I have a game I like to play. A little con. It generally involves two pigeons. One is a friend, the other is Bill Gates. It never fails. I’m always amazed at how little people know about financial information. When I show someone the SEC’s site, for instance, he or… Read More

It’s the classic Cinderella story. Rags to riches. From nothing to something. The big dance begins with a single step — the initial offering of a company’s shares to the public. Thousands of investors try to “get in on the ground floor.” Take… Read More

Most income investors ignore small companies. Conventional wisdom says that large, mature companies pay dividends and small companies don’t. That’s hardly the case. Nearly 10,000 small caps trade on U.S. exchanges. Of those, 3.3% carry a yield of 6% or more. Believe it… Read More

It’s no secret that investors place a premium on lofty margins. If one business squeezes $0.15 in earnings from each dollar in sales and another manages just $0.10, the first company clearly has a big advantage. But there’s one thing even better than a… Read More

I bought a pair of noise-canceling headphones from an airport vending machine. When I put them on and turned the switch, the dim from the airport disappeared. After my flight took off, I put the headphones back on. The hum of the jet engines evaporated. Every investor ought to own… Read More

The market rebound, which began in March, has so far increased the value of the S&P 500 by about +55%. Economic indicators are still weak, but the market tends to lead the recovery by several months. Despite the worry, cyclical stocks — those affected by the economic cycle — are… Read More

Carl Icahn is up to his usual tricks. The “activist investor” has been involved in an attempt to gain control of the board of directors at Biogen Idec (Nasdaq: BIIB), a leading biotechnology company. His end game is to force a sale of the company. If he… Read More

When it comes to investing, there are almost never any guarantees or absolutes. But I can give you one iron-clad, take-it-to-the-bank prediction — wireless communication is going to throw off buckets of profits during the next few years. I’m not exactly going out on a limb. Across the globe, the… Read More

I’m pretty sure I’ve discovered the next winning “green” tech company. Not only does it have serious technology to bring to the table, it has the most powerful financial force on the planet backing it up. This company, which is developing the batteries that will be used in the next-generation… Read More

“Advertising is totally unnecessary. Unless you hope to make money.” – Jef I. Richards What’s true for companies is also true for investors. Advertising spending can be a leading indicator, one that provides valuable information on future stock-market leaders and laggards. Read More