Wall Street analysts aren’t known for their boldness. They tend to analyze and value companies on the basis of what lies ahead in the next month or quarter, refusing to predict where a company — and its stock — may be headed in… Read More

Warren Buffett made billions with his trusted buy-and-hold model. But in the past 12 years, with investors battling abnormal amounts of volatility and getting burned in the dot-com bubble of 2000, the 9/11 attacks, the housing crash of 2006, the financial crisis of 2008 and the U.S. credit rating downgrade in 2011, many investors have chosen to abandon the buy-and-hold strategy to stay more nimble. Take a look at the… Read More

Warren Buffett made billions with his trusted buy-and-hold model. But in the past 12 years, with investors battling abnormal amounts of volatility and getting burned in the dot-com bubble of 2000, the 9/11 attacks, the housing crash of 2006, the financial crisis of 2008 and the U.S. credit rating downgrade in 2011, many investors have chosen to abandon the buy-and-hold strategy to stay more nimble. Take a look at the chart below for a closer look at how volatility has rocked the market ever since the dot-com implosion of early 2000 — it’s truly remarkable: S&P 500 Monthly Chart 1950-2012 This volatility trend has driven the growing popularity of technical indicators designed to help investors decide when to buy and sell stocks. Unlike fundamental analysis, which uses earnings, dividends and valuation, technical analysis… Read More

In the fast-changing world of tech stocks, there are few true buy-and-hold opportunities. Great stocks such as Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) come to mind. Few other tech companies have been… Read More

With the economic situation in Europe, you’d think consumers would be spendthrifts. But one high-end clothing, footwear and accessories retailer appears to have captured the hearts and wallets of fashion-conscious Europeans. Since going public in December,… Read More

During the past half century, the financial media has tried to stay abreast of ever-changing investor interest. In the 1950s and 1960s, that meant a deep emphasis on value investing, as investors searched for stocks that looked like great bargains in relation to their… Read More

In the final months of his life, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs worked hard to ensure a vital future for his company. He prepared his management team to stand on its own, and they have exceeded almost everyone’s expectations. In fact, in… Read More

Whenever we have an extended market crash, it is a good idea to look for the survivors. These are the companies that have endured the brutal years of a bear market and are still… Read More

Many of you know I like talking about “the next big thing.” Rather than waste my time weighing in on where Facebook (NYSE: FB), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) or Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is headed next, I’d much rather spend it looking for “the next Facebook,” “the next Google,” or “the next… Read More

To the casual observer, it must seem as if the market has been trending in only one direction — up –since bottoming out in March 2009. A gain of more than 100% in the S&P 500 since that bottom surely gives… Read More

About 10 years ago, an investor could have purchased 100 shares of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) for $1,200. Today, those same shares are worth an extraordinary $675,000. Not counting dividends, that’s a better than 56-fold return on your investment in just 10 years. Read More