When there’s no competition for your services, you can pretty much charge whatever you want, advertise as little as you want, and pay dividends to your investors for as long as you like. That’s how defense contractors and refiners have operated for many years, and that’s how… Read More

Today we conclude our three-part series examining the companies with the biggest bank accounts, and whether they are worthwhile investments for the upcoming New Year.   Company (Ticker) Cash/Near Cash General Electric (NYSE: GE) $61.4 Billion Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) $26.9 Billion Ford (NYSE: F) $25.8 Billion Merck (NYSE: MRK)… Read More

Perhaps Willie Nelson put it best.  “If you’ve got the money, honey, I’ve got the time.” The United States’ top 10 most cash-rich companies certainly have enough jack to keep the party going. Today we continue looking at whether companies with a huge cash position make good… Read More

Beginning next Wednesday and for the following two weeks Copenhagen will have the coal industry on pins and needles. That’s where President Barack Obama and leaders of 190 other countries will convene to try to reach a consensus on reducing carbon emissions. It’s doubtful that the international… Read More

Cash, they say, is king. If that’s true — and after the financial crisis we can all agree that it is — then these 10 companies must be the masters of the universe.  Company (Ticker) Cash/Near Cash General Electric (NYSE: GE) $61.4 Billion Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B)… Read More

  Coming to a prehistoric bog or a modern oil well near you: The next bull move. It’s tempting to think all the “easy money” has been made in this market already. The S&P 500, after all, is up +64%… Read More

It’s the sixth such tome from Mary Buffett, who was, a long time ago, married to Warren’s son Peter, a musician. The new book will examine Buffett’s management secrets. This is silly. Buffett is a renowned investor — and for good reason — but… Read More

When Princess Diana died, all I really wanted was a movie rental.   I would have paid almost anything for it: I was in the hospital for an appendectomy, and, after 48 hours of nonstop Diana coverage, I was ready for the doc to remove my brain, too. Read More

Short sellers have big stature on Wall Street. The “short” part doesn’t have anything to do with their physical height but it has much to do with their psychological and practical approach to the market. While most investors buy stocks to benefit from rising prices, shorts sell… Read More

On May 28, 2003, former President Bush signed into law the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. One major provision of this law was to reduce the tax rates on certain dividends from as high as 38.6% down to 15%. But unless this tax break is extended, which seems… Read More