The short term pains for oil, natural gas, and coal highlight the long term appeal of the exchange traded funds for oil United States Oil (NYSE: USO), natural gas (NYSE: UNG), and coal Market Vectors Coal (NYSE: KOL). There are many reasons for the short term decline as there are factors that make the long […]

There are many reasons why legendary investor Warren Buffett favors railroads. But greater oil production has never listed as one of those factors. But train stocks such as CSX (NYSE: CSX), Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) have all done very well due to greater fuel production in the United States. This […]

Legendary investor Warren Buffett has done very well over the decades buying shares of blue chip companies such as American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) that were down in the short term due to temporary problems. That is a major reason why “The Oracle of Omaha” is worth of $50 billion! That is […]

With the holiday shopping season approaching, so is the peak sales period for retail companies such as Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT). The largest retailer in the world, Wal-Mart has been a very pleasant gift to long term investors. The fact that legendary investor Warren Buffett is a major shareholder Wal-Mart manifests its appeal.  It has many […]

It has been a bear quarter for ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), a major oil company. Energy prices have been weak due to lesser demand and greater supply.  United States Oil (NYSE: USO), the exchange traded fund for oil, is down more than 18 percent for the last quarter of market action.  Over that same period, ConocoPhillips […]

Warren Buffett and Michael Lewis need no introduction to the investment community! Warren Buffett is one of the best investors in history.  He heads up Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A), which functions as a holding company for his assets.  These range from small cap companies that are completely owned such as See’s Candies to major positions […]

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) is the world’s largest natural resources company, rich in holdings such as as coal, copper, natural gas, and others. But BHP Billiton is now transforming itself, seeking to increase oil production to join Big Oil firms such as Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM). To finance that transition, BHP Billiton […]

A previous article, “No Matter What Happens at the Polls, Buy Dividend Stocks,” laid out the case for buying stocks with strong dividend components, no matter which party did well in the mid-term elections in the United States on November 4, 2014. Well, the Republicans had a great night.  That makes the case for dividend […]

No matter what happens after Americans vote today, long term investors should continue buy stocks with a history of increasing the amount of the dividend such as Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), among others. The bull market has been going on for more than five years, so it is difficult […]

It has been a rough patch for Big Oil stocks such as BP PLC (NYSE: BP), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), in recent market action. ExxonMobil, the world’s largest oil and natural gas company, is off for the last quarter and six months of trading (chart below). That is the same for BP […]