The big question in the market never changes. Investors only want to know one thing: What’s next? To the degree that such a question is answerable, one must consider four aspects. 1. The historical underpinnings… Read More

We’ve reached the time of year when investors flip the calendar and try to anticipate the events to come for 2012. I’ve weighed in with my own near-term strategies and provided a glimpse of my three favorite sectors for the coming year. Right now,… Read More

If there’s one thing I hate, it’s when Warren Buffett is right. He usually is, of course, and that’s one of the things that make the Oracle of Omaha worth listening to. A Buffett adage that very few people seem to take note of… Read More

It’s the dirty secret of Wall Street. That report on a newly-public company tends to look a lot like the investment-banking pitch investors saw during the pre-IPO (initial public offering) roadshow. Those bankers come up with lofty projections to help sell the deal, and the analysts that ultimately follow the… Read More

Every few months, hedge-fund managers take a fresh look at the economy, trying to figure out key trends that will yield the best returns in the months ahead. Once they complete their analyses, they rotate some… Read More

At the start of this year, many economists predicted that an economic crisis in Europe would grow larger, and Washington would be unable to develop a bipartisan consensus around a fix for our persistent budget deficits. They were right on both counts. Economists also… Read More

Like many investors, you may favor stocks that pay a healthy dividend but can also shoot up nicely in value. In terms of performance over the long haul, these growth and income stocks are often comparable to (and sometimes even better than) the… Read More

There is intelligence and then there is wisdom. We are all born with intelligence, but we pick up wisdom along the way. I’m no more intelligent than when I got into this business 20 years ago, but hopefully, much wiser. The key evolution: I now develop far fewer mistaken assumptions… Read More

With investors fixated on the open-ended crisis in Europe, fretting about how it may affect their investments here in the United States, they may be overlooking another emerging trouble spot. Halfway around the world, the Chinese economy has begun to slow, and… Read More

Right before the Thanksgiving break, I singled out Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) as a stock that looked vulnerable to overly-optimistic expectations. [Read the original article here.] At the time, I noted that an imminent quarterly earnings release merited a great… Read More