The S&P 500 is on fire. The index is on track for its ninth consecutive month of gains. And chances are any stock you’ve owned in that time has risen at a respectable pace as well. Yet one thought is gnawing at many investors: Is it time to think about locking in profits?  After all, we’re already past the point where stocks saw substantial pullbacks in recent years. And this… Read More

The S&P 500 is on fire. The index is on track for its ninth consecutive month of gains. And chances are any stock you’ve owned in that time has risen at a respectable pace as well. Yet one thought is gnawing at many investors: Is it time to think about locking in profits?  After all, we’re already past the point where stocks saw substantial pullbacks in recent years. And this year‘s surge is even more impressive than the surges we saw early in 2010, 2011 and 2012. S&P 500: A Surge, A Swoon And A Surge Again Yet even if one chooses to start selling stocks, it’s not always clear which candidates in your portfolio are ripe for jettisoning. Here are five guideposts I look for to spot potential sell candidates. 1. Portfolio Concentration If you aim to construct a portfolio with an equal weighting given to all stocks, you’ll notice that the weighting changes over time,… Read More

Long live the bond market bull.  It started running in 1980, when a series of interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve finally broke the back of… Read More

There is nothing more frustrating than finding a seemingly attractive young company, only to discover that its shares have already risen 800% in the past seven months. Then again, seeing that stock subsequently lose half its value in a matter of weeks suggests that perhaps you didn’t miss out on “the next Microsoft” after all. It has been that kind of roller-coaster ride for investors in Uni-Pixel (Nasdaq: UNXL), which is either widely admired or widely reviled, depending on whom you ask. The company, which has yet… Read More

There is nothing more frustrating than finding a seemingly attractive young company, only to discover that its shares have already risen 800% in the past seven months. Then again, seeing that stock subsequently lose half its value in a matter of weeks suggests that perhaps you didn’t miss out on “the next Microsoft” after all. It has been that kind of roller-coaster ride for investors in Uni-Pixel (Nasdaq: UNXL), which is either widely admired or widely reviled, depending on whom you ask. The company, which has yet to generate revenue from operations, will eventually make its investors a lot of money or prove to be a spectacular bust, depending on how the next three to six months play out.  The current question: With a 50% haircut, are shares worth your money? A Game-Changer? This spring, Uni-Pixel saw its market value briefly move above $400… Read More

“Contrary to popular modern belief, it is still quite possible for the successful individual to make his million — and more.” J. Paul Getty wrote these words in 1960, in his book, “How to Be Rich.” It’s as true now as it was then… and Getty shows his readers that anyone with the right mentality can get rich by developing a handful of habits.#-ad_banner-# Getty was a very rich man — the richest man in the country in his day. Getty made his fortune by buying up oil businesses at bargain prices just after the… Read More

“Contrary to popular modern belief, it is still quite possible for the successful individual to make his million — and more.” J. Paul Getty wrote these words in 1960, in his book, “How to Be Rich.” It’s as true now as it was then… and Getty shows his readers that anyone with the right mentality can get rich by developing a handful of habits.#-ad_banner-# Getty was a very rich man — the richest man in the country in his day. Getty made his fortune by buying up oil businesses at bargain prices just after the Depression. A small portion of the book is devoted to telling this story. The rest of it presents his thesis: Anyone with the right mentality can get rich by developing a handful of habits. “How to Be Rich” is very easy to read. Written as a series of essays for Playboy magazine, it feels like a casual conversation with a very rich friend. “Although there are no sure-fire formulas for achieving success in business,” Getty says, “there are some fundamental rules to the game, which, if followed, tip the odds of success very much in the businessman’s favor.” Those… Read More

One of Johnny Carson’s best characters was Carnac the Magnificent. Clad in a cape and giant feathered turban, the comic great pretended to prophesy the answers to secret questions.  The act went something like this: Carson holds an envelope to his head, pretends to concentrate, and then sternly says, “Sis boom bah.” Then he opens the envelope and reads the question that prompted the answer: “What sound does a sheep make when it explodes?” If only it were this hilarious and easy to predict the future values of investments.  That’s why people use options. Predict the future price of a… Read More

One of Johnny Carson’s best characters was Carnac the Magnificent. Clad in a cape and giant feathered turban, the comic great pretended to prophesy the answers to secret questions.  The act went something like this: Carson holds an envelope to his head, pretends to concentrate, and then sternly says, “Sis boom bah.” Then he opens the envelope and reads the question that prompted the answer: “What sound does a sheep make when it explodes?” If only it were this hilarious and easy to predict the future values of investments.  That’s why people use options. Predict the future price of a security accurately, and you’ll make far more money than just holding the security. Blow it, and you can at least limit your downside.  It sounds easy, but before you put on your own feathered turban, here are a few things you need to know about options. 1. What Are Call Options And Puts — And How Do They Work? The most popular forms of options are puts and calls. A call gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to purchase 100 shares of a particular underlying security (usually a stock) from the seller at a specified strike… Read More

One of Johnny Carson’s best characters was Carnac the Magnificent. Clad in a cape and giant feathered turban, the comic great pretended to prophesy the answers to secret questions.  The act went something like this: Carson holds an envelope to his head, pretends to concentrate, and then sternly says, “Sis boom bah.” Then he opens the envelope and reads the question that prompted the answer: “What sound does a sheep make when it explodes?” If only it were this hilarious and easy to predict the future values of investments.  That’s why people use options. Predict the future price of a… Read More

One of Johnny Carson’s best characters was Carnac the Magnificent. Clad in a cape and giant feathered turban, the comic great pretended to prophesy the answers to secret questions.  The act went something like this: Carson holds an envelope to his head, pretends to concentrate, and then sternly says, “Sis boom bah.” Then he opens the envelope and reads the question that prompted the answer: “What sound does a sheep make when it explodes?” If only it were this hilarious and easy to predict the future values of investments.  That’s why people use options. Predict the future price of a security accurately, and you’ll make far more money than just holding the security. Blow it, and you can at least limit your downside.  It sounds easy, but before you put on your own feathered turban, here are a few things you need to know about options. 1. What Are Call Options And Puts — And How Do They Work? The most popular forms of options are puts and calls. A call gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to purchase 100 shares of a particular underlying security (usually a stock) from the seller at a specified strike… Read More

Crop growing seasons are dictated by the weather. Farmers generally plant in the spring and harvest in the fall. Some countries in the Southern Hemisphere do the opposite because of their weather, but farmers — and traders — know in advance when crops should be planted and harvested.  This pattern has an impact on prices and results in a cycle that can be seen in the price of corn and other grains. The chart below shows the seasonal pattern for corn. Traders in the futures markets use charts like this to understand the… Read More

Crop growing seasons are dictated by the weather. Farmers generally plant in the spring and harvest in the fall. Some countries in the Southern Hemisphere do the opposite because of their weather, but farmers — and traders — know in advance when crops should be planted and harvested.  This pattern has an impact on prices and results in a cycle that can be seen in the price of corn and other grains. The chart below shows the seasonal pattern for corn. Traders in the futures markets use charts like this to understand the normal direction of the trend. Corn usually starts the year by moving higher. There are some smaller up and down moves, but the price generally peaks in August and then falls into November. Corn is planted mostly in May and June. Harvest can begin in September and is completed by November. This explains the November bottom in prices seen in the chart. That is the time when all of the crop will be out of the field. There will be no additions to… Read More

The CEO of the world’s largest copper mining company bought 1 million shares of his company’s stock at $31.16 per share on June 3.  At the time of this writing, shares are trading around $29.32.   Now, I don’t want to suggest blindly following the investment moves of every industry insider. But when a CEO makes a $31 million purchase of his company’s… Read More

The CEO of the world’s largest copper mining company bought 1 million shares of his company’s stock at $31.16 per share on June 3.  At the time of this writing, shares are trading around $29.32.   Now, I don’t want to suggest blindly following the investment moves of every industry insider. But when a CEO makes a $31 million purchase of his company’s stock, which is trading for the cheapest it’s been since 2008 — I think a closer look is in order. Regular readers may already know that mining stocks have not fared as well as the broader market so far this year. Commodity prices for precious metals have been lagging, which creates headwinds for producers and drives share prices down. In another example, Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) (which I covered two weeks ago),… Read More

When you think of pizza, you don’t often think of technology. But Domino’s Pizza (NYSE: DPZ), one of America’s largest pizza chains, has combined the two into a formula for success. Until 2010, the stock struggled to break $15 as revenue and earnings growth were sluggish. But between 2010 and the end of 2012, earnings accelerated almost 32%, going from $1.45 to $1.91 in the three-year period. The stock responded with a vengeance, up nearly 500% since the summer of 2010. Read More

When you think of pizza, you don’t often think of technology. But Domino’s Pizza (NYSE: DPZ), one of America’s largest pizza chains, has combined the two into a formula for success. Until 2010, the stock struggled to break $15 as revenue and earnings growth were sluggish. But between 2010 and the end of 2012, earnings accelerated almost 32%, going from $1.45 to $1.91 in the three-year period. The stock responded with a vengeance, up nearly 500% since the summer of 2010. The earnings and share price acceleration can be attributed to several factors: successful advertising campaigns, a tastier pizza recipe and international expansion, but perhaps most importantly, technology — specifically digital ordering technology.#-ad_banner-# In many ways, Domino’s is revolutionizing the way pizza is ordered and delivered. Want a steaming-hot pizza? No need to pick up the phone and speak to a person to place an order. Now there’s an app for that. In 2011, Domino’s created an app to order a pizza through an Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone. A year later, it followed with an… Read More