When a company announces a quarterly shortfall and lowers guidance, investors have been known to shoot first and ask questions later. That lesson was painfully brought home to the insiders at Maxwell Technologies (Nasdaq: MXWL), who were initially stunned to see the company’s stock tumble from about $20 in late… Read More

While the economic situation of the eurozone and the upcoming presidential elections have created a climate of uncertainty for investors, they have set the stage for doom and gloom in the minds of many critics. Analysts have been flooding the media with warnings of a pending… Read More

Most technical indicators are designed to predict trend changes or confirm the direction of the trend. Standard indicators, like MACD or RSI, all tend to offer trading signals at the… Read More

I’d like to declare a moratorium on Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) IPO carping. The stock has gone from $38 to roughly $19. Everyone’s upset: Facebook employees, the financial-media talking heads, individual investors, even people who have never logged on to Facebook.  But that’s the nature… Read More

Even if you’re a buy-and-hold investor by nature, you have to be nimble enough to profit from any short-term gifts the market may hand you. Read More

Investors have cheered the central bank easing its position on the economy as the S&P 500 recovered to its highest levels since 2007. Europe seems on the way out of its multi-year debt crisis,… Read More

The search for income-producing investments keeps getting harder. Uncle Sam continues to deliver paltry payouts on government bonds and notes, which has forced many investors to seek out dividend-paying common stocks. Trouble is, the popularity of these investments has pushed their stock prices up — and their dividend yields down. The average dividend-paying stock in the S&P 500 yields just 2.5%. Even investment-grade corporate bonds offer little help. The average payout (with a duration… Read More

The search for income-producing investments keeps getting harder. Uncle Sam continues to deliver paltry payouts on government bonds and notes, which has forced many investors to seek out dividend-paying common stocks. Trouble is, the popularity of these investments has pushed their stock prices up — and their dividend yields down. The average dividend-paying stock in the S&P 500 yields just 2.5%. Even investment-grade corporate bonds offer little help. The average payout (with a duration of 2-5 years) is just 3.5%, which is well below the historical average yield of around 5%. That’s why preferred stocks are getting a fresh look from many investors. Not only do their payouts often exceed 5%, but they offer the chance of solid capital appreciation if the stock market moves higher. Preferred stocks are a favorite vehicle for companies with steady, predictable cash flows. If the going gets tough, these companies can temporarily defer payments to preserve cash. This… Read More

With interest rates showing no sign of improving anytime soon, investors are more apt to continue turning to dividend-paying stocks for decent income, despite the added risk relative to bonds. But these stocks have become so popular, that reasonably-priced assets are getting… Read More

Stocks in the financial sector have been red-hot of late. In fact, the gains in many of the largest and most-prominent banking and brokerage companies have been on fire, particularly during the past month, and especially during the past week.#-ad_banner-# So, what’s the reason for the big spike in financials?… Read More