2014 was another bull market year with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (NYSE: SPY) doing well.  As with any time period, certain sectors did well with others disappointing.  Oil and natural gas plunged, as did the exchange traded funds, United States Oil (NYSE: USO), and […]

For patient, savvy investors looking for long term gains, Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) is a very appealing stock for a variety of factors. Caterpillar, a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA), is the world’s largest heavy equipment maker. It is also a very volatile stock.  The beta for Caterpillar is 1.65.  That means […]

All investors should read Dan Weiner’s article in Kiplinger’s about market timing for equities. Basically, the article states that is it best to don’t even try to time the stock market as it does not work!!! The most important lesson from the excellent piece in Kiplinger’s, which is a fine personal magazine, is to get […]

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 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 […]

McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) is down for the year (chart below). That should be looked upon as an opportunity to buy at a discount for long term investors.  The dividend yield, profit margin, and return-on-investment are all superior.  Over time, those should result in strong returns for the long term investor. McDonald’s has a profit margin […]

It is has been a rewarding bull market for those who bought stocks such as Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), and others during The Great Recession.   As to be expected, there is now increasing discussion of a correction that will take away much of the profits.  There are three reasons […]

This an era of asset management firms doing well and T Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW) is one of the best. While other financial entities such as Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) are better known, few treat their shareholders as well.  Along with the rest of the financial sector, T Rowe Price has […]