With companies sporting abnormally high levels of cash these days, they’re feeling greater pressure to give something back to shareholders. A dividend hike is the normal route, but an increasing number of companies are initiating massive stock buybacks.     I looked… Read More

You can still practically smell the wreckage. Stocks of the nation’s largest banks, most of which were overexposed to toxic subprime assets, crashed and burned during the financial crisis. The KBW Bank Index (an index of the largest American banks) fell from a high… Read More

Investing in large companies with diversified revenue streams is a strategy that can let you sleep soundly at night. Most firms in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, an index of 30 of the largest and most dominant firms in the world, use size to their advantage. Read More

The recent agreement in Washington to resolve the tax impasse has led many economists to re-check their assumptions about the economy in 2011. Their conclusion: the outlook for 2011 just got a little better. Let’s look at the specific economic indicators, and where most think they will be by… Read More

Once a quarter, investors take note of a wide range of buying and selling by company insiders. These folks can only buy and sell the stock of their respective company for a fixed period after earnings have been released. With many companies rolling out quarterly results about a month… Read More

Uncle Sam’s decision to unload its remaining block of 2.4 billion common shares of Citigroup (NYSE: C) — one quarter ahead of time — has caused many to take a fresh look at the banking titan. A quick survey of analysts’ opinions reveals a stock with +15% or +20%… Read More

I once had a subscriber write in response to some questions I asked about readers’ long-term investing goals. “At this age, I don’t buy green bananas,” he said. I had to laugh; my father used the same line for years. But it does bring up a great point. I’m willing… Read More

In global economics, there are several emerging truisms. Growth is likely to be somewhat muted in the West as efforts to reverse massive budget deficits will create a drag as governments tax more than they spend. A second truism: emerging market economies have come a very long way in a very short time, and they’re unlikely to revert to their old habits that stifled growth. [See: “Forget About BRIC — Buy These Emerging Economies Instead”] The third truism: these upstart economies are likely to stumble on their way to a higher plane. The biggest concern:… Read More

In global economics, there are several emerging truisms. Growth is likely to be somewhat muted in the West as efforts to reverse massive budget deficits will create a drag as governments tax more than they spend. A second truism: emerging market economies have come a very long way in a very short time, and they’re unlikely to revert to their old habits that stifled growth. [See: “Forget About BRIC — Buy These Emerging Economies Instead”] The third truism: these upstart economies are likely to stumble on their way to a higher plane. The biggest concern: inflation. It’s just appearing now, and could well get much worse in 2011. And if that happens, many of the world’s hottest stock markets — many of which have doubled or even tripled in the past two years — could be hit by profit-taking. In recent days China has expressed increasing concern that inflation is starting to percolate. The government is seeking to rein in bank lending and has also started to impose price controls on key foodstuffs. But China is lucky. Its economy has so many hidden strengths, its… Read More

Which sector is going to be hot in 2011? If history is any clue, it won’t be what was hot in 2010. In fact, a look back through history tells us the leading groups in one year often become disappointments the next. Moreover, lagging sectors in one particular year often blaze bullish trails in the next. Technology is one such example. Though the sector led the way in 2009 with a whopping +57% jump — and attracted a lot of buyers based on that strength — these stocks have actually scored in the bottom half of all… Read More

Which sector is going to be hot in 2011? If history is any clue, it won’t be what was hot in 2010. In fact, a look back through history tells us the leading groups in one year often become disappointments the next. Moreover, lagging sectors in one particular year often blaze bullish trails in the next. Technology is one such example. Though the sector led the way in 2009 with a whopping +57% jump — and attracted a lot of buyers based on that strength — these stocks have actually scored in the bottom half of all sectors during 2010, trailing the market by more than a little. Before identifying what’s waiting in the wings for 2011 though, let’s just walk through the industry ebb and flow for 2010 — using iShares’ major sector exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as a proxy to verify the premise. For the year so far, while basic materials haven’t surprised anyone as a leading group, it has not actually been the hottest sector of 2010. That title belongs to consumer services, up +18% year-to-date. Basic materials stocks are up an average of +14% for the year,… Read More

On average, they’re yielding 7.5%. That’s more than three times the yield of the S&P 500. Try getting that amount from a money market or savings account.   But that’s not the half of it. In tandem with those high yields, the capital gains have… Read More