Although things are clearly looking up big-name domestic car companies such as Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and General Motors (NYSE: GM), investors seeking an auto stock with eye-popping growth potential may want to look far away. Very far away, in fact — like about 8,000 miles. Read More

On Jan. 4, I told you about a great income-producing stock with a streak of dividend increases going back nearly six decades. Specifically, the company has raised its dividend every year since 1954, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was President. Well, the… Read More

Here we go again. Market volatility is picking up, and it’s causing an upset stomach for many an investor. There is an excellent remedy, though — tilt the equity portion of your portfolio toward large, high-quality companies that provide essential products and services and pay strong… Read More

“Safe” and “mid-cap” probably aren’t words investors use together very often, since mid-cap stocks are generally riskier than the stock market as a whole. For instance, if you invested in iShares S&P MidCap 400 Index (NYSE:… Read More

Ask investment buffs why they spend so much more time researching and picking securities than most people, and they’ll probably tell you they want the best performance possible from their portfolios. They certainly don’t want to track the S&P 500, and they may not even be satisfied to beat it… Read More

In times past and even recently, I’ve heard investors criticize those who “play it safe” by holding shares of very large, well-established and slower-growing companies. Even though they often pay healthy dividends, such stocks just don’t deliver the returns of newer, smaller and faster-growing… Read More

I must confess to being very envious of a retired couple I know, because they’re long-term investors in one of the best stocks of the past half century. Shares of this company are up a whopping 13,000% since… Read More

If I had to describe the stock market in two words, then I’d pick shortsighted and (very) skittish. A brief hiccup in revenue growth, a discouraging word from management about quarterly earnings or even a bit of… Read More

Despite widespread pessimism and a whole lot of volatility, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 have both gained roughly 25% a year for the past three years. I think the bull market could continue for quite some time, maybe another three or… Read More

Not long after I wrote about this big health care firm in December 2010, this stock began a nice hot streak. It’s now up 31% in the past 12 months, compared with a 14% gain for the S&P 500 during the same time. This is undoubtedly a… Read More