Utilities stocks occupy a unique niche in the investment world. No one who wants to get rich buying shares of Exelon (NYSE: EXC) or Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) is expecting to double their money in a few months. That’s because stocks in this heavily-regulated industry tend to be predictable and rarely produce outsized gains.#-ad_banner-# If you are a dividend investor, however, then utilities stocks have a… Read More

Utilities stocks occupy a unique niche in the investment world. No one who wants to get rich buying shares of Exelon (NYSE: EXC) or Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) is expecting to double their money in a few months. That’s because stocks in this heavily-regulated industry tend to be predictable and rarely produce outsized gains.#-ad_banner-# If you are a dividend investor, however, then utilities stocks have a lot to offer. Many stocks in this sector carry impressive yields… 4-6% yields are very common. The margin of safety these generous yields provide make utilities stocks especially well-suited for a long-term buy-and-hold strategy. In fact, some of them are perfect candidates to be what we call “Retirement Savings Stocks” — stocks that provide a safe, stable and reliable source of high income even if the… Read More

Retirement planners usually advise investors to hold a combination of stock market and fixed income investments in their portfolio. Investments could include mutual funds,… Read More

I once had a huge research report due for clients and the deadline was quickly approaching. My computer had just frozen and I thought the best thing to do at that point was to reboot. But my computer wouldn’t start up. That was my only computer and the document, which… Read More

If something looks too good to be true, then it probably is. Nowhere is this more true than in the stock market.  The late years of the 1990s were a great example of this. Internet… Read More

Retirement planners usually advise investors to hold a combination of stock market and fixed income investments in their portfolio. Investments could include mutual funds,… Read More

I once had a huge research report due for clients and the deadline was quickly approaching. My computer had just frozen and I thought the best thing to do at that point was to reboot. But my computer wouldn’t start up. That was my only computer and the document, which had about 100 pages, hadn’t been backed up in quite some time.#-ad_banner-# It turned out I needed to reinstall the operating system, which would wipe out my current hard drive. At that point, getting access to my document had become priceless. That episode taught me an important lesson: Save early… Read More

I once had a huge research report due for clients and the deadline was quickly approaching. My computer had just frozen and I thought the best thing to do at that point was to reboot. But my computer wouldn’t start up. That was my only computer and the document, which had about 100 pages, hadn’t been backed up in quite some time.#-ad_banner-# It turned out I needed to reinstall the operating system, which would wipe out my current hard drive. At that point, getting access to my document had become priceless. That episode taught me an important lesson: Save early and often.  Well, this lesson doesn’t just apply to backing up data. It’s also a key ingredient for successful investing. Just like certain documents and pictures, in business, a few irreplaceable assets have significant value and no adequate substitute. Take pipelines for example. Once they have been built, it’s simply not feasible for another company to come along and build a new pipeline next to the existing one. Add the fact that pipelines have a valuable use as they carry oil, natural gas, fuels and other commodities across the country, and it really becomes… Read More

If something looks too good to be true, then it probably is. Nowhere is this more true than in the stock market.  The late years of the 1990s were a great example of this. Internet stocks with little to no earnings were burning up the charts, pumping out huge gains and leading many investors to believe that an early retirement was close at hand.#-ad_banner-# The housing boom of the early to mid-2000’s also showcased… Read More

If something looks too good to be true, then it probably is. Nowhere is this more true than in the stock market.  The late years of the 1990s were a great example of this. Internet stocks with little to no earnings were burning up the charts, pumping out huge gains and leading many investors to believe that an early retirement was close at hand.#-ad_banner-# The housing boom of the early to mid-2000’s also showcased this dynamic. Everyone and their grandmother became an expert at speculating in real estate. The narrative on the Street was that “housing prices never go down.” We all know exactly how both of those stories ended. Investors jumping on the bandwagon looking for quick and easy gains turned out to incur huge losses. But now, a few years down the road, there is another kind of investment that is gaining critical mass. With yields on… Read More

Retirees are being confronted with a huge dilemma. In the past, investors on the verge of retirement could simply shift into fixed-income assets and still generate plenty of income to support a comfortable lifestyle.#-ad_banner-# Take the 10-Year… Read More

I am a huge proponent of discovering macroeconomic trends and drilling down to find actionable investment ideas.  After identifying a trend, my next step is to look for confirmation with the big-money players. Are hedge funds and other institutional… Read More

Retirees are being confronted with a huge dilemma. In the past, investors on the verge of retirement could simply shift into fixed-income assets and still generate plenty of income to support a comfortable lifestyle.#-ad_banner-# Take the 10-Year Treasury note for example, considered the safest asset in the world for being backed by the full credit of the U.S. government. Just 12 years ago, the yield on these… Read More

Retirees are being confronted with a huge dilemma. In the past, investors on the verge of retirement could simply shift into fixed-income assets and still generate plenty of income to support a comfortable lifestyle.#-ad_banner-# Take the 10-Year Treasury note for example, considered the safest asset in the world for being backed by the full credit of the U.S. government. Just 12 years ago, the yield on these bonds was about 6.7%. That meant an investor with $1 million in retirement savings could generate close to $70,000 of annual income from investing in the U.S. government bonds. And that’s not even factoring in capital gains as yields continued to fall and push bond prices higher. It was a powerful combination that set the foundation for many comfortable retirements. But fast forward to 2013 and things could not be more different. Now, high-risk fixed-income assets such as the… Read More