You have to hand it to cable companies. For years, they continually boosted prices and still managed to retain customers. Only recently has their customer base begun to shrink modestly. But thanks to several recent developments, the pace of customer defections looks set to accelerate. This implies that sales and… Read More

Many investors have had the agonizing experience of hanging on to a stock and refusing to let go long after it became clear the stock was no longer a keeper. If that’s you, then you know what I’m talking about — the seemingly endless watching, waiting and hoping against all… Read More

I recently shared an important piece of news with readers of my High-Yield Investing newsletter that I think every dividend investor should know about. Last month, President Barack Obama tabled his $3.8 trillion budget for the 2013… Read More

On Wednesday, March 7, word got out that Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) has been in talks with several cable TV service providers with the intent of adding a Netflix option to the content already being offered by these cable companies. While no details of these meetings were… Read More

It’s increasingly clear that it’s the beginning of the end of the recent market rally. The major indexes have moved steadily higher since Oct. 1, 2011, with some of the more speculative stocks becoming the biggest gainers. These stocks weren’t cheap to begin… Read More

Investors have been trained to keep one eye on the economy, even as they assess the prospects for their various stock, bond and fund investments. Yet it’s what they track that is crucial. Some economic… Read More

There’s one huge risk in investing on the short side of a heavily-shorted stock. If short sellers are forced to cover their positions by buying back borrowed shares, then they unwittingly help spur a buying frenzy, pushing a stock up quickly. With the… Read More

The U.S. economy has seemingly turned the corner, thanks to a string of positive reports since the start of the year. Yet a surprising number of economists simply aren’t buying it. [block:block=16]Their concerns include: •    A belief that economic reports have been skewed by… Read More

Here are two numbers to consider: 25% and -60%. These numbers should be moving in tandem, so there’s a really good chance the positive number will be sucked back down by the negative number. I’m talking about the stunning rally for dry-bulk shipping stocks and the sharp… Read More

It was bound to happen. When I first began looking at stocks to add to my $100,000 Real-Money Portfolio, I knew I’d eventually come to a crossroads where I might have a holding that didn’t quite turn out how I’d hoped (or at least not yet), and I’d be faced… Read More