I’m not sure I remember exactly how I felt in February, but like most investors I was interested in what the New Year would bring. I suppose there’s a certain amount of optimism that goes with that. The S&P 500 had just finished two pretty good years,… Read More

Some of the most successful investors have developed very effective investing tricks that help them appear to magically master the market. In fact, these tricks beat the system so easily that it almost seems illegal. But they aren’t breaking the… Read More

Picking good stocks is only the first part of the formula for successful investing. The second part involves watching your portfolio for signs of trouble and culling stocks that become too risky. Two weeks ago, I listed three metrics I use to identify risky stocks. I’m always… Read More

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) have emerged as the three most important players in the consumer technology landscape. These companies are so good at what they do (building deeply loyal customer bases and ever-rising revenue streams) that they may not even notice that they have… Read More

Target-date funds sound like they make retirement simple. Plunk one or more into your 401(k) or IRA account, choose a retirement date and watch your portfolio grow, bringing you to the financial nirvana every retiree craves. That’s the allure of a target-date retirement fund. Read More

Years ago, my dad and I were driving across his farm in his vintage Land Rover, which looks almost exactly like the one John Wayne used in the movie Hatari! The heavy-duty off-road tires were having a hard slog through the mud. Dad had cut across a recently plowed field… Read More

While their approval rating may be at some of the lowest levels ever, it’s financially a good time to be a member of Congress. Lawmakers’ $174,000 annual salary is more than three times the average American’s median income ($49,909), and the retirement and health benefits are… Read More

For many retailers, the slow economy has made it hard to meet sales and profit targets. Formerly stellar retailers such as Talbot’s (NYSE: TLB), Pacific Sunwear (Nasdaq: PSUN), and Coldwater Creek (Nasdaq: CWTR) have all seen their stock… Read More

Insiders and directors of LinkedIn (Nasdaq: LNKD) have to be pleased with how their stock has performed since going public in May. A solid 64% gain in the past six months (while the Nasdaq has shed 7%) makes it one of the best performing… Read More

You can be the best stock-picker in the world, but still lose money if you fail to monitor your portfolio for signs of stocks in trouble. So I’m always looking for signs that a company’s performance is deteriorating. I also don’t put much faith in a company’s… Read More