owned in that time has risen at a respectable pace as well. Yet one thought is gnawing at many investors: Is it time to think about locking in profits?  After all, we’re already past the point where stocks saw substantial pullbacks in recent years. And this year‘s surge is even more impressive than the surges we saw early in 2010, 2011 and 2012. S&P 500: A Surge, A Swoon And A Surge Again Yet even if one chooses to start selling stocks, it’s not always clear which candidates in your portfolio are ripe for jettisoning. Here are five guideposts I look for to spot potential sell candidates. 1. Portfolio Concentration If you aim to construct a portfolio with an equal weighting given to all stocks, you’ll notice that the weighting changes over time,… Read More

Long live the bond market bull.  It started running in 1980, when a series of interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve finally broke the back of… Read More

There is nothing more frustrating than finding a seemingly attractive young company, only to discover that its shares have already risen 800% in the past seven months. Then again, seeing that stock subsequently lose half its value in a matter of weeks suggests that perhaps you didn’t miss out on “the next Microsoft” after all. It has been that kind of roller-coaster ride for investors in Uni-Pixel (Nasdaq: UNXL), which is either widely admired or widely reviled, depending on whom you ask. The company, which has yet… Read More

There is nothing more frustrating than finding a seemingly attractive young company, only to discover that its shares have already risen 800% in the past seven months. Then again, seeing that stock subsequently lose half its value in a matter of weeks suggests that perhaps you didn’t miss out on “the next Microsoft” after all. It has been that kind of roller-coaster ride for investors in Uni-Pixel (Nasdaq: UNXL), which is either widely admired or widely reviled, depending on whom you ask. The company, which has yet to generate revenue from operations, will eventually make its investors a lot of money or prove to be a spectacular bust, depending on how the next three to six months play out.  The current question: With a 50% haircut, are shares worth your money? A Game-Changer? This spring, Uni-Pixel saw its market value briefly move above $400… Read More