One way to participate in the resurgence of the China bull trend is through the iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund (NYSE: FXI). This exchange-traded… Read More

Global corporations Sinopec, Vitol, Total and Glencore each earn at least $200 billion in annual sales — but you’ve probably never heard of them. It’s the lack of familiarity with the world’s top global companies that keeps many of us from investing in foreign… Read More

One of the things I like best about dividends is that they are paid in cash and thus impossible to fake. With that said, however, dividends can be cut or eliminated altogether if a weak company gets into trouble. Dividend cuts may happen… Read More

The Federal Reserve Bank has been pulling out all the stops to help the U.S. economy gain strength, but many fear the Bank’s aggressive moves eventually could lead to a serious backlash. We spelled out those concerns… Read More

I’ll never forget my first meeting with uber-investor and hedge fund manager, Jim Rogers. He was my market hero of sorts, having founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros. He has explored… Read More

When assessing any stock, you need to weigh the risk against reward. Yet for Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) shareholders, it’s a challenging task. To be sure, it’s really hard to see how much risk there is when Apple’s net cash balance… Read More

One of the things I like best about dividends is that they are paid in cash and thus impossible to fake. With that said, however, dividends can be cut or eliminated altogether if a weak company gets into trouble. Dividend cuts may happen if earnings plummet, debt covenants kick in, acquisitions are made and any number of other reasons. If you’re an investor who relies on dividends to supplement your paycheck or retirement, then the bottom line that you’ll have… Read More

One of the things I like best about dividends is that they are paid in cash and thus impossible to fake. With that said, however, dividends can be cut or eliminated altogether if a weak company gets into trouble. Dividend cuts may happen if earnings plummet, debt covenants kick in, acquisitions are made and any number of other reasons. If you’re an investor who relies on dividends to supplement your paycheck or retirement, then the bottom line that you’ll have less income to cover life’s necessities.#-ad_banner-# The best way to avoid a dividend cut is to limit your investments to financially strong companies that manage their cash conservatively. A key measure for this is the dividend payout ratio, which is the percentage of earnings the company allocates to cover dividends. Lower payout creates a safe cushion for covering the dividend even if temporary setbacks depress the company’s earnings. The great news for income investors is that we are in the middle of… Read More

Despite the long odds against them, many people are drawn to the oil and gas industry. Like gold miners in the gold rush days, they know that one big discovery could lead to wealth for successful drillers. Others see the promise of the industry but prefer to take on less… Read More

When assessing any stock, you need to weigh the risk against reward. Yet for Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) shareholders, it’s a challenging task. To be sure, it’s really hard to see how much risk there is when Apple’s net cash balance stands at $137 billion — and is on its way to $200 billion in a few years. Management has started dropping hints that shareholder-friendly moves are coming, which usually means stock buybacks or big dividend boosts.#-ad_banner-# Still, even as Apple carries relatively minor… Read More

When assessing any stock, you need to weigh the risk against reward. Yet for Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) shareholders, it’s a challenging task. To be sure, it’s really hard to see how much risk there is when Apple’s net cash balance stands at $137 billion — and is on its way to $200 billion in a few years. Management has started dropping hints that shareholder-friendly moves are coming, which usually means stock buybacks or big dividend boosts.#-ad_banner-# Still, even as Apple carries relatively minor risk, it’s not clear what kind of upside investors should expect either. As I noted a couple days ago, competition is gaining on Apple, which could lead to market share erosion and falling margins as price cuts ensue. Yet there is another major consumer electronics company that also carries a fairly low level of risk, but also offers the potential of significant upside. It’s a company that was the “Apple” of the industry before Apple took off like a rocket during the past decade. And it’s a company that… Read More