Thus far in 2012, investors have been getting a real sense of deja vu. Just as was the case a year ago, the economic data have been increasingly bright, while the Federal Reserve’s programs have been providing liquidity to the market. This helped the… Read More

Back in January 2000, the Dow Jones came within 100 hundred points of the 12,000 mark. The subsequent recession knocked the index back a notch, and it wouldn’t be able to breach the 12,000 level until October,… Read More

Please excuse me for sounding like a broken record, but in today’s market, you need to look at adding stocks with a high margin of safety to your portfolio. The S&P 500’s stunning six-month surge should… Read More

It’s been a busy week for this analyst, and it’s not even earnings season yet. Earlier in the week, I looked over the latest data regarding heavily-shorted stocks, and was none too pleased to find several stocks in my $100,000 Real-Money Portfolio on… Read More

There’s a tried-and-true maxim on Wall Street: Stocks fall a lot faster than they rise. There are myriad examples, and the sharp plunge of 1987 is just one.   The economy was growing at… Read More

If you’re being kept awake by a neighbor’s party, you may as well get dressed and join the fun. That was the possible reaction to Wall Street strategists, who issued fairly dour “year-ahead” reports back in December, predicting the… Read More

Whenever financial markets start to sell off, I can’t help but remember the scene from “Trading Places” (perhaps the greatest investment business movie of all time) when Eddie Murphy discusses pork-belly trading strategy with stodgy commodities brokers Ralph Belamy and Don Ameche. Murphy’s streetwise character — Billy Ray Valentine —… Read More

As the market rises steadily higher, it’s getting harder to find true bargains. And though a wide range of good stocks still have reasonably-priced shares, any market pullback would send most stocks lower from their 52-week highs.  … Read More

1.80%. That’s the highest paying FDIC-insured bank CD I could find on BankRate.com. And that’s only if keep my money tied up for five years! The average one-year CD pays just 0.72% APY. I remember when I worked for a community… Read More

During the early 1970s, an Oregon track coach by the name of Bill Bowerman changed the world in his kitchen. Trying to develop a new running shoe that would help his athlete’s grip the surface of the track, Bowerman poured liquid… Read More