They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are… Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are so amateurish or commonly known now that it makes you wonder how anyone could fall for them anymore. (Take the Nigerian email scam, for example.) However, the reality is that some of these scams are rather sophisticated. They often appear to be official or legitimate. And many of them succeed for years. And yes, even you might fall for a scam, no matter how careful you are. But to reduce the chances of being taken in by a Wall Street scam, here is a rundown of the five biggest Wall Street scams, and what… Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are… Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are so amateurish or commonly known now that it makes you wonder how anyone could fall for them anymore. (Take the Nigerian email scam, for example.) However, the reality is that some of these scams are rather sophisticated. They often appear to be official or legitimate. And many of them succeed for years. And yes, even you might fall for a scam, no matter how careful you are. But to reduce the chances of being taken in by a Wall Street scam, here is a rundown of the five biggest Wall Street scams, and what… Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are… Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are so amateurish or commonly known now that it makes you wonder how anyone could fall for them anymore. (Take the Nigerian email scam, for example.) However, the reality is that some of these scams are rather sophisticated. They often appear to be official or legitimate. And many of them succeed for years. And yes, even you might fall for a scam, no matter how careful you are. But to reduce the chances of being taken in by a Wall Street scam, here is a rundown of the five biggest Wall Street scams, and what… Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are… Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are so amateurish or commonly known now that it makes you wonder how anyone could fall for them anymore. (Take the Nigerian email scam, for example.) However, the reality is that some of these scams are rather sophisticated. They often appear to be official or legitimate. And many of them succeed for years. And yes, even you might fall for a scam, no matter how careful you are. But to reduce the chances of being taken in by a Wall Street scam, here is a rundown of the five biggest Wall Street scams, and what… Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are… Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are so amateurish or commonly known now that it makes you wonder how anyone could fall for them anymore. (Take the Nigerian email scam, for example.) However, the reality is that some of these scams are rather sophisticated. They often appear to be official or legitimate. And many of them succeed for years. And yes, even you might fall for a scam, no matter how careful you are. But to reduce the chances of being taken in by a Wall Street scam, here is a rundown of the five biggest Wall Street scams, and what… Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are… Read More

They say it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to have to go through the agony of learning the hard way. So we wondered what can be learned from some of the biggest investing mistakes in history. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of Wall Street scams fall apart. Many of these scams have bilked investors out of billions of dollars. #-ad_banner-# We’d like to say that those who have been duped deserve their fate. After all, some of them are so amateurish or commonly known now that it makes you wonder how anyone could fall for them anymore. (Take the Nigerian email scam, for example.) However, the reality is that some of these scams are rather sophisticated. They often appear to be official or legitimate. And many of them succeed for years. And yes, even you might fall for a scam, no matter how careful you are. But to reduce the chances of being taken in by a Wall Street scam, here is a rundown of the five biggest Wall Street scams, and what… Read More

Stocks drifted higher last week after suffering a sharp pullback. The question now is whether that pullback is over. Volatility Recedes As Stocks Inch Higher SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) ended the week with a gain of 0.85%. The ETF is now 5.12% below its all-time high reached in May. Pullbacks of 5% to 10% have usually been considered normal in the stock market, but it seems that all declines since 2009 have… Read More

Stocks drifted higher last week after suffering a sharp pullback. The question now is whether that pullback is over. Volatility Recedes As Stocks Inch Higher SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) ended the week with a gain of 0.85%. The ETF is now 5.12% below its all-time high reached in May. Pullbacks of 5% to 10% have usually been considered normal in the stock market, but it seems that all declines since 2009 have been accompanied by warnings that the end of the bull market is near. For a longer-term perspective, the monthly chart of SPY is shown below. This is the sixth significant decline since the bull market began in 2009. There is no way to know if any pullback will develop into a bear market. But we do know this market is very sensitive to the actions of the Federal Reserve. The latest sell-off was sparked by comments from Fed… Read More

Stocks drifted higher last week after suffering a sharp pullback. The question now is whether that pullback is over. Volatility Recedes As Stocks Inch Higher SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) ended the week with a gain of 0.85%. The ETF is now 5.12% below its all-time high reached in May. Pullbacks of 5% to 10% have usually been considered normal in the stock market, but it seems that all declines since 2009 have… Read More

Stocks drifted higher last week after suffering a sharp pullback. The question now is whether that pullback is over. Volatility Recedes As Stocks Inch Higher SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) ended the week with a gain of 0.85%. The ETF is now 5.12% below its all-time high reached in May. Pullbacks of 5% to 10% have usually been considered normal in the stock market, but it seems that all declines since 2009 have been accompanied by warnings that the end of the bull market is near. For a longer-term perspective, the monthly chart of SPY is shown below. This is the sixth significant decline since the bull market began in 2009. There is no way to know if any pullback will develop into a bear market. But we do know this market is very sensitive to the actions of the Federal Reserve. The latest sell-off was sparked by comments from Fed… Read More

Over the past year, economists have noticed an unusual pattern as they digested the series of monthly reports on housing, consumer confidence, purchasing managers, trade flows and other key economic inputs.#-ad_banner-# These reports showed consistently mixed signals, though it was clear that the U.S. economy was faring OK. And that has led to hopes of more consistently positive reports in the second half of 2013 and into 2014. By next year, many economists have come to expect a firmer backdrop, with… Read More

Over the past year, economists have noticed an unusual pattern as they digested the series of monthly reports on housing, consumer confidence, purchasing managers, trade flows and other key economic inputs.#-ad_banner-# These reports showed consistently mixed signals, though it was clear that the U.S. economy was faring OK. And that has led to hopes of more consistently positive reports in the second half of 2013 and into 2014. By next year, many economists have come to expect a firmer backdrop, with GDP perhaps growing in the 2.5% to 3% range. Yet it may be time to start questioning that brightening outlook. Perhaps the greatest measure of economic activity — one ignored by most investors, unfortunately — is flashing yellow and may soon be flashing red.  85 Inputs While many economic surveys aim to capture a slice of the U.S. economy, the Chicago Fed’s National Activity Index (CFNAI) looks at 85 different economic inputs focused on production,… Read More

Fundamental analysts generally focus on a company’s financial statement. They use tools like the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio and dividend yields to find value. Many investors like to buy when these indicators are low. There are studies showing that this approach works in the long term. However, most of those studies could never be implemented by individual investors.#-ad_banner-# When studying P/E ratios or other fundamental measures of value, researchers generally divide the market into… Read More

Fundamental analysts generally focus on a company’s financial statement. They use tools like the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio and dividend yields to find value. Many investors like to buy when these indicators are low. There are studies showing that this approach works in the long term. However, most of those studies could never be implemented by individual investors.#-ad_banner-# When studying P/E ratios or other fundamental measures of value, researchers generally divide the market into 10 groups. Each stock is assigned to one of those groups. Researchers then measure the performance of the group and usually find that the group with the lowest P/E ratio or the lowest dividend yield provides the best returns. There are at least 6,500 stocks being traded on U.S. exchanges. To duplicate a value strategy that is likely to outperform the market, you might need to buy 650 stocks. You could just select the stocks with the lowest ratios in… Read More