In the corporate headquarters of retail giant Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), April 21 was a day of utter fear. That’s when The New York Times reported that company officials sought to cover up a bribery investigation in Mexico, which might have soon led to massive fines and the dismissal of key… Read More

Do you know how anyone with no financial background can outperform professional investors? It’s easy: Follow a smaller number of companies and truly understand what they do.  Behind every stock, there is a company and a story. By doing your homework, you can learn the intricacies of a particular company… Read More

Have you ever noticed that despite how bad times get, supermarkets continue to attract long lines of customers? Tenants who occupy space in strip malls next to supermarkets notice this as well. In fact, these days many tenants are bending over backwards in an effort to secure retail space adjacent… Read More

Let’s tip the cap to Vikram Pandit. Though he was just shoved out the door as CEO of Citigroup (NYSE: C), he did a commendable job of fixing a very broken business.  Back in July, I noted that Pandit was re-orienting this banking… Read More

Value investors use a number of filters to identify stocks that have the potential to deliver big gains. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio and price-to-sales (P/S) ratio are among the most popular tools. Low ratios are used… Read More

It might be one of the most controversial statements I’ve ever made. You aren’t likely to hear anyone else say it, as it goes against one of investors’ longest-held beliefs.#-ad_banner-# I think diversification actually hurts your returns. Read More

Some of the best investment opportunities happen when pessimism is high. And right now, there is an unusual amount of pessimism hanging over third-quarter earnings season.#-ad_banner-# That’s because for the first time in three years, total S&P 500… Read More

Since the market crash of 2008, many investors have understandably become more conservative and have turned to safer alternatives — bonds, metals, real estate, blue-chip… Read More

It may be one of the wildest reversals of fortune in modern history. As the 1990s were coming to a close and the nation was increasingly getting “online,” AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) was sitting on top of the world. Its famous “You’ve got mail” notification even spawned a box-office hit.#-ad_banner-#… Read More

Every country has its icons. In America, we have the bald eagle, baseball and apple pie. Of course, we also have a plethora of corporate icons. These are American companies that personify the essence of the country.#-ad_banner-# Now, I would never buy a stock, or even a product, just because… Read More