With the stock market swinging triple digits from one day to the next, it’s become apparent to me that recent gains are being slowly harvested. Rather than undergoing an outright selloff, investors are broadening their list of targets to book gains and raise cash. Some stocks have been immune to… Read More

There’s a new recession around the corner. Or, maybe there isn’t. The media is providing arguments for both possibilities, but clearly only one of those arguments can be right. For investors needing to make a decision in the meantime, though — before… Read More

#-ad_banner-#From my perch here in upstate New York, a deluge of rain has made the local roads impassable. The fact that the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped another 200 points on June 23 just adds to the gloom. Yet strangely enough, I’m feeling bullish. Many of the companies I track… Read More

Walk through your house and rummage through your junk drawers. Buried beneath some old string, a 1996 stand up calendar from your insurance agent and a pair of stretched out reading glasses, there’s a good chance you’ll find an old cell phone that’s long since been retired. There’s an even… Read More

For the firms operating the nation’s leading mutual funds, times are tough and getting tougher. If you have money parked in their key funds, then be prepared to be dragged along for the ride. Net results are weak and could get even weaker, making this a bad time to commit… Read More

At Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK-B) annual meeting on April 30, Warren Buffett admitted to a lack of initial knowledge about the oil additive business shortly before agreeing to acquire Lubrizol Corp. (NYSE: LZ). But as a quick study on companies and one of the most astute investors of all time,… Read More

We’re less than a week away from a key milestone. The first half of 2011 will come to a close and investors will look ahead for what the second half of the year has in store. #-ad_banner-#The S&P 500 began the year at 1,260, rose roughly 110 points (or 9%) by early May and has since given back much of the gains. Looked at another way, the S&P 500 has risen roughly 3% this year, which is good for a 6% annualized gain. This is not especially impressive — but it could have been worse. With all… Read More

We’re less than a week away from a key milestone. The first half of 2011 will come to a close and investors will look ahead for what the second half of the year has in store. #-ad_banner-#The S&P 500 began the year at 1,260, rose roughly 110 points (or 9%) by early May and has since given back much of the gains. Looked at another way, the S&P 500 has risen roughly 3% this year, which is good for a 6% annualized gain. This is not especially impressive — but it could have been worse. With all the global headwinds in place, investors could just as easily have been looking at major losses in the first half of 2011. One thing’s for sure: the past will not be prologue. More than likely, the market is going to finally respond to some of the looming crises and turn down [“5 Economic Crises that Could Derail Your Portfolio”]. Or these issues may recede in importance, kicking off the next leg of a powerful bull market that began in March 2009 and lasted for more than two years. [“5 Reasons… Read More

If you are a value investor looking to boost your portfolio returns, then you could try following the stock-picking strategy of billionaire fund manager Carl Icahn. The legendary investor has amassed a fortune by identifying undervalued companies, taking big positions in the stock, and… Read More

#-ad_banner-#For many investors, May 4, 2011 marked a key turning point for stocks. On that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 100 points. This also happened on four different occasions in that same month. Most stocks have been unable to withstand such blows and have been trending… Read More

I think we’re near a tipping point. The day to watch is June 30. Months, even years later, we might all look back upon that day as when things started to change. #-ad_banner-#If you’ve followed the news lately, you already know what happens on… Read More