One of the things investors fear the most is volatility.  And now that volatility has reared its ugly head again in the markets this week, it’s worth looking back and examining just what exactly makes a market “volatile,” and what we can do about it… —Recommended Link— 3 Minutes to Collect 12 Times More Money Than Social Security Just make this simple little 3-minute call and you can get set up to start collecting your checks. All told, your checks can add up to $225,326 over the next 25 years. Imagine that! And these checks… Read More

One of the things investors fear the most is volatility.  And now that volatility has reared its ugly head again in the markets this week, it’s worth looking back and examining just what exactly makes a market “volatile,” and what we can do about it… —Recommended Link— 3 Minutes to Collect 12 Times More Money Than Social Security Just make this simple little 3-minute call and you can get set up to start collecting your checks. All told, your checks can add up to $225,326 over the next 25 years. Imagine that! And these checks are supported by $1.75 billion in new money every year. But you must act right now… because the next wave of checks will be sent out in just a few days. Click here for the details. What Is “Volatility”? The most commonly used metric to measure market volatility is the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX), commonly referred to as the “fear gauge” or “fear index.” The VIX is a benchmark of expected volatility over the next 30 days in the S&P 500 index. It’s calculated by the Cboe Options Exchange, using the mid-point of real-time index… Read More

One tried-and-true way to make a portfolio safer is to move into cash. This is especially true for the markets you might feel are overpriced, overbought, or otherwise ready for a pause, as well as in any market run wild.  Most of the time, however, a move to more cash should not mean selling everything. As tempting as it can be to declare a market top, in reality it’s next-to-impossible to say for sure which direction the market is headed at any given moment. Cash-rich companies might be one possible answer here: more often than not, a company that generates… Read More

One tried-and-true way to make a portfolio safer is to move into cash. This is especially true for the markets you might feel are overpriced, overbought, or otherwise ready for a pause, as well as in any market run wild.  Most of the time, however, a move to more cash should not mean selling everything. As tempting as it can be to declare a market top, in reality it’s next-to-impossible to say for sure which direction the market is headed at any given moment. Cash-rich companies might be one possible answer here: more often than not, a company that generates a lot of cash is a safer investment than one that loses cash. With this in mind, I decided to screen for tech companies that generate significant amounts of cash. Typically, this can be found in relatively mature, larger-sized companies. And since we’re restricting this search to the tech sector, we’re likely to still have some innovative companies on our hands that may yet still have a lot of upside. —Recommended Link— The Secret To Making 18x More Than Buy-And-Hold Investors Jim Fink has come up with a system that turns small stock movements… Read More

Baby-boomers started turning 65 — and retiring en masse — just a few years ago. This generation, born between 1946 and 1964 on the optimism and excitement and relative prosperity of the post-war boom, is getting older indeed. As more and more baby-boomers file for Social Security, the demand for safe, income-generating investments should remain at least steady, but will more likely increase. That’s because, for many retirees, income from investments is meant to complement their Social Security income. This also means that, for current and new retirees alike, their retirement savings will have to last as long as possible… Read More

Baby-boomers started turning 65 — and retiring en masse — just a few years ago. This generation, born between 1946 and 1964 on the optimism and excitement and relative prosperity of the post-war boom, is getting older indeed. As more and more baby-boomers file for Social Security, the demand for safe, income-generating investments should remain at least steady, but will more likely increase. That’s because, for many retirees, income from investments is meant to complement their Social Security income. This also means that, for current and new retirees alike, their retirement savings will have to last as long as possible so they can live comfortably, without having to take a substantial cut in the quality or quantity of goods and services they buy and use. #-ad_banner-#In economic terms, this means retirees strive to maintain the same standard of living — or at least close to it. And to do so, their spending levels have to move higher, in line with inflation. Keeping Up With Inflation Now, there are several statistics dealing with consumer inflation — from the most commonly used one, the CPI (Consumer Price Index) to “core” CPI (this one excludes food and energy, which, while controversial to… Read More