This has been an interesting year in the stock market. As the market has been lifted to all-time highs by an accommodative monetary policy and an economy starting to fire on all cylinders, long-term investors have profited handsomely during the first half of the year. A pullback in August led the Dow Jones Industrial Average to drop nearly 1,000 points before stabilizing in the 14,800 range. Despite this… Read More

This has been an interesting year in the stock market. As the market has been lifted to all-time highs by an accommodative monetary policy and an economy starting to fire on all cylinders, long-term investors have profited handsomely during the first half of the year. A pullback in August led the Dow Jones Industrial Average to drop nearly 1,000 points before stabilizing in the 14,800 range. Despite this setback, stocks are still showing signs of strength that should last for the rest of the year.#-ad_banner-# But the fuel powering the stock market has its drawbacks: Low interest rates and accommodative policy have sent yields to ultra-low levels while boosting stocks. In fact, income investors have become so frustrated by the lack of yield that this year’s investing theme can be summed up in four words: the search for yield. I learned from… Read More

I talk with a variety of investors on a daily basis. I truly enjoy the interactions as I often learn something new. In addition, the conversations provide a real-time feel for the day’s investor sentiment. One recent conversation with a seasoned… Read More

Imagine you’ve located the perfect stock. Based on your research and intuition, the company will make a very positive impact on your long-term portfolio’s bottom line. The only question left is when to buy.  Although timing into the market isn’t as important for long holding periods as it is for short-term trading, investors with an eye on the long term can improve results by implementing the trade entry methods of… Read More

Imagine you’ve located the perfect stock. Based on your research and intuition, the company will make a very positive impact on your long-term portfolio’s bottom line. The only question left is when to buy.  Although timing into the market isn’t as important for long holding periods as it is for short-term trading, investors with an eye on the long term can improve results by implementing the trade entry methods of short-term active traders.#-ad_banner-# The difference is that instead of using minute to hour price timeframes for decision making, the long-term investor will use day or week price timeframes in an attempt to nail the perfect entry level. The perfect entry level is one from which the price barely pulls back, if at all, before taking off on the upside.  There are two schools of thought when it comes to purchasing a stock: momentum and pullback.  Momentum investing is when one waits for the share price to… Read More

Sometimes the profound truths are the easiest to understand.  This is particularly true when it comes to investing. Many investors make the process much more difficult than it needs to be. At its core, investing is a simple process governed by a few irrefutable axioms.  Choosing investments based on what you already know is one of these simple yet profound truths. I first heard this rule articulated by Peter Lynch, the superstar manager of Fidelity’s Magellan Fund. Lynch wrote one of… Read More

Sometimes the profound truths are the easiest to understand.  This is particularly true when it comes to investing. Many investors make the process much more difficult than it needs to be. At its core, investing is a simple process governed by a few irrefutable axioms.  Choosing investments based on what you already know is one of these simple yet profound truths. I first heard this rule articulated by Peter Lynch, the superstar manager of Fidelity’s Magellan Fund. Lynch wrote one of the best books on the stock market, “One Up On Wall Street,” in which he stresses this simple investing rule.#-ad_banner-# Leading commodity trader Jim Rogers also repeats this mantra whenever he is asked what to invest in. I learned this several years ago when I interviewed Rogers while he was running on a treadmill — an interviewing first for me — in his home gym. When I asked if he cared to share any… Read More

“One dollar for a cup of coffee — they are out of their minds!” my frugal, land-speculating grandfather said when we stopped at the local corner gas station on the way to visit one of his properties.#-ad_banner-# Having lived through the Great Depression, he was convinced that coffee shouldn’t cost more than a quarter a cup. A book could be filled with his assorted old-timer economic beliefs — such as the $5 union-rate haircut — but I’ll never forget his reaction to the $1 cup of coffee. I… Read More

“One dollar for a cup of coffee — they are out of their minds!” my frugal, land-speculating grandfather said when we stopped at the local corner gas station on the way to visit one of his properties.#-ad_banner-# Having lived through the Great Depression, he was convinced that coffee shouldn’t cost more than a quarter a cup. A book could be filled with his assorted old-timer economic beliefs — such as the $5 union-rate haircut — but I’ll never forget his reaction to the $1 cup of coffee. I wish he would have lived to see the rise of Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) and its $6 cups of coffee. He would have certainly had a few choice words for people like myself who patronize the wildly popular high-end coffee emporium.  Not only did Starbucks change the way coffee is viewed, but the company has made its investors wealthy. Shares have tripled in value to around $75 over the past three years. This success has spawned a variety of copycat operations. Some of these are established companies that have… Read More

I’ll never forget the dot-com boom. It was an unbelievable time to be involved in the financial markets. Tiny companies with only a dream and a sketchy business plan were able to raise millions if their name included the dot-com suffix.  Things became so crazy that a close friend confided to me that he felt embarrassed to be making so much money in such a quick and easy fashion by getting in on Internet IPOs. Once a hyped Internet company’s stock debuted,… Read More

I’ll never forget the dot-com boom. It was an unbelievable time to be involved in the financial markets. Tiny companies with only a dream and a sketchy business plan were able to raise millions if their name included the dot-com suffix.  Things became so crazy that a close friend confided to me that he felt embarrassed to be making so much money in such a quick and easy fashion by getting in on Internet IPOs. Once a hyped Internet company’s stock debuted, shares would often move 2 to 5 points higher. If you were investing during this time, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The Internet has truly revolutionized the way we live. Not only has it enriched investors untold amounts, but it has empowered everyone in ways never thought possible.  If you missed out on the lucrative Internet revolution, a second revolution has started to emerge. This revolution will dwarf the first one in… Read More

The semiconductor industry has been around since the 1960s and has grown to be a nearly $300 billion global business. Basically, semiconductors control the flow of electricity by forming the basis of integrated circuits, transistors, solid-state electronics and solar cells, among many other functions. In other words, semiconductors form the base of our modern electronics-driven society.  Over the years, investors have made trillions of dollars investing in this sector. Most everyone is familiar with major semiconductor companies like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) and… Read More

The semiconductor industry has been around since the 1960s and has grown to be a nearly $300 billion global business. Basically, semiconductors control the flow of electricity by forming the basis of integrated circuits, transistors, solid-state electronics and solar cells, among many other functions. In other words, semiconductors form the base of our modern electronics-driven society.  Over the years, investors have made trillions of dollars investing in this sector. Most everyone is familiar with major semiconductor companies like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN).  However, there are dozens of smaller companies that don’t have the market share of the top names, but are masters of their particular niches. My stock scanning recently discovered one of these under-the-radar semiconductor companies is setting up to be a great investment. The company is Skyworks Solutions (Nasdaq: SWKS). This Massachusetts-based semiconductor company was founded in 1962. It provides products for the GPS, broadband, cellular infrastructure, smartphone and tablet markets, among other applications. The company… Read More

The semiconductor industry has been around since the 1960s and has grown to be a nearly $300 billion global business. Basically, semiconductors control the flow of electricity by forming the basis of integrated circuits, transistors, solid-state electronics and solar cells, among many other functions. In other words, semiconductors form the base of our modern electronics-driven society.  Over the years, investors have made trillions of dollars investing in this sector. Most everyone is familiar with major semiconductor companies like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) and… Read More

The semiconductor industry has been around since the 1960s and has grown to be a nearly $300 billion global business. Basically, semiconductors control the flow of electricity by forming the basis of integrated circuits, transistors, solid-state electronics and solar cells, among many other functions. In other words, semiconductors form the base of our modern electronics-driven society.  Over the years, investors have made trillions of dollars investing in this sector. Most everyone is familiar with major semiconductor companies like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN).  However, there are dozens of smaller companies that don’t have the market share of the top names, but are masters of their particular niches. My stock scanning recently discovered one of these under-the-radar semiconductor companies is setting up to be a great investment. The company is Skyworks Solutions (Nasdaq: SWKS). This Massachusetts-based semiconductor company was founded in 1962. It provides products for the GPS, broadband, cellular infrastructure, smartphone and tablet markets, among other applications. The company… Read More

The semiconductor industry has been around since the 1960s and has grown to be a nearly $300 billion global business. Basically, semiconductors control the flow of electricity by forming the basis of integrated circuits, transistors, solid-state electronics and solar cells, among many other functions. In other words, semiconductors form the base of our modern electronics-driven society.  Over the years, investors have made trillions of dollars investing in this sector. Most everyone is familiar with major semiconductor companies like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) and… Read More

The semiconductor industry has been around since the 1960s and has grown to be a nearly $300 billion global business. Basically, semiconductors control the flow of electricity by forming the basis of integrated circuits, transistors, solid-state electronics and solar cells, among many other functions. In other words, semiconductors form the base of our modern electronics-driven society.  Over the years, investors have made trillions of dollars investing in this sector. Most everyone is familiar with major semiconductor companies like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN).  However, there are dozens of smaller companies that don’t have the market share of the top names, but are masters of their particular niches. My stock scanning recently discovered one of these under-the-radar semiconductor companies is setting up to be a great investment. The company is Skyworks Solutions (Nasdaq: SWKS). This Massachusetts-based semiconductor company was founded in 1962. It provides products for the GPS, broadband, cellular infrastructure, smartphone and tablet markets, among other applications. The company… Read More

The semiconductor industry has been around since the 1960s and has grown to be a nearly $300 billion global business. Basically, semiconductors control the flow of electricity by forming the basis of integrated circuits, transistors, solid-state electronics and solar cells, among many other functions. In other words, semiconductors form the base of our modern electronics-driven society.  Over the years, investors have made trillions of dollars investing in this sector. Most everyone is familiar with major semiconductor companies like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) and… Read More

The semiconductor industry has been around since the 1960s and has grown to be a nearly $300 billion global business. Basically, semiconductors control the flow of electricity by forming the basis of integrated circuits, transistors, solid-state electronics and solar cells, among many other functions. In other words, semiconductors form the base of our modern electronics-driven society.  Over the years, investors have made trillions of dollars investing in this sector. Most everyone is familiar with major semiconductor companies like Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN).  However, there are dozens of smaller companies that don’t have the market share of the top names, but are masters of their particular niches. My stock scanning recently discovered one of these under-the-radar semiconductor companies is setting up to be a great investment. The company is Skyworks Solutions (Nasdaq: SWKS). This Massachusetts-based semiconductor company was founded in 1962. It provides products for the GPS, broadband, cellular infrastructure, smartphone and tablet markets, among other applications. The company… Read More