As you probably know, we are in the midst of one of the greatest bull markets of all time. Fueled by an unfettered fiscal-easing policy with central-bank assurances that pro-growth intervention will continue until the economy is back… Read More

Using the wrong words can be dangerous. Confuse “sapo” for “sopa” in Spain, for instance, and you’re going to get a frog instead of soup. Fail to listen to the Rolling Stones song “Beast of Burden” closely, and your friends will be howling when you croon, “I’ll never leave your pizza burnin’.”#-ad_banner-# In the bond world, the stakes are even higher. As with any investment, words are all you have to help you understand what you’re buying and what… Read More

Using the wrong words can be dangerous. Confuse “sapo” for “sopa” in Spain, for instance, and you’re going to get a frog instead of soup. Fail to listen to the Rolling Stones song “Beast of Burden” closely, and your friends will be howling when you croon, “I’ll never leave your pizza burnin’.”#-ad_banner-# In the bond world, the stakes are even higher. As with any investment, words are all you have to help you understand what you’re buying and what the risks are. Here are two of the most confusing yet most fundamental. Make sure you understand what they mean before your next foray into the market. Yield to Maturity (YTM) Yield to maturity is one of the most misunderstood bond terms because it involves math that looks hard. But don’t let it faze you. First of all, the math… Read More

Using the wrong words can be dangerous. Confuse “sapo” for “sopa” in Spain, for instance, and you’re going to get a frog instead of soup. Fail to listen to the Rolling Stones song “Beast of Burden” closely, and your friends will be howling when you croon, “I’ll never leave your pizza burnin’.”#-ad_banner-# In the bond world, the stakes are even higher. As with any investment, words are all you have to help you understand what you’re buying… Read More

Using the wrong words can be dangerous. Confuse “sapo” for “sopa” in Spain, for instance, and you’re going to get a frog instead of soup. Fail to listen to the Rolling Stones song “Beast of Burden” closely, and your friends will be howling when you croon, “I’ll never leave your pizza burnin’.”#-ad_banner-# In the bond world, the stakes are even higher. As with any investment, words are all you have to help you understand what you’re buying and what the risks are. Here are two of the most confusing yet most fundamental. Make sure you understand what they mean before your next foray into the market. Yield to Maturity (YTM) Yield to maturity is one of the most misunderstood bond terms because it involves math that looks hard. But don’t let it faze you. First… Read More

Every stock investor has heard about the importance of diversification. In fact, I have emphasized many times in my articles just how critical being properly diversified is when managing a successful long-term portfolio. Diversification is not just critical for a long-term portfolio — it is the primary key for survival in the stock market. Massive bull markets, like the one taking place now, can have the negative effect of causing investors to become complacent, take too many risks, and… Read More

Every stock investor has heard about the importance of diversification. In fact, I have emphasized many times in my articles just how critical being properly diversified is when managing a successful long-term portfolio. Diversification is not just critical for a long-term portfolio — it is the primary key for survival in the stock market. Massive bull markets, like the one taking place now, can have the negative effect of causing investors to become complacent, take too many risks, and not diversify correctly. I know from experience that it is difficult not to go “all-in” on a hot stock. During the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, one Internet stock in particular just seemed to be going up day after day.#-ad_banner-# Noticing the uptrend, I decided to liquidate my portfolio and go all-in with this stock. Ignoring everything I knew about diversification, I used all of my capital and leverage, purchasing a large number of the… Read More

Our team of analysts here at StreetAuthority endeavors to spot value wherever it may lurk, but we’re partial to a few solid investment angles. One of our… Read More

For true long-term investors, the intended holding period for a stock is typically measured in years, and the decision to buy it is based solely on that company’s long-term prospects. But every now and then, a short-term factor takes hold and forces an investor to become a trader. Refusing to take on that role, even if only temporarily, can mean missed opportunities. Like it or not, anybody who’s currently holding… Read More

For true long-term investors, the intended holding period for a stock is typically measured in years, and the decision to buy it is based solely on that company’s long-term prospects. But every now and then, a short-term factor takes hold and forces an investor to become a trader. Refusing to take on that role, even if only temporarily, can mean missed opportunities. Like it or not, anybody who’s currently holding a position in Kellogg (NYSE: K), General Mills (NYSE: GIS), or Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO) is a trader. How so? Because these food stocks and their peers have rallied considerably since the latter part of last year — so much so, in fact, that they’re all at considerable risk of a pullback. Shareholders will have to make a decision soon, too, since the underlying reason for the rally is already starting… Read More

