Are you looking to buy a new car? Don’t pay cash.  A 48-month loan for a new car is currently just 2.58%, according to Bankrate.com. That’s below the historical rate of inflation (going back over the past half century). By the time your loan is paid off in four years, the inflation rate could exceed that 2.58% rate, meaning your real borrowing costs would actually be less than zero percent.#-ad_banner-# But don’t wait too long. Interest rates have begun… Read More

Are you looking to buy a new car? Don’t pay cash.  A 48-month loan for a new car is currently just 2.58%, according to Bankrate.com. That’s below the historical rate of inflation (going back over the past half century). By the time your loan is paid off in four years, the inflation rate could exceed that 2.58% rate, meaning your real borrowing costs would actually be less than zero percent.#-ad_banner-# But don’t wait too long. Interest rates have begun to rebound and are expected to rise gradually higher over the next few years. That auto loan rate will likely be closer to 5% in a few years.  In fact, this issue is probably being discussed in boardrooms at the top auto companies and just about any firm that relies on low-cost loans to spur demand. Corporate executives realize that consumer confidence and spending trends remain challenged, even with the aid of low interest rates. 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

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

“Contrary to popular modern belief, it is still quite possible for the successful individual to make his million — and more.” J. Paul Getty wrote these words in 1960, in his book, “How to Be Rich.” It’s as true now as it was then… and Getty shows his readers that anyone with the right mentality can get rich by developing a handful of habits.#-ad_banner-# Getty was a very rich man — the richest man in the country in his day. Getty made his fortune by buying up oil businesses at bargain prices just after the… Read More

“Contrary to popular modern belief, it is still quite possible for the successful individual to make his million — and more.” J. Paul Getty wrote these words in 1960, in his book, “How to Be Rich.” It’s as true now as it was then… and Getty shows his readers that anyone with the right mentality can get rich by developing a handful of habits.#-ad_banner-# Getty was a very rich man — the richest man in the country in his day. Getty made his fortune by buying up oil businesses at bargain prices just after the Depression. A small portion of the book is devoted to telling this story. The rest of it presents his thesis: Anyone with the right mentality can get rich by developing a handful of habits. “How to Be Rich” is very easy to read. Written as a series of essays for Playboy magazine, it feels like a casual conversation with a very rich friend. “Although there are no sure-fire formulas for achieving success in business,” Getty says, “there are some fundamental rules to the game, which, if followed, tip the odds of success very much in the businessman’s favor.” Those… Read More

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It was September 2008, and the stock market was in chaos. The Dow Jones industrial average experienced its largest point decline, plunging 777 points in just one session. The support of the 50- and 200-period moving averages were slashed like a hot knife through butter, while the Volatility Index (VIX) rocketed through technical resistance as if it wasn’t even there. The… Read More

It was September 2008, and the stock market was in chaos. The Dow Jones industrial average experienced its largest point decline, plunging 777 points in just one session. The support of the 50- and 200-period moving averages were slashed like a hot knife through butter, while the Volatility Index (VIX) rocketed through technical resistance as if it wasn’t even there. The financial media was full of pundits declaring a complete technical breakdown in the stock market.#-ad_banner-# Many were left asking what it all meant. Part of what it meant was that the once esoteric quasi-science known as technical analysis had gone mainstream. In the days before the personal computer, practitioners of technical analysis used quotes out of the newspapers or quote books to draw charts and make projections. Intraday data were very difficult to obtain outside of… Read More

It was September 2008, and the stock market was in chaos. The Dow Jones industrial average experienced its largest point decline, plunging 777 points in just one session. The support of the 50- and 200-period moving averages were slashed like a hot knife through butter, while the Volatility Index (VIX) rocketed through technical resistance as if it wasn’t even there. The… Read More

It was September 2008, and the stock market was in chaos. The Dow Jones industrial average experienced its largest point decline, plunging 777 points in just one session. The support of the 50- and 200-period moving averages were slashed like a hot knife through butter, while the Volatility Index (VIX) rocketed through technical resistance as if it wasn’t even there. The financial media was full of pundits declaring a complete technical breakdown in the stock market.#-ad_banner-# Many were left asking what it all meant. Part of what it meant was that the once esoteric quasi-science known as technical analysis had gone mainstream. In the days before the personal computer, practitioners of technical analysis used quotes out of the newspapers or quote books to draw charts and make projections. Intraday data were very difficult to obtain outside of… Read More

I learned the hard way not to rely purely on technical analysis to make investing decisions.  In the early 1990s, I had built up a decent trading stake by riding the momentum lifting high-tech… Read More

I learned the hard way not to rely purely on technical analysis to make investing decisions.  In the early 1990s, I had built up a decent trading stake by riding the momentum lifting high-tech… Read More

Supply and demand is what drives the global economic engine.#-ad_banner-# Imagine owning a company whose products and services have nearly guaranteed steady demand and government-regulated supply. Add in the beauty of government-supported monopoly-like power and steady dividend yields — and you’ve attained investor nirvana. Although these companies may be considered boring and overlooked by investors seeking rapid capital appreciation, they remain an ace in the hole for long-term stock investors. If you haven’t guessed, I’m talking about utility… Read More

Supply and demand is what drives the global economic engine.#-ad_banner-# Imagine owning a company whose products and services have nearly guaranteed steady demand and government-regulated supply. Add in the beauty of government-supported monopoly-like power and steady dividend yields — and you’ve attained investor nirvana. Although these companies may be considered boring and overlooked by investors seeking rapid capital appreciation, they remain an ace in the hole for long-term stock investors. If you haven’t guessed, I’m talking about utility stocks. Despite a recent pullback, these consistent and proven dividend machines are ideal “buy” candidates for any long-term portfolio. With this in mind, here are my two favorite utility stocks: Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) A leading U.S. provider of electricity, this large-cap public electric utility has a market capitalization of more than $38 billion and boasts a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of nearly 19. Southern has subsidiaries in four states, including Mississippi Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power and Alabama Power. The company’s… Read More