You probably already know that hedge funds have been dominating the financial news headlines recently. I wish I could say the coverage of these unique investment vehicles has been positive, but the media has focused on the few bad actors in the hedge fund business and the sector’s overall lackluster returns. While there are bad apples in every business and solid due diligence should weed most of them out, it’s the lack of overall returns (or “… Read More

You probably already know that hedge funds have been dominating the financial news headlines recently. I wish I could say the coverage of these unique investment vehicles has been positive, but the media has focused on the few bad actors in the hedge fund business and the sector’s overall lackluster returns. While there are bad apples in every business and solid due diligence should weed most of them out, it’s the lack of overall returns (or “alpha,” as market-beating returns are called in the business) that has most investors concerned.  A few funds have bucked the trend, delivering market-busting returns year after year. But they are usually difficult to gain access to, have high minimum investments and charge outrageous fees.#-ad_banner-# There are ways for average investors to follow the lead of these successful hedge funds without directly investing. Obviously, this isn’t an exact replication, but enough clues can be gleaned to… Read More

What struck me most about my first trip to Europe was the popularity of mobile phones.  It seemed everyone had one and was talking or texting while walking down the street. I look back on this experience as a glimpse into the future.#-ad_banner-# Just a few short years later, the same phenomena occurred in the United States. Today, landlines are becoming a thing of the past while even the majority of preteens own or use mobile phones. Nowhere has this growth been more dramatic than in the smartphone sector. These devices have become a ubiquitous part of our culture. Many… Read More

What struck me most about my first trip to Europe was the popularity of mobile phones.  It seemed everyone had one and was talking or texting while walking down the street. I look back on this experience as a glimpse into the future.#-ad_banner-# Just a few short years later, the same phenomena occurred in the United States. Today, landlines are becoming a thing of the past while even the majority of preteens own or use mobile phones. Nowhere has this growth been more dramatic than in the smartphone sector. These devices have become a ubiquitous part of our culture. Many people wouldn’t even consider venturing outside without their smartphone. The rise and fall of the companies producing these addictive devices is just as fascinating as their rapid rise to become an indispensible part of most people’s lives. Once-popular companies such as Palm and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) were among day traders’ favorite stocks for quite some time. Those names have since fallen to competitors such as Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Samsung (OTC: SSNLF).  We all know the benefits of investing in the top-tier smartphone makers. However, there is… Read More

Having a successful mentor is the fast track to your own success in the financial business. Following in the footsteps and learning from the mistakes of your mentor can shave years and countless dollars off your learning curve. Fortunately, some successful investors have provided a clear and easy-to-follow outline on… Read More

The lessons I learned in college during the summer vacation months have proved more valuable than the hard-earned academic ones. While working in the evenings and Saturday mornings at my uncle’s small marketing company in Miami, my cousin and I were fortunate to spend the days at the beach. Having grown up with a very fiscally conservative family in the Pennsylvania countryside, the fast life and glamour of Miami really took me by surprise! Fancy cars, speedboats, yachts and massive homes immediately caught my attention. It was truly mad money, and to top it… Read More

The lessons I learned in college during the summer vacation months have proved more valuable than the hard-earned academic ones. While working in the evenings and Saturday mornings at my uncle’s small marketing company in Miami, my cousin and I were fortunate to spend the days at the beach. Having grown up with a very fiscally conservative family in the Pennsylvania countryside, the fast life and glamour of Miami really took me by surprise! Fancy cars, speedboats, yachts and massive homes immediately caught my attention. It was truly mad money, and to top it off, some of these folks never seemed to work. While some were my uncle’s friends who owned this or that company, some of the over-the-top lifestyles really seemed to have arisen from out of thin air — in other words, from dubious sources.#-ad_banner-# Fascinated by what I was seeing, I naively asked my uncle whether most people in that area were millionaires. He chuckled. “While there are very successful people around, many of them are fakers,” he said. Fakers? What did he mean? He explained to my overly impressed self that many of the… Read More

Personal, business, class and even international – this trend crosses all boundaries. While it is built upon the basic principles of human collaboration and friendship, this trend has been supercharged by the connective power of the Internet. I am talking about networking. Before the Internet, individuals had no choice but… Read More

I have a friend who suffers from a peculiar phobia. It’s so bad that her fear keeps her from driving many places.#-ad_banner-# She will drive a hundred miles in the wrong direction to avoid coming face to face with the cause of her… Read More

Mario Gabelli is the value investor’s value investor.  Using a powerful value plus a catalyst stock-picking methodology that has been described as “Benjamin Graham and David Dodd plus Warren Buffett,” his GAMCO… Read More

The statistics are mind-blowing.  Close to 93% of Americans eat this cuisine every month. More than 3 billion units are sold yearly in the United States alone, an annual revenue stream of $32 billion. There are 70,000 U.S.-based restaurants that serve this dish,… Read More

The saying that a rising tide lifts all boats is doubly true for the economy.  As the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy pours fuel on an already combustible economy, the stock market spirals higher and higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to a high of 15,604 recently before consolidating in a tight channel near the highs. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes are flirting with new… Read More

The saying that a rising tide lifts all boats is doubly true for the economy.  As the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy pours fuel on an already combustible economy, the stock market spirals higher and higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to a high of 15,604 recently before consolidating in a tight channel near the highs. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes are flirting with new highs on a near-daily basis.#-ad_banner-# As the fireworks continue on Wall Street, Main Street is also reaping the rewards of low interest rates and supportive governmental policy. I have noticed local high-end restaurants packed to the gills with diners not afraid to drop a few hundred dollars for dinner and drinks for two couples. I tried to get reservations at a nearby hotspot and was told they were taking reservations for September and were completely booked during the month of August. Read More

Many people would call my favorite food choice boring and predictable. However, I consider myself a connoisseur of the lowly hamburger.  I have had burgers all over North America from down-and-dirty burger shacks to the finest restaurants such as Daniel Boulud’s DBGB Kitchen &… Read More