Long before director J.J. Abrams made Star Trek cool again, I was a fan.#-ad_banner-# I’ve seen all of the movies — from the first ones with Captain Kirk and his crew to the ones with Captain Picard and the “Next Generation” cast all the way through the latest, younger, hipper version that currently dominates the box office. Some are campy fun. Some are thrill rides. Some, frankly, aren’t that great. And sometimes, I even learned something while watching. One of the things I learned while watching “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” — the last one with the original Enterprise… Read More

Long before director J.J. Abrams made Star Trek cool again, I was a fan.#-ad_banner-# I’ve seen all of the movies — from the first ones with Captain Kirk and his crew to the ones with Captain Picard and the “Next Generation” cast all the way through the latest, younger, hipper version that currently dominates the box office. Some are campy fun. Some are thrill rides. Some, frankly, aren’t that great. And sometimes, I even learned something while watching. One of the things I learned while watching “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” — the last one with the original Enterprise crew — is that the word “sabotage” comes from “sabot,” a French word for shoes or clogs. During the Industrial Revolution, protesting workers threw their wooden sabot into machines designed to replace them, intending to destroy the machines. (A Vulcan crew member — played by a pointy-eared Kim Cattrall, long before “Sex and the City” made her a star — shared this piece of wisdom.) Sabotage is often associated with subtle methods of destruction, although throwing shoes into a machine isn’t particularly subtle. Sabotage can even take place in your finances. You might even be perpetrating financial sabotage on your… Read More

For true long-term investors, the intended holding period for a stock is typically measured in years, and the decision to buy it is based solely on that company’s long-term prospects. But every now and then, a short-term factor takes hold and forces an investor to become a trader. Refusing to take on that role, even if only temporarily, can mean missed opportunities. Like it or not, anybody who’s currently holding… Read More

For true long-term investors, the intended holding period for a stock is typically measured in years, and the decision to buy it is based solely on that company’s long-term prospects. But every now and then, a short-term factor takes hold and forces an investor to become a trader. Refusing to take on that role, even if only temporarily, can mean missed opportunities. Like it or not, anybody who’s currently holding a position in Kellogg (NYSE: K), General Mills (NYSE: GIS), or Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO) is a trader. How so? Because these food stocks and their peers have rallied considerably since the latter part of last year — so much so, in fact, that they’re all at considerable risk of a pullback. Shareholders will have to make a decision soon, too, since the underlying reason for the rally is already starting… Read More

For true long-term investors, the intended holding period for a stock is typically measured in years, and the decision to buy it is based solely on that company’s long-term prospects. But every now and then, a short-term factor takes hold and forces an investor to become a trader. Refusing to take on that role, even if only temporarily, can mean missed opportunities. Like it or not, anybody who’s currently holding… Read More

For true long-term investors, the intended holding period for a stock is typically measured in years, and the decision to buy it is based solely on that company’s long-term prospects. But every now and then, a short-term factor takes hold and forces an investor to become a trader. Refusing to take on that role, even if only temporarily, can mean missed opportunities. Like it or not, anybody who’s currently holding a position in Kellogg (NYSE: K), General Mills (NYSE: GIS), or Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO) is a trader. How so? Because these food stocks and their peers have rallied considerably since the latter part of last year — so much so, in fact, that they’re all at considerable risk of a pullback. Shareholders will have to make a decision soon, too, since the underlying reason for the rally is already starting… Read More

For true long-term investors, the intended holding period for a stock is typically measured in years, and the decision to buy it is based solely on that company’s long-term prospects. But every now and then, a short-term factor takes hold and forces an investor to become a trader. Refusing to take on that role, even if only temporarily, can mean missed opportunities. Like it or not, anybody who’s currently holding… Read More

For true long-term investors, the intended holding period for a stock is typically measured in years, and the decision to buy it is based solely on that company’s long-term prospects. But every now and then, a short-term factor takes hold and forces an investor to become a trader. Refusing to take on that role, even if only temporarily, can mean missed opportunities. Like it or not, anybody who’s currently holding a position in Kellogg (NYSE: K), General Mills (NYSE: GIS), or Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO) is a trader. How so? Because these food stocks and their peers have rallied considerably since the latter part of last year — so much so, in fact, that they’re all at considerable risk of a pullback. Shareholders will have to make a decision soon, too, since the underlying reason for the rally is already starting… Read